Exploring Barcelona (Spain): Eating a Typical Catalan Seafood Lunch with Savvy
Mom Ruth Paget
When
Laurent began working for the European Union after working for French
investment banks, I contented myself with taking Florence on long walks to the
Bagatelle Gardens, so I could get back into physical shape after childbirth,
reading, cooking, and trying to write roman à clefs like Simone de Beauvoir.
He
had to go to Barcelona for work, so I was able to go with him and baby
Florence. The taxi ride into Barcelona
took us through a very industrialized part of town. Barcelona shares with big cities everywhere
the schizophrenia of extreme wealth coexisting with extreme poverty.
The
hotel where we would be staying was a recent construction built to house guests
for the 1992 Olympic Games. The hotel is
in the Eixample Neighborhood, one of Barcelona’s most posh areas.
The
Eixample, with its neat city blocks, was built during the turn of the
century. This fact explains the wealth
of Spanish art nouveau architecture in the neighborhood with its sloping
apartment roofs and undulating façades.
After
unpacking, I went out to buy baby food and water. The search for these items led me around the
block. What a block it was!!!
While
I was looking for a drugstore, I passed by Gaudi’s Casa Mila, which looks like
an underwater life form; Domenech I Mantenar’s Casa Lleo Morera; Gaudi’s Casa
Battlò with bubbles that seem to float up its façade; and the fanciful tangle
of wines atop the Tapies Foundation.
Back
in the hotel room, I prepared Florence’s lunch while she gnawed away on her
crib. Florence did not eat any of her
Spanish baby food. The ham and vegetable
mélange that I bought for her was saltier than her French baby food. Spain is much hotter than Paris, which
explains the saltier food.
I
thought Florence might like some bread and went out again on Avenida Diagonal
to find a baker. I found something
better than the baker when I was crossing the street. I ran into Laurent and his Catalan
colleagues. His colleagues insisted that
Florence and I join them for lunch.
I
forgot the name of the restaurant, but the meal was memorable. We had two seafood platters. The first seafood platter had oysters and
clams on it along with cooked shrimp and langoustines. The second platter had grilled razor clams on
it.
The
grilled seafood was a perfect example of Mediterranean cooking that uses simple
ingredients requiring fresh ingredients and proper cooking methods for the dish
to succeed.
The
grilled shrimp and clams were seasoned with garlic. Other yummy things on our platter included
fried and grilled squid. We drank a
white wine from the Pénédés Wine region south of Barcelona. We drank espresso for dessert.
I
was quite satisfied with this meal considering that I had planned to buy a
sandwich for myself.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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