Country Article / Postcards

Barcelona confidential

Date: 08/20/2007

Stroll down any side street in Barcelona, and you'll be amazed by all the different tapas bars to choose from. Step into one, sit down, and order a glass of viura, verdejo, or albariño (white wines), and you'll be asked if you would like a tapa. The correct answer is, " Seguro,"or "Sure." The barman will then wave his hand over a long glass display case indicating that you are to point to what you want. Of course, with any of these white varietals, you are most likely to pick a seafood dish.

Market-fresh seafood
Your choice will be served on a small plate or tapa with a fork and a basket of crispy breadsticks. One of my personal favorites is ham croquettes, made with superior quality jamon Iberico at a restaurant owned by the brother of the renowned chef of the Michelin-starred Restaurant El Bulli. The bar is also famous for its market-fresh seafood dredged in flour and flash fried in 100% olive oil. You can taste the briny Mediterranean in every morsel.
Another bar, right around the corner, serves the tenderest baby octopus in a light tomato sauce with just enough garlic to accent, but not overpower. I also love this chef's coquinas-tiny clams, sautéed in olive oil, white wine, and little else.

Two streets down, a delicious oxtail stew is served. You can order a small portion, or, if you are hungrier, the racion, or full-sized portion. The large plate is perfect for sharing with a group of friends or that special someone. A well-balanced Rioja Riserva made from Tempranillo grapes, and a loaf of rustic bread complete the meal. A racion and two glasses of red wine should set you back no more than 12 euros ($16).

Torpedo-shaped rolls
One of my friend's favorite bars serves nothing but montaditos-small sandwiches. The little torpedo-shaped rolls are freshly baked and served still warm and crusty. The combination of fillings is seemingly endless, and the menu lists more than one hundred options, including my choice of cabrales blue cheese and duck ham. Another amazing pairing is a creamy Spanish cheese, similar to French brie, gently melted, and topped with a confiture of sweet yellow onions, or a panini-pressed sandwich of aged Manchego cheese and Pata Negra jamon made from the acorn-fed free roaming pigs of Spain's mountainous regions.

[Editor's Note: We've purposely not named any of these tapas bars, and if you happen to find one of them, please keep its location confidential: We'd still like to be able to find seats there when we return for the Live and Prosper in Europe conference in two weeks.] IL