I have had some great adventures so far on this trip and it is not done yet. I went to southern France to visit a friend for few days and ended up staying for 5 as I loved it so much and we were having so much fun.
Currently back in Spain in Santiago de compostela and today I did a private cooking class with a local chef (and translator who is the business owner) and it was wonderful!
I have a lot of stories and photos I want to share but probably will not get to posting until I get back to Canada next week.
Off to Segovia tomorrow for a few days then back to Barcelona….Hasta luego mis amigos!
One of the main reasons for returning to Spain was to take a Spanish class. When I was in southern Spain a few years ago with my friend we took a few days of beginner Spanish and I was determined I would pursue learning and becoming fluent in a second language. I can understand a fair bit of French as well as read and write for the most part but when it comes to conversation and understanding what everyone else is saying. ..uh not so much. I manage to pick up a few words here and there from the different countries I have worked and travelled but it is just bits and pieces.
I had good intentions with Spanish and my knowledge of French definitely helps but I guess I am simply not as adept as some people who can pick up another language after accidentally hitting the wrong number on the satellite guide airing a foreign commercial for laundry detergent and presto! fluent in Mandarin or German…I always say I admire those types but I really loathe them. Ok I’m just very jealous. I digress…my intentions were and are still good regarding my desire to learn Spanish and I am actually quite surprised with myself over the past few days with what I have learned and actually retained. I was at the Sants train station and even asked for train tickets from two different cities at different times and the agent understood me and started responding like I was a local….then I have to stop him of course and I wonder if they are impressed that foreigners make an effort to learn some of the language or are simply annoyed. I got the tickets and all worked out for me and I gave him a little wink as I left hopefully forgiven but no doubt forgotten as ticket number 379 was waiting in line behind me with who knows what travel crisis.
Dragon sculpture near Barcelona Sants train stationDragon sculpture near Barcelona Sants train stationBeside Barcelona Sants train station
I am staying with a host family for the week whilst attending Spanish classess. I chose this option to force myself to socialize. All my travels and worldly stuff??well I’m a dangerous hermit truth be told. I tend to forget we are meant to be social beings…enough of that for now. The other reason was to obviously practice Spanish and it has definitely been worthwhile in that aspect. And of course you know there has to be food in there somewhere. Reflecting on the last trip to southern Spain we also took a few cooking courses so I wanted to help cook whilst staying with my host family. As it turns out the lady actually needed someone to help for a few days and was very glad that I was coming to stay.
What I hope to learn are how different people from different regions of the same country go about preparing the same dish and specific regional dishes. Last night I made tortilla espanole which is a classic fried dish of onion, potato, egg, olive oil and salt. Easy and basic enough but whoa they each have their way of cutting those potatoes!!
Tortilla EspañolTortilla EspañolTortilla Español
A number of other family members happened to stop by for dinner and there was nothing left which is usually a good sign; I was pleased. Bon Appétit!
I am in a small class of 6 beginner students studying Spanish, all of us from different countries and all except two of us are staying for a few weeks up to one year. The other students are from France, Italy, China, Holland and Russia and the instructor is from Argentina. I have been to everyone’s country except the instructor. I am also the oldest in our class and I was actually a bit nervous thinking that might be the case and I would be surrounded by teenagers fluent in Spanish in a couple days. Not even close. We are all beginners and all learning the same stuff. It would likely be different in a few months but I feel very grateful to be in my group and most important is we have fun! We laugh a lot and simply enjoy ourselves. The classes are all taught in Spanish as well. You walk in and leave your other language outside the door (ok 99% of the time…).
Behind the Spanish school in Barcelona
Water fountain along la Rambla Barcelona
Yesterday I joined a group of other students on a walking tour of the old Roman section of the city led by one of the Spanish instructors. I met a few more people and was able to explore parts of Barcelona I probably would not have done otherwise. I must say though, gotta hand it to those Romans…I have been to a lot of cities in Europe and the Middle East and there is a little bit of Roman in almost every one of them. Yup…endeavor to persevere…worked quite well for quite awhile!
Roman BarcelonaRoman Barcelona. Check out the window…
Roman Barcelona
I usually take photos of doors and also manhole covers. Odd yes. Interesting, very.
Port cities always fascinate me (in addition to the city that makes Port). Athens, Istanbul, Magadan, Gulf of Aqaba, Dubai, Muscat, Kuwait city, New Orleans, Houston, San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage, Prince Rupert, Mobile, Skagway, to name a few I have visited in addition to many others I cannot recall at the moment I have also been to, and they all have a fascinating and mysterious ambience about them. I am sure it has a lot to do with various writers and history and television shows that have embellished Port cities both romanticizing and demonizing them. Regardless I still find them fascinating.
Barcelona has a few thousand years of history under various rule including Roman, Muslim and Christian. The Catalan artist Antonio Gaudi hails from Barca and of course FC Barcelona for all you footie fans. Much more that I could not do the city proper justice with my meagre writing.
I digress…at the end of La Rambla is the Mediterranean Sea and Port de Barcelona. I wandered around today under partyly cloudy skies albeit +24c.
Marina in BarcelonaPort de BarcelonaPort de Barcelona
Columbus statue to the colon de espaneColumbus statue to the colon de espane
There were these great floating buoy boys…that happened to be actual floating art! I found out they are called Miraestels by Robert Llimos. I love them!
Floating art ‘Miraestels’ by Robert Llimos in Barcelona PortFloating art ‘Miraestels’ by Robert Llimos in Barcelona Port
Walking on a wide wooden bridge over the causeway to an entirely separate market and shopping area including a nice little Ferrari for hire (For you HW)?.
Ferrari for rent
Also along La Rambla was a very large section of the walkway that was ‘sand art’
Sand art along la Rambla
I had to return to la Boqueria sant de josep once more and make my way through some of the aisles I had not been yesterday. I did get a glimpse of the fresh Sepia like I had at the tapas bar, nice and fat ready to be cooked and eaten! Yumm!
There was one vendor of wild fowl, nice fat birds freshly caught.
Sant de Josep la BoqueriaSant de Josep la BoqueriaSant de Josep la Boqueria
The smells of a market always tweak the senses and for me imbibe memories of certain things. They are all amazing in my opinion and a lot of work every day for the people selling their wares for locals and tourists. Each market I have been to brings back memories but one of my favourite is the old bazaar spice market in Istanbul (not the textile market as is commonly known as the grand bazaar although also a great market). The huge wooden barrels of fresh spices and tea are simply a wonder to smell and see.
la Boqueria sant de Josep is full of Iberian ham and meats, fish and seafood I don’t know names for and fresh fruits and vegetables that are mouthwatering. If ever in Barcelona you must visit this market!
This weekend is also a fiesta des Rosales which is for Our Lady of the Rosary.
Hasta luego amigos!
Our Lady of the Rosary festivalOur Lady of the Rosary festival
As I was about to board one of my flights yesterday I received a text of a completely white landscape from one of my friends in Saskatchewan….snow. Well it was +28 c here in Barcelona today. Beautiful.
Placa CatalunyaPlaca Catalunya
Placa Catalunya
I’m staying a few days downtown close to Placa Catalunya which is great to see most everything. Tapas bars are abundant and I’ve been able to sample some great Catalan tapas. The fried sepia in olive oil on bread was absolutely fabulous!
Tapas Catalonia. The iberico ham always amazing but the Sepia were wonderful!
I also managed to navigate the metro after near ? tears of frustration but I held my stuff together knowing many came before me and figured it out and many will come after…I knew I would manage. I needed to get to the main station to buy a ticket to southern France to visit friends next week then return to Spain…ah yes. European Union? I am unable to buy the French routing of the ticket in Spain so I need to buy it once I arrive in Toulouse. Ok….that called for espresso. And a croissant of course.
Espresso in Sants Estacion el tren, Barcelona
The weather was amazing today and as I was wandering along La Rambla a major pedestrian only street near Placa Catalunya, I came upon a market. One of ‘The’ mercatos in Barcelona. Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. Oh what a wonderful place I thought I had fainted in the heat and was dreaming but alas it was all real.
The fresh frutas and vegetables, chocolate and pastries, spices and preserves were amazing. But the vendors of fish and seafood were stunning not to mention the muy famos Iberico jamon vendors. Wow. Heaven on earth.
Mercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La Rambla
Mercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La RamblaMercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La Rambla ; Iberico jamon!!Mercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La Rambla; Iberico jamon!!Mercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La Rambla; las frutas!Mercat St. Josep La BoqueriaMercat St. Josep La Boqueria along La Rambla; Iberico jamon!!
I hope to make it to the market again before leaving Barcelona.
I exit the market and across the street above the balcony I see the Erotica Museum…well maybe next time I’ll try to stop by.
Along la Rambla , the Erotica museum. Maybe tomorrow ??
Shops, street vendors and performers; always something to see.
Near Placa Catalunya, these boys can move!
These guys were pretty impressive. I’m sure they could work in a major troupe if indeed they are not already and this is just a fun thing to amuse the people on the street.
El grande thermometer! Near Placa Catalunya
The side of this building near Placa Catalunya was a massive thermometer. You can see it had cooled to about 24c when I took this photo after 5pm.
I had a little pile of green heirloom tomatoes not yet ripened and as I leave shortly for a month, I made a decision to do something with them in their green state. I sliced them and let them sit in a bowl overnight with some balsamic vinegar, whole cloves, a sliced lemon, some brown sugar and one of my fresh chilli peppers chopped into pieces.
Then it was onward as if making jam. For all my preserve making I use a Mauviel M’passion copper hammered jam pan – it is remarkable and worth the investment. http://www.mauvielusa.com
Green Tomato Jam in Mauviel Pan
Cooked the fruit with some pectin powder, eyeballed about how much sugar to sweeten it like a fruit jam and sealed them up in hot jars.
I must say it is not that pretty to look at but wow what a great taste. It is somewhat similar to other savoury relishes I have made such as onion-raisin relish and zucchini-saffron relish that can be used on meats and fish dishes and also has that definite sweet fruit jammy taste that should work well on toast.
The one thing I would recommend after having done this is to remove the skins or strain out the stringy skins before serving as they are like little pieces of string and you may not want it in your dish (there is nothing wrong with it, it is only fibre 🙂 )
Always a great evening with my favourite neighbours E&C. Last night was no exception and they joined me for a little chow…slow roasted pork with fennel (there are cloves of garlic stuffed into the roast with fennel, looking a little furry on top!) Throw in white wine, some onions and the fennel bulb, roast nice and slow.
Roast pork
Make some crisp roasted potatoes, beans, salad (great brussels sprout and grape salad compliments of E&C) sautéed celery in sesame oil and sea salt, the usual condiments of home made beet and bean pickles and of course lots of lovely beverages to enjoy!
Roast pork with fennel, sautéed celery in sesame oil, crispy roasted potatoes, beans, salad and pickles
I have a definite sweet tooth and dessert is a necessity. A meal does not seem to be finished without a little dessert to enjoy after all is said and done. That was the tradition growing up and it was usually some home canned fruit maybe with some fresh cake or one of those apple pies 😉
Last night it was a double chocolate zucchini cake with a thick rich chocolate ganache and a wee bit of french vanilla ice cream melting on top of the hot ganache. Oyyyy!!
Double Chocolate Zuchinni Cake with Chocolate Ganache
After my guests left many hours later, it was time to clean ip. I am not a fan of waking up to a mess…so I will pour another one, crank the music and get down to it. Last night it was the east coast and I had Matt Minglewood cranked along with the Rankin Family; fun finish to a great evening.
Yes I do live in Canada…western Canada…where there are four definite seasons to the year. When I lived in Yellowknife my friends would say we have 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad snowmobiling.
Referencing the short summer season for riding a motorcycle is about the same and today I will go for the last ride of the season before giving her a good wash and tucking her away for the winter 🙂
I managed about 2000km this year. As all of you are laughing who manage that in a week..every week…well it is pretty good for me as I only managed 300km last year loll!!
This is for a small recipe that makes about 3 or 4 Belgian waffles. Double it for more.
Hot waffle iron oiled if required.
1 cup flour (can use white / whole wheat mixture if you want)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter melted (can also use oil but the butter will make it lighter and crispier)
1 cup milk or buttermilk (plus a few extra tablespoons might be necessary when mixing)
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a separate small bowl mix eggs, milk and melted butter or oil and add to dry to blend.
Mixing dry and wet ingredients
At this stage you can add things to the batter if you like such as fruit, chocolate chips, chunks of ham or cheese. Or make a few plain waffles then add your additions for the last few waffles.
Pour about ½ cup batter onto the hot iron. You might need a bit more depending on the size of your waffle iron.
Batter in hot waffle iron
Leave the iron closed until done, a few minutes.
Serve hot with some butter and Canadian maple syrup or berries and fruit, whipped cream, jam, possibilities are endless.
Stack of hot wafflesWaffles with blueberries and maple syrup and greek breakfast sausages from a local marketCooked Waffles
Leftover waffles?
Do not waste them. They can be stored in a Ziploc bag or sealed container and frozen for a few days or a week then pop them into the toaster or oven to heat up.
This recipe calls for some alcohol so first pour yourself a drink.
You need some nice thick veal chops on the bone for this dish. The chops I got from a great local Italian market De Luca’s http://www.deluca.ca were amazing. These chops were over an inch thick.
I actually did a couple different dishes with these, 2 chops per dish but generally use 4 chops or more if they are a bit smaller.
In a large frying pan heat about 1 tablespoon of butter and about 2 or 3 tablespoons of good olive oil.
Fry the chops on medium-high about 5 minutes each side to get a nice brown crisp. Remove and place them on a plate and cover to keep warm; do not remove the oils from the pan.
Browning the ChopsBrowning the Chops
Chop an onion and a couple cloves of garlic.
Slice about 1 – 2 cups of mushrooms. Use white or brown or wild or a mixture.
Frying the onions, garlic and mushrooms
Fry the onions and garlic in the same pan as the chops were browned. Cook a few minutes on medium, add the mushrooms, lower heat a bit and continue cooking. The mushrooms will soften, release a lot of water so continue cooking about 5-10 minutes.
Pour in about ¼ to 1/3 cup of white wine or cognac or, in this case, bourbon. I used a little Jim Beam and it worked great.
Cook a little longer to reduce this then add a couple cups of stock – chicken or beef is good.
I make my own concentrated stock and had some veal stock on hand so I used that and added water.
Add about ½ to ¾ cup of cream. If you use half and half or milk it will obviously not be as rich and to thicken it you need to simmer longer if you do not add a thickening agent like flour (I prefer to let it simmer longer and reduce to thicken as it concentrates the flavors).
Place the chops in the pan, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover with a slight opening on one side of the pan, and cook for about 45 minutes as the sauce thickens and the meat cooks to a degree of tenderness you can separate with a fork.
After about 30 minutes taste the sauce and season with some salt and pepper. The amount of salt you use depends on the stock you added so taste it first. I use coarse sea salt of various kinds which works nice (pink, black, white salts) and fresh ground pepper. I also had some dried thyme from my garden and added a little to the sauce whilst cooking.
Browned chops simmering in mushroom sauce
Rosemary is a great herb with veal and I use it on other dishes but this particular one I used thyme.
I served this dish with some whipped potatoes (potatoes from my garden) and beans, also from my garden.
Veal Chops, Mushroom Sauce, Whipped Potatoes and Beans
