Mató & Maple Syrup » Barcelona

Happy birthday to me!

alexandra — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:39:34 +0000

This weekend we celebrated my birthday at Wushu with a few of our very good friends here in Barcelona. Paul, Wushu’s talented dessert chef, even made me a special cake and we spent an amazing four hours at the restaurant, enjoying the company, the many bottles of cava, and, of course, Brad’s amazing food.

I had my favourite dish – the red curry with roasted duck (on the left) and next time I’ll try the laksa (on the right):

There are more pictures on my flickr site. It was a very busy weekend, which included dinner at Wushu on friday night with other friends, shopping in Gracia on saturday morning for a lunch on sunday that Jackie and I were organizing, then dinner at Wushu again on saturday night and finally a big lunch on sunday, when I cooked a not-so-traditional Brazilian feijoada for friends. Tomorrow we catch the high speed train to Segovia. It’s probable that I won’t be accessing internet there so stay tuned for a report on the trip to Segovia some time next weekend!

Coffee heaven

alexandra — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:51:49 +0000

I don’t think there are enough words to explain how great it is to be able to order coffee the way I like it without having to go through lengthy explanations of how I want it done. In France, all I had to do is ask for a café noisette and here in Spain I ask for a cortado (or tallat in Catalan). No eyebrows get raised and back they come with exactly what I wanted: a long espresso with a bit of hot milk. In Toronto I always have to explain that I want an espresso with a bit of hot milk. “You mean, a latte?” In North America, a latte is usually a short espresso with at least a cup of hot milk added to it making it more of a coffee-flavoured milk than a real coffee. So I have to say, “No, it’s not a latte. It’s an espresso, made in an espresso cup, with hot milk to the top”. In some places I can make myself understood by saying it’s a macchiato with more milk than foam. It’s always a struggle. But for the next month, I don’t have to worry about it. All I say is “un cortado, por favor/ un tallat si us plau”.

Thai Curries

alexandra — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:07:51 +0000

I fell in love with Thai curries during my weekly visits toWushu, while in Barcelona. I want to learn more about the wonderful world of Thai cuisine so I’m now reading The Big Book of Thai Curries and drooling… Can’t wait to try some of the recipes!

So far, I’ve tried red curry (my favourite) in three different spots here in Toronto. None rival Wushu so far…

Txacolín & Helado Italiano

alexandra — Wed, 03 May 2006 12:32:46 +0000

In the basque language (Euskera),txacolín is a fizzy, dry white wine poured from a great height. Here in Barcelona it is also the name of a very popular (among locals) tapas bar where the order of the day is pinchos and montaditos. A pincho (pinxo) is a little tapas served on a small slice of bread. Almost like a canape. A montadito is a little something on a skewer (a toothpick or a larger skewer).

Everybody sits around a very long horseshoe bar and the barman gives you a small plate. You can then take whatever you like on the counter and at the end of the night, the barman counts how many toothpicks were left and charges you accordingly. A small toothpick costs less than a larger one.

Alan’s class decided to meet at Txacolín one evening and I joined them. The two of us had about 15 pinxos/montaditos and 7 glasses of wine for 30 euros. The glasses of wine (txacolin) were small but the tapas were very filling. I thought it was a bargain since we sampled a mix of shrimp, salmon, bacallao, really nice beef & sausage to name a few of the things we had.

A few days later, we went for helado near our place. At pl. de la Revolucion (Gracia) there is a little Italian ice cream shop that is reputed to be the best in Barcelona. Everything is homemade and very fresh. The old Italian lady that serves the ice cream took a shine to Alan and always gives him a wafer with his helado ;

Last time we went, we arrived at the square at around 4 pm to find out the place only opened at 5. Oh well… We went for a walk in nearby C/ Verdi, a very picturesque street running north in the middle of Gracia and were back to the square at around 4:30.

We noticed plenty of people sitting around near the ice cream place so Alan lined up early. He was the first one into the shop and this time I let him go on his own. He wanted me to go with him to help with the language but I said “you have to know how to order ice cream on your own!” Of course, I didn’t complain when he came out with the wrong flavour for me