Food Please!: Barcelona Culinary Tour

I had the incredible pleasure of going on a tour of the Mediterranean recently that swept me from the Western porky delicacies to the custardy gelatos and ended with the Eastern perfumed rice puddings. If I had had more time, I would have done nothing but eat, eat, eat. I was however on a mission to see half of Europe with a large group in tow and very limited time in every location.

The most amount of time was spent in Barcelona, which I am happy to concur is as fun as people claimed and as delicious.

We indulged in surprisingly good pastries (I am always surprised when pastries are good outside of Paris or Vienna), tapas (Spanish appetizers or small bites), sandwiches and plenty of seafood.

My mission was to eat seafood paella, however the paella never made it in front of me, and I enjoyed the succulent shrimp, fish and octopus without its starchy counterpart. The octopus! Let me tell you about the best octopus on this planet. We ordered a dish called Galician-style octopus, which is a plate of small octopus pieces served with boiled potatoes, olive oil and paprika. Not sure what the heck they do to that octopus but it’s tender and melts in your mouth.

The shrimp, fish, langoustines and razor clams were all delicious as well, although the clams were a bit sandy.

We also had a fair share of pork, in the form of ribs, sausage and iberico ham.

The main and very popular market called La Boqueria is a sight to behold with every color fruit, vegetable and meat represented. It’s a feast for the eyes and the mouth. Besides buying fresh produce, you can stop at a food vendor and order tapas, seafood or whatever else they are serving for lunch or dinner. Expect the food to be good but the wait times and service to be infuriating.

Unfortunately my culinary exploration of Barcelona was not nearly long enough, which means I will have to go back for more.

At La Boqueria