Guest post: Kyle's Catalan Restaurant Excursion

This week our intern Kyle went on an edible excursion to discover the essence of Catalan cuisine. Get ready for some scrumptiously tempting narrative, which might just make you want to go ahead and buy that ticket over here!

Having lived in Barcelona for two whole months now, a multicultural city between mountains and sea, I’ve been able to experience many different foods. But there’s been one question sitting on the back burner that I felt I needed to get answered in more depth: what really makes up the foundations of Catalonian cuisine? 

I’ve had pa amb tomaquet, the famous tortilla de patatas, and many types of white wine and seafood during my stay so far. While the foods that I’ve eaten have been incredible, I still felt like I wasn’t quite understanding the regional cuisine as fully as I wanted to. So, in order to feed my curiosity, I set out to eat at two well-known traditional Catalan restaurants in Barcelona.

My first trip was to the Barceloneta neighborhood, right by the sea, to a historical restaurant called 7 Portes that has been serving its community since the 1800s. When I first arrived, I had to stand back and take in the decorative engravings of important figures from Catalan history that were located on the outside of the building. Stepping through the front door, the interior decorations were just as impressive: with the high ceiling, orange light shades, and the vast dining room- you can really get a sense of the importance of this restaurant through its decor alone. 

I booked the earliest reservation as I could, thus I was one of the first diners seated (Spaniards are late eaters), which gave me a unique opportunity to see the restaurant become more and more lively as time went by. Looking over the menu, everything sounded amazing. From a wild boar stew, to various paellas and rice dishes, to braised spinach with raisins and pine nuts. Ultimately, I decided that since this restaurant was right next to the sea, I should stick with seafood. 

I started my dive into regional cuisine with white wine and lemon steamed mussels, followed by an intensely flavored tomato and garlic braised monkfish served with garlic roasted potatoes. I finished off the meal with a decadent crema catalana and an espresso. Even though 7 Portes is a fine dining establishment, I was impressed by how flavorful the dishes were, despite there not seeming to be too many ingredients involved in each dish. I left the restaurant satisfied but wanting to learn even more about the regional cuisine of Catalonia.

This led me to Can Culleretes, the oldest restaurant in Barcelona, and one of the oldest in all of Europe, founded in the 1700s in the Gothic Quarter. Similar to 7 Portes, when I first entered Can Culleretes, I had to pause and take everything in, in all of its majestic ancient glory: art pieces and framed photographs on the walls, a giant chandelier in the center of everything, and decorative tiling along the entryway. The chatter from each table, clinking of glasses, and ambiance all around made for a cozy atmosphere. 

Having spent my time at 7 Portes eating seafood, I figured it was appropriate to order anything but seafood, to get a more well-rounded understanding of the regional cuisine. I ordered from the menú del día, the “menu of the day”, a set lunchtime menu in Spain that offers a starter, main course, and dessert with a beverage included in a relatively inexpensive fixed price meal.

I started with a chicken soup. The soup which was smooth and comforting with a broth as rich as the restaurant’s history, which was followed by roasted quail with earthy mushrooms and sweet pearl onions. I finished my meal with the cake of the day, a chocolate walnut cake served with a dollop of ice cream, and topped it all off with the now-classic-to-me espresso shot. In a similar manner to 7 Portes, the cuisine at Can Culleretes is centered on simplicity and demonstrates what high quality, fresh ingredients can do. 

One of the gastronomic concepts pertinent to the region of Catalonia is called mar i montanya which translates to “sea and mountain”- the regional equivalent of “surf and turf”. During my visit to both of these restaurants, you could say I had an extended version of mar i montanya. While it’s a bit difficult to get a full understanding of what defines a region’s gastronomic identity from eating a few meals, my experiences so far with Catalan restaurants has given me a glimpse into the foundational flavors of the region. And it’s this aspect of restaurants that I very much appreciate- they are able to convey the culture by using food as their primary medium, allowing you to experience the cuisine for what it is, using your taste buds as the cultural translator.