TEFL and Adventures in Tarragona Cataluna

Adéu for now

2011-12-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well my two years have come to an end and I have decided to return to Bristol. People keep asking me why. And I don't completely understand why myself. I love living in Spain. I feel very 'at home' here and yet I will always be a foreigner. But I love conquering all the obstacles presented by being a foreigner. I love it when I realize I have moved up a level in the language, or when I have assimilated a local custom and adopted it as my own. But I have unfinished business in Bristol. I have ghosts to exorcise, dragons to slay. Then I will return stronger and in peace to start the next chapter.
In the mean time follow me on Ant's in Bristol.

Bilbao and San Sebastian

2011-07-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Went to Bilbao and San Sebastian at the weekend.
Stunning green mountainous scenery covered with forest. More like Switzerland than most people's idea of Spain.
Very cool, sophisticated and friendly. Where else can you experience Gehry, Foster, Koons, Kapoor, Balenciaga, Gernika, Castles, mountains, beaches all in the same area.And that's just scratching the surface.

Abel's invention

2011-05-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Abel came up with this impromtu late-night snack after a hard day of Tapas eating. By midnight we were peckish if you can believe that.
The result was amazing beyond its simple appearance.
Baked sobrasada and cabra cheese croutes.
Sobrasada is a speciality of Mallorca and is a kind of spreadable paté, yet it is not made with offal.
It has similarities in texture to French rillettes, yet the meat is not cooked.
It is heavily spiced with sweet, smoky paprika and garlic and has a bright red/orange appearance. Usually it is spread, cold, on bread but the genius stroke here was to bake it with the semi-cured goat cheese topping.
Slimming it is not.
Delicious it definitely is.
Well done Abel!

Can you see the irony in this?

2011-05-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

I saw this on a Spanish Train and immediately thought of one of those 'impossible drawings' by Dutch Artist MC Escher.
It is the glass-breaking hammer which is locked in .....yes, you've guessed it...... a glass safety case. To get the glass-breaking hammer you need to.... erm..... break the glass...........

The Quick, Essential Giude to The Tarragona coastline

2011-05-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

What's to like?
1. Tarragona coast lovely.... city beach beautiful to look at despite railway and commercial Port. Especially if you look at it from above the Roman Amphitheatre where they just did a re-enactment of Gladiator fighting for Roman Week. (see above) But five minutes to the north are my ideal kind of beach. They are populated, but not at all commercial. Golden sandy coves protected by wild rock headlands at each end. Local families in moderate numbers (see below). A great chiringuito at Savinosa and Platja Llarga. Wonderful.

2.North. La mora and Altafulla i Tamarit.
La Mora ....beach nice. Town a bit forgettable. But the best bit is the wild pine forest which hugs the precipitous cliffline. Take a walk on the wild side and follow the barely discernable paths into the woods and discover drop-away cliffs with turquoise seas below, sometime calm, sometimes crashing with waves. Continue the nature walk and you stumble across Tamarit Castle which these days is a wedding venue. Lunch at the beach is also great.

3. What to avoid.
Salou to the South. Unless you're looking for Blackpool-in-the-sun. Also you have to go past the chemical works which despite providing so many jobs and so much wealth to the area are a real eyesore. I'm afraid I couldn't stomach taking any pictures of Salou.....use your imagination. Overweight, pink Brits in football kit, little girls with hideous hairbraids and flamenco outfits etc....

4. Southern gem.
Once passed Salou and you have resisted the charms of "full english breakfast and karaoke" you can breath easier, safe in the knowledge that a little gem is not far away.
Cambrils is also a seaside resort town, but it oozes style and class. The superyachts glisten and wink at you from the marina, the front-line terraced restaurants include a couple of Michelin-starred ones. And I recently discovered these new pieces of public sculpture which were thrilling. There's also a great park (Parc dels Pescadors) for kids.

Tapas week in Tarragona 2

2011-05-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Second hit of the Tapas tour of Tarragona went as follows:
We started at L'Etoile on Calle Union.
Dau de bacallà sobre brownie de botifarra negra amb compota de verdures i pols de pernil ibèric.
Cube of Salt Cod on black pudding brownie, pea and asparagus puree and ham dust.
Very striking and vibrant. When eaten all together the flavours were interesting. But have to say it was all disappointing. A classic bit of 'style over substance'. The black pudding didn;t benefit from being turned into a chewey brownie, and the overall taste experience was quite unmemorable.

The next place, however, heralded a contender for BEST TAPA of our entire experience:
"Cómete el Rabo" "Eat the tail"
Braised Oxtail wrapped in sliced ham with crispy artichokes and leeks and vermouth reduction.
It was FANTASTIC. Like the best steak pie filling you've ever had with a great presentation, (ie. it looked like delicious food, not art) We all wanted seconds!

Next was Ramon's, an unassuming local workers bar. I had actually tried this tapa when the owner was deciding what to serve, so I knew what to expect. He called it Black and White and it consists of Morcilla (black pudding) form Jaen and scrambled egg with aioli sauce and raspberry ketchup (!?)
Sounds a bit wierd but it was my all-time second favorite. Served warm, the cinnamon and allspice flavours of the sausage matched really well with the earthieness of the dish. The two sauces together just really worked. Bloody lovely! Who would have thought ..... raspberry ketchup..... and they say Tarragona is provincal!

The last tapa we tried turned out to be our all time favourite, and I think it will win the overall competition. (you can vote online for your favorite)
Cruixent de guatlla amb bolets
Filo pastry parcel of guineafowl with porcini mushrooms and a herb salad. (the first time I have seen anyone use dill in nearly 2 years here) and a light soy sauce.
We had to wait a bit but it was worth it. Fragrant, moist and tasty guineafowl with the rich accent of the awesome boletus wild mushrooms and the savoury soy for extra umami and a modernist nod.

Tapas week in Tarragona

2011-05-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

Long time no blog. Yes. I know. But here I am. Back with news of life in TGN.
It;s tapas week. Various restaurants sign up to offer a tapa and a drink for €2.50 for the duration of a week or two as a promotion of the city's grastronomy. Choose a district and walk from one to the other during lunchtime or in the evening.
So we went on the trail in the Serallo district.
Here are the results.....(double click any pic to enlarge)

First place.Marisqueris La botigua
Plum Cake de bacallà, broqueta de rap amb arrossejat i esfera de crema catalana
Salt cod muffin, monkfish skewer with rice crust, and (dessert) liquid sphere of crema catalana.

Verdict. Good. Well presented. But pre cooked and served room temperature. Described as 3 courses on a plate. It was nice, specially the crispy rice crust round the monkfish skewer, but not amazing.

Second place:EL RACÓ DEL PESCADOR
Broqueta de popet a l'all cremat
Skewer of baby octopus with tomato, white wine and creamed garlic and croutes.
A great off-the-beaten-track, old fishermans bistro which still clearly retains all it's authenticity and soul. The dish was great. The almost rosmeco-like sauce (but no nuts) was deep and flavoursome. Served with rose cava. Very tasy and rustic. Honest, traditional cooking at its best in no-nonsense surroundings. I'll be back!

Third place:PERNILERIA I SIDRERIA SERRANO
Mos de "morteruelo"
A Crostino with a 'rillette-like' pate made of partridge, pork, wild boar and rabbit on spiced bread with tomato and mint garnish. DELICIOUS. Served with red wine. The mint was placed with the halved cherry tomato at one end and we were advised to eat this end last and it was a great final firework in the mouth.

Fourth Place: RESTAURANT MARISQUERIA CAL JOAN
Barquetes de bacallà al perfum d'alls confitats
Crostino of salt cod with confit of young garlic and parsley.
This was simplicity itself, but the fantastic thing was it was cooked to order and seved hot, cloaked in an aioli. It was the best we had had so far. A thick, premium piece of salt-cod, with a faint crust of flour clinging to it and the perfume of sweet young garlic and parsley.Awesome!

Fifth place:SIDRERIA DONOSTI
"Serrallo'ko Lorea" (Flor del Serrallo)
The flower of the Serallo.
This was a flaky pastry pie containing morcilla (black pudding), membrillo (quince preserve) and calçots (spring onions) with a drizzle of tomato sauce.
It was served warm and flaky with white wine in those funny, flat, Basque tumblers. It was the best thing we had had. Amazing. Sweet, earthy, peppery and slightly haggis-like. Fantastic.

Sixth place. RESTAURANT L'ÀNCORA
Cruixent de peix. Crispy fish.
A busy , narrow, old fishermans tavern with tanks of lobster, turtles (?!*) and oysters. It had a dizzying array of ingredients, both cooked and raw, on display in that very Spanish, slightly 1970's style of point-and-order restaurateuring. I have a major problem with many of these establishments because they insist on displaying already-fried items such as baby squid and fish, which then get a second bath in the deep fryer once ordered. I try to explain to my Spanish friends (who still think that one cannot eat well in the UK) that we laughed this kind of treatment of seafood out of our kitchens about 20 years ago.
Anyway, we stood and watched 6 hard-core, dyed-in-the wool, post-middle-aged Spanish line chefs crank out dish after dish of pre-prepped seafood in classic cazuelas (terracotta dishes) from an impressive wood oven. We deflected the shoulder barges that were an unavoidable and charming part of the long narrow bar in which we stood, and tried not to spill our drinks on our clothes. The place was noisy and fun. The tapa of fried battered hake fingers with classic romesco was, it has to be said, fresh, crispy and good. Very good. Although I find hake too soft for this kind of thing. There's little to chew once you've penetrated the batter.

Night Photography

2011-01-18T15:51:00.000-08:00

There's no real news in this post. I just went out one night with the camera to mess around and see if I could snap Tarragona in a different light so to speak. Here's what I came up with. Click on any photo to enlarge, then use the back button to return to the blog.

Nothing cures a spot of homesickness like cooking.

2011-01-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at how the human psyche works. In 44 years in England and many of them as a professional chef I have never made my own Pork Pies. So why is it that during the second year of my sabbatical in Catalunya I get the irrepresable urge to make that most quintessential of English treats? Who knows. The great thing is that this region seems to have a fetish for pigs feet. Eating them, I hasten to add, as opposed to any other fetishistic activities you might be thinking of.
So the essential jelly for the pies was.......well.......a piece of cake, if you forgive the mixed metaphore. Boil a pig's foot with aromatics and white wine for a few hours, strain and reduce. Ya esta!
A quick visit to the local Cansaladeria (pork butchers) yielded pork lard for the hot water pasty, bacon and minced pork for the filling.
The result, it has to be said, was rather impressive although I couldn;t find any English mustard to go with it.
They didn't last long.
Now where did I put my extra large jeans?

HAPPY PLUCKING!

2010-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Got a call from a friend who said our mutual friend Joan (pronounced joo-un) had a gift for me. I headed to Joan's restaurant and was presented with two freshly shot partridges. After much cheffy banter about how best to cook the beasts I headed off home to pluck.
They were about 5 days old so beginning to wiff slightly which is the desired condition. I plucked conscientiously into a plastic bag to stop my flat looking like I'd had a pillow-fight with 6 teenagers and then dispached the now-familiar looking creatures into a pan on my trusty two-ring kitchenette stovetop.
I braised the birds which effectively gave me a meaty soupçstew which was damn good.
Thanks Joan.

CONGRATS TO CASTELLERS FOR WORLD HERITAGE STATUS!!!!!!!!

2010-11-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

BEACH WALK AND NEW STATUE DISCOVERY

2010-10-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Went for a walk with friends of friends from UK and took them to a new sculpture I discovered on the rocks outside someone;s house. Here are the pics. Like I have said before.......beats Weston on a wet Tuesday.

Em dic Anthony!

2010-10-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not being rude or self critical. I've started Catalan lessons and that's how you say 'My name is Anthony'.
The local autonomous government here offers free naturalization language courses to beginners so I'm taking advantage.
Here are the fruits of my first lessons.

Com et dius? What;s your name
Em dic Anthony. My name is Anthony
Com es diu. What's his name.
D'on ets? Where are you from?
Jo sóc d'Anglaterra. I'm from England
De que fas? What do you do?
Faig professor d'anglès. I'm an English teacher
Quant temps fa que hi treballes? How long have you been doing that?
T'agrada la teva feina? Do you like your work?

Any students of Italian French or Castellano can see the connections. Can't wait to build a bit of fluency.

FESTIVAL SURREALISM

2010-10-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

Images from the recent festivals here. Double click to enlarge. And....yes.....the second pic is a naked breasted dragon bird spouting fireworks from her mouth.!!!

Human Castles.....a unique obsession.

2010-10-10T04:54:00.000-07:00

The thing I love about the crazy and unique activity of competitive Human Castle Building is the passion and emotion it triggers in the crowds that watch.
I cannot expalin it. I guess you need to be here but I think it has something to do with the incredible combination of strength and courage but above all trust in your team.
It;s very competitive and we stumbled across the local Colla de Joves (youth team) practicising as they do twice a week all year.
Here are a few images

YEAR 2. I'm back!

2010-10-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted for ages, but I'm back now. Many things have happened. I have moved to a lovely studio flat in the Old Town. It's awash with medieval charm and atmosphere. And I'm alone! I love it!
I don't miss the old place. Flat sharing had run it's course. Although I will look back on the madness with a wry smile;
The alcoholic, manic-depressive Romanian girl who never gave up trying to tempt me into bed. Her tactics ranged from straight forward flattery, spontaneous hugs and enforced hand-holding, to drunken confessions of passion and finally the direct-marketing approach of knocking on my bedroom door at 3am dressed in a negligé and smelling of Vermouth.
Then there was the bizarre Brazilian football agent who always greeted me by bellowing in a cod American accent :
'Hey maaaan, Antony Quinn! How u doin?'
This was the sum total of his English.
He was permanently on the verge of making it big......but in the mean time kept asking me if I could pay his rent for the next month.
He also had a huge penchant for eating other peoples food.
"We're a family" he said. "What's mine is yours."
The trouble was I wasn't that partial to out-of-date yoghurt and stale toast biscuits. He, however was very partial to most things.
One day I baked 4 peppers stuffed with tuna and basil and left them in the oven to cool. When I came back several hours later looking forward to dinner there was half of one left. He came out of his room, slapped me on the back and said;
'Damn! Those peppers were good! I could smell them from my room but it took me ages to find them. You're a good cook Antony Quiiiiinn!'
However he had an achiles heel. I discovered by chance he hated spicy food, and as I like it my problem was solved. It was chilli with everything. I kid you not....I even made chilli-chocolate muffins just to foil his pilfering.
Attached are a few pics of my new flat. My balcony has the red towel outside .

Blanes and the rugged Costa Brava

2010-07-20T12:44:00.001-07:00

Was kindly invited for the weekend to Blanes, North of Barcelona. It was stunning......as you can see.

More great municipal Art

2010-07-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

I just love Spain's initiative to utilize it's creative talents so abundantly.
This was in Sitges again.

LOCAL WINE TASTING

2010-05-17T13:41:00.001-07:00

There;s always something going on here. Something to lift a boring week. We had a Tapas festival the other week whereby 20 or 30 restaurants put on special tapas selections with a glass of wine. These were cheaply prices to encourage people to cruise from one to another. I;m not sure if the council subsubized it. This weekend saw a local wine fair which coincided with some very summery weather. It was a tented affair on the main Rambla. 5 Euros bought you vouchers for 5 glasses (150ml) of wine. There were also local food artisans selling hams, cheeses and Fideua ( a kind of paella made with short noodles). There was also music and a kind of horse and trap parade too. All in all a very pleasant Sunday afternoon. Such a simple idea.

Here's a picture of a proper fideua from our summer staff party.

Pastisset, another sweet beauty.

2010-04-27T03:41:00.001-07:00

To add to the array of pastry products there is the pastisset. This is originally from the Aragon region and specifically Teruel, but has become a part of the gastronomic culture of Tarragona and many other places in the region. Its a pasty-shaped product filled with that curious but delicious sweet preserve made from a certain type of squash, the flesh of which, when candied by simmering in sugar or honey syrup, shreds into strands, hence the name capell d'angel or "angels hair" . Anis and cinnamon are the common flavours and the dough is made with either olive oil or pork fat. Sometimes sweet moscatel wine is used to moistent the filling or the dough, and is often served alongside the pastisset as a 'chupito' (shot of liquor). Another variation is to make a sweet filling from sweet potato. Both are baked and dredged in sugar. I often have one for breakfast with a coffee.....hence the need for gym membership!

COCA.....NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING!!!!

2010-04-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Catalunya loves the Coca. They claim it pre-dated the Pizza. We will never know. But what I do know is that the town markets and shops are awash with a vast array of items named Coca. But they all seem to be radically different. Basically Coca refers to a wide variety of pastry products, both sweet and savory. Some clearly bear a strong resemblance to the Pizza, others to pies and others to brioche or other sweet nut-crusted breads.Officially there are 4 types, Covered coca (like a pie or pasty) Open....like a pizza or a sweet French "bande", Holey....like a doughnut in shape but much larger (includes the roscon de reyes, see separate post). Look in the labels section on the right margin of the blog for roscon) and "plain or naked....in other words un-garnished.

I haven't tried them all but here are some I saw in a local market and the savoury ones were amazing.

the pizza link is obvious...i'm talking real pizza, not high street pizza.

sweet and nutty with puff pastry

covered/enclosed or pasty-like

plain/nude and sweet

MENU del DÍA

2010-04-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

The Spanish revere lunch. It really is the oasis in the dessert of their day.
And what days. Long days. Hot days.
The history of being a largely agricultural nation meant many people worked the land. The climate that later brought the double-edged sword of tourism, burned a division into the day of the worker. Way too hot to do anything between 1pm and 5pm. So this became pleasure and rest time. The main meal of the day, the gathering of the family and a lengthy rest became a way of life.....and still is. I read that when Spain started to change and become an industrialized nation people were sucked from the land to the growing cities and life changed. People travelled to work which made it impractical/expensive to go home for lunch....even if you are allowed 4 hours. So the government made a law. Every restaurant was obliged to provide an affordable lunch so that people could maintain their tradition without having to go all the way home. And so was born the incredible value Menu del Día.
It is without doubt the best value meal available in Spain. Always 3 courses, often including wine, bread and water....sometmes coffee too.At time of writing the average price is between 8-12 euros. And this is also where the nation;s cooking traditions shine. No-fuss home cooking at it;s best. Don;t expect culinary gymnastics, garnishes, a smile or even conversation. But there is integrity cooked into every dish. A stoic, solid pride baked into each unsmiling cazuela that is banged down in front of you. Blue cigarette smoke still permeates these places, the best of which are packed every day by 3pm. Don;t make the tourist mistake of seeing restaurants empty at 1:30pm and assuming the are bad. Check back at 3pm and revise your opinion!
I still can;t make lunch my main meal. It just doesn;t work for me. I have tried but I can;t eat that much in the day...and I hate sleeping in the day too. And I STILL get caught out trying to do my shopping in the lunch "hour" "al estilo inglés" when everything is closed!!!
Some recent Menu del Día dishes.....

Huevos a la Riojana. Eggs baked in a spicy tomato sauce made with red wine and garnished with two slices of chorizo and some foaming garlic and parsley butter. Delicious, but piping hot which was frustrating. The eggs werent soft which would have been nicer. (Ive had hard boiled egg curry in India to which I would say the same) This, by the way was a starter!

Main course. Classic Catalan cooking. Duck with pears. Slow cooked, (almost confit) Duck (legs obviously) with lightly sautéd pears was a delight. Sticky, rich and falling apart, with just the pan juices as a sauce. Delicious....but don;t expect me to go back to work for at least 12 hours!
Catalan cooking often features meat and cooked fruit, or meat and shellfish togehter (mar y muntanya)(sea and mountain)

Another dish I had illustrates an important lesson to be learned in the appreciation of Catalan cooking. DO NOT JUDGE BY APPEARANCE! Paul Richardson refers to this in his book "A Late Dinner" . Banish any notions of modern food aesthetics. Understand that these dishes are born from a tough survival ethic and cannot countenence any pandering to vanity. In short, don;t be put off by ugly food. This dish looked pretty grim, but tasted wonderful. Broadbeans slowly cooked with morcilla (blood sausage) butiffara (another type of cooked sausage), and pork belly. A fore runner of real baked beans I suppose. The slow cooking had long since rendered any colour out of the beans but created a gravy that was truely wonderful. I have avoided this dish many times due to it's appearance (often in cold tapas counters) but have been thoroughly converted. This was also a starter!

PRETTY SITGES

2010-04-17T03:08:00.001-07:00

The seaside resort of Sitges is the Catalan equivalent of Brighton. Once a simple fishing village, it became a magnate for avant garde artists ever since Santiago Rousiñol took up residnce in the late 19C. The 1960's saw this reputation develop further as intellectuals and free thinkers sought to escape the oppression of the Franco dictatorship. It became a residence and holiday destination of choice for affluent Spainards, many of whom had made money in the Americas and concequently comissioned impressive mansions in the Modernist and Noucentista styles which today give the town so much of its charm. It;s about as nice as any tourist-dominated town can be. double click on any image to enlarge.

PAELLA SATURDAY

2010-04-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

I was invited by friends of my flat-mate to a Saturday paella birthday cook off. It was the same people who kindly invited me to their Calçotada (see previous post).
The format was triumphantly the same; Rustic old farmhouse with no electricity ( and I;m sure no planning permission).Killer views. A great crowd of bubbly people. Some twigs for a fire. A long table. that;s it.
It was fantastic. we didn;t have the sunny weather of the calçotada, but we still had a great time. Such a simple way to have a great birthday celebration.

BETTER THAN BRISTOL-TO-WESTON ON A WET, GREY SUNDAY.

2010-04-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Took the train to Barcelona last weekend and thought I'd film some of the journey to give you all a flavour of how pleasant a trip it is. Apart from the inescapable grafiti-stewn railway sidnings, and the poor quality from my hand held phone camera and a dusty train window I hope you'll get some appreciation of how lovely a trip it is. It's not all perfect. Some of the towns bear witness to random urban planning and there are a couple of campsites along the way which people say are very nice, but which tend to spoil the 'dessert island vibe'. However the coastline is thankfully devoid big scale tourism. Sitges is possibley the most touristy town but it has managed to retain much or its charm and style. Generally the journey reveales cove after cove of rugged rock, pine trees and scrub, cradling turquoise waters and clean, sparsely populated beaches. Please forgive the video quality, it's pretty bad but hey-ho!

DOOMED LOVE!

2010-03-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have fallen in love.........with a building!
Saw this sorry and forgotten building many months ago and fell in love immediately in the same way you fall in love with a mongrel puppy just because it;s very imperfections make it perfect.
Did some research. It was built around 1910 and was a hotel. It holds an AMAZING location.....perched on a hill, with killer views of the sea on one side and the ancient walls of the Old Town on the other.
It has a wide pavement in front with a fountain and trees.
But it;s clearly in an advanced state of disrepair. The owner fell tired of running it as a hotel wanted to turn it into flats. The council refused permission so he boarded it up.
And the stale-mate continued for 35 years!
I went into dream-mode. It would make a stunning base for quality boutique tourism. None of that package tourism rubbish. I;m talking sophisticated, cultured people who want an insight into the past and present of a World Heritage City. The rich cultural of Tarragona would be there for the taking. You know what I mean.
Anyway whilst I was dreaming about how to find out more, I read in the press that the council had finally bought the property after years of wrangling and were going to demolish it to make a green space!
I must admit I felt quite ill when I read this. Not only are the council missing a quality-tourism-trick.....they are also foregoing the associated provision of jobs that would come with it.
Green spaces might be very 'right-on' and 'eco-whatever' .....but this town (country) needs economic stimulus and jobs.
Damn! I Wish I was Richard Branson sometimes.

I'm taking the Hypocritic Oath (sic). Free expression is great, as long as I can control it!

2010-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

a little bit of sepratism methinks.....
a litle bit of da-da ism methinks

"silence is the loudest shout"

A few pics of Graffiti/street decoration which I like. I still cannot find an answer to the question of whether graffiti is a good or bad thing. I love creativity but there are obviously more aspects to this argument. Until such a time as a definitive answer appears I will continue to enjoy what I find ..as long as it's not on my property...unless it's a BANKSY! arrrrggghh ....what a hypocrite I am!!!

isn't this a bit Chagal-ish?

Tarragona...what's not to like?

2010-02-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

>

yes, this is a Miró commissioned tapestry

Many people have said to me (including my employer) why Tarragona? Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather be in a bigger city?
My answer from the day I stumbled across this jewel has been ...WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?
LET ME SUMMARIZE:
- Beautiful, unspoilt coastal location.
- Few tourists.....(haven't heard a single british voice in town)
- Amazing historic Old Town
- Fascinating 'tension' between Spain and Catalunia. (some people really uncomfortable speaking Castillian)
- Wonderful traditional fiestas. The week-long Santa Tecla is a blast for anyone looking to gain insight into another culture.
- Small enough so I can afford to live centrally.
- Barcelona is only a 6 euro train-ride away.
- I can run through the medieval Old Town, down to the beautiful, deserted beach, along to the Port, up through the seedy Port town and home, on a daily basis. It's like a trip through the centuries on foot!
- I can stroll down the elegant Ramblas (there are two) to the Balcon del Mediterraneo, which must be up there with any seaside town promenade in Europe.
- The Food Market...see previous posts. They speak for themselves.
- The art. Yes there is art. A couple-or-three museums....see pics above.
- Finally what I call 'the allure of restricted entry' . This City hides it's best secrets. It hasn't prostituted itself. You can't access them without inside introduction. Many things go on by word of mouth. I am still very much an outsider, but I can smell the secrets,,,they are there....waiting for me to win my rite of passage. Then the true rewards will reveal themselves. (double click to enlarge all pics).

CALÇOTADA - AN UNDISCOVERED CULINARY TREASURE

2010-02-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

The Calçotada has held mythical status for me since reading Paul Richardsons' book 'A Late Dinner'. It only exists in Cataluña and is a curious ritual-like feast featuring the most primeval of forces, fire, and the simplest of ingredients, the onion. Of course it holds great sway with me as it embodies the essence of what I call subsistence-alchemy. I have experienced it now first hand and have to say it is something that should be on EVERY gastronome's must-do list. I officially declare the Calçotada one of the gastronomic wonders of the world!
The story goes that from January to March, onion farmers used to dig their fields and would find that the onions missed in the autumn harvest had sprouted, The particular varitey used produced a sprout very simmilar in appearance to a leek. The subsistence survival instincts kicked in and the workers would build a wood fire and roast the onions over the flames. This rustic workers onion barbecue became a local tradition known as the Calçotada.

It is still rustic. Very rustic. Often a stand-up affair it must be done outside with a pine or vine wood fire. It has a party atmosphere derived from the need for all hands on deck; fire building and tending, onion trimming, vegetable peeling etc.
The onions are cooked over a fierce fire to a scarily blackened state. They are then wrapped in newspaper to allow them to steam and relax. The blackened onions are held in the hand and the charred outer leaves are stripped with the fingers to access the simple but exquisite sweet caramelized onion flesh beneath. This is then dipped in the classic romesco sauce of pounded nuts, dried peppers, fried bread, garlic and tomato and conveyed to the mouth by hand. No cutlery allowed! The taaste is exquisite. Smoky, sweet, earthy, and rich. This is real country cooking and a great way to spend a Sunday.

In order not to waste the fire, and to give the meal extra dimension, sausages and meat are also grilled as well as peppers, artickokes and anything else you might care to add to your feast. Click on the videos below to see it in action.

getting a rack on onions on

taking some off and turning the rack

Wrapping them in paper so they steam and stay warm too.

how to eat a calçot

Bacalao-bakaiļao- bacallà -baccalà -bacalhau

2010-01-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

Bacalao (Spanish), bakaiļao(Basque), bacallà (Catalan), morue (French), baccalà (Italian), bacalhau (Portuguese), klippfisk/clipfish (Scandinavian), saltfiskur (Icelandic), bakalar (Croatian), and Saltfish (Caribbean).

This is one popular hunk of hard, leathery-to-almost-wooden, salt encursted, smelly, preserved fish. How come? Well the age old need for food preservation before refrigeration. Althought phenomenally popular in all the above countries (and a few more such as Macao and other PORTUGUESE COLONIES) the main sources of the fish have always been Newfoundland, Scandinavia and Iceland. They say there is at least one different recipie for saltcod for every day of the year n Portugal. Over here it features too, but not quite so obsessively. I've tried it and was quite impressed. It has a slightly sticky and gelationus quality. Before using, it is soaked in water for 24 hours, changing the water every 3 hours.

Bacalao with Chickpeas
Ingredients - serves 4 people

400g bacalao, large fillets
Virgin olive oil
200g jar chickpeas
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Parsley
1 bay leaf
2 tsp Flour for thickening
Vinegar, 1tbsp
Method

Put the de-salted bacalao in a pan of water and simmer gently for 15 minutes. After fifteen minutes, remove the fish to a plate, but keep the water.
In another pan put the peeled and finely chopped onion and cook gently until it begins to brown.
Add the garlic and chopped parsley, stir and cook for another minute.
Mix with the vinegar and the flour to make a paste, then add to the onions with the bay leaf and several tbsp of the reserved fish water.
Simmer for five minutes then add the chick peas and heat through for another five minutes.

Interesting Reading Test

2010-01-26T05:05:00.000-08:00

Given that my typing is quite prone to errors I was fascinated to read that apparently the brain can decipher words that are misspelt or even completely jumbled as long as the first and last letters are correct. Read the passage below to see what they mean. It's quite amazing!

I cdnuolt blveiee
taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the
ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the
first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm.. This
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Emperor's New Clothes! Is Spain falling into the gastro trap??

2010-01-26T01:09:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this video (click the link below) of a cookery demonstration by a top level chef and am now very, very scared for Spain's gastronomic future. It's in Spanish and I'm afraid it's a bit long winded with lots of rabbiting on by the chef about being an inventor and giving twists to classic dishes and surprises to the diners. Please bear with it if you want to see the car-crash that is his final dish.
His mission is to change, innovate and surprise. I thought we all just wanted excellent food?
Anyway......the first dish involves wrapping an egg yolk and a piece of ham in pizza dough and then deep frying it. He says the objective is that the yolk should be warm, the ham, melting and the bread crunchy. I haven't eaten it so can't really comment, but I suppose it sound reasonably pleasant. My real problem is with the second dish. Let me explain.
He cooks an egg for 30 minutes at 65 degrees. Ok....whatever! (this is so irrelevant when you see what happens to it later)
He shells it and puts in a bowl. He drizzles oil and adds salt.
He pours on an infusion of squid and explains that the dish is trying to put a TWIST on a Spanish noodle soup (sopa de fideus). He then adds a big mound of deep fried rice noodles. ( a cheap, gimmicky trick with a so-what-ish result)
It's now starting to look ridiculous.
He says he wants the diner to be reminded of childhood memories of bowls of popcorn.
Why?
What's the point? Am I at the cinema or in a fine dining reastaurant?
And how do you eat it?
He explains....and demonstrates.
"As the diner eats, the dish changes. Dishes should change during the eating."
(He starts to mash the noodles into the soup in a way that children do when they don't want to eat something).
"It will start to mix together and by the third mouthful it will start to ressemble a traditional noodle soup."
ER....NO.....IT WILL START TO RESEMBLE DOG VOMIT!!!!
I don't know about you, but I don't want what I ordered to mutate into something different. I want it to stay deliciously-the-same until it's finished.
¡Ostia!. If this is the future, Spain's cooking is in great danger of self destructing in the way French Nouvelle Cuisine did in the 80's, when 'wannabes' lost sight of the truths and just ran with the gimmicks. It will become a parody of itself. Such extreme pushing of creative boundaries should be done by a few geniuses, the rest need to remember just to cook good food. He has indeed 'twisted' and 'surprised' thereby achieving his stated objectives. But twists for twists' sake are pointless, and a seagull shitting on your shoulder can be a surprise, but not necessarily a pleasant one. PLEASE GET A GRIP AND STOP MESSING WITH THE FOOD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9yafYEO1E

They do Christmas....twice!

2010-01-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Spain spreads the Christmas celebrations over two different days. The usual 25th of December and what they call Reyes (Kings) which is on the 5/6th january. Kids get presents on BOTH days. (doesn't that concept just make your wallet shiver?) I caught the night celebrations of Reyes on 5th and it consisted of floats depicting the Kings and Nativity figures being paraded through the centre of town with the usual marching bands an d fireworks. many of the floats had loads of kids on them in costumes and they would throw handfulls of sweets to the packed crowds in the streets. It was a great family event.
The traditional cake of Reyes is the 'roscon' a flat, oval shaped cake made of a sort of heavy brioche which is stuffed with a sweet preserve made from a spaghetti squash and decorated with candied fruit. It is very sweet and fragrant, with slightly middle eastern notes....a bit rose water-ish, a bit quince-ish. Nothing close to the cinnamon/clove flavours of England. It's actually quite delicious and I find more appealing than UK Christmas cake. Inside are hidden a dried broadbean and a toy king, with the usual promises of fortune and luck to those who find them. Of course you risk breaking a tooth or choking to death in your quest,,,,,but then most people readily accept stress, depression, addiction, duplicity, lying, cheating, back-stabbing, heart disease, eating disorders and divorce in their quest for fortune so what the hell............

Cultural difference.....not a turkey in sight.

2010-01-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

The Christmas menu here bears little resemblance to the UK. I didn't see a single turkey for sale. But these equally cute little critters seem to be quite popular. There is actually a particular suckling pig appelation which comes from Segovia where they produce these babies to strict quality guidelines which define breed, and diet of the mother let alone the baby, and of course age. They cannot be older than three weeks. When I looked at this picture I couldn't help feeling that there was something slightly surreal about it, yet I couldn't put my finger on it. Then it came to me.....the baby pigs still look alive. They are almost like waxworks. The second from the left is positively smiling, the one at the back had the loins and torso of an olympic swimmer. There's something very healthy and alive about this collection of piglets. Or is it just me...........? (double click on the picture to enlarge it)

Cultural Difference....(not) lost in translation

2010-01-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

Varoius interesting cultural differences have been encountered on this, my first Spanish December ever. Of course I had to address Christmas traditions in my language classes. The kids told me about one of theirs. A Cagatió. Now when I heard my 8 year old pupil saying this I thought I must have been mistaken.....because the literal translation is 'a shit log'. Cagar is slang for going to the toilet, and tió means log. They were explaining it to me and all I could understand was that there was this kind of tree trunk with a face on it that looks a bit like a dog, which is full of sweets and when you hit it with a stick and shout "Cagatio" ( 'do a poo for me') it releases some sweets from its rear end, as if going to the toilet. Of course I was angry, angry with myself that at this stage my Spanish was still so bad that my comprehension resulted in such a load of gibberish. I was quite disappointed that I couldn't undertand an 8 year old explaining a simple Christmas tradition. So I mentioned it to my boss. I said that the kids had been trying to explain to me what a Cagatio was and I had clearly misunderstood. I was too embarassed to tell him what I thought they had said so I just asked him to enlighten me.
He said:
'it's a kind of tree trunk with a face on it that looks a bit like a dog, which is full of sweets and when you hit it with a stick and shout 'do a poo for me' it releases some sweets from its rear end as if going to the toilet.'
I guess it's the Catalan version of a Yule log in more ways than one! And I also suppose that my Spanish isn't too bad after all. It's a Catalan tradition so not universally known in Spain, and illustrates the regions' bizzare interest in things scatalogical.

Winter Sun

2010-01-11T14:42:00.001-08:00

Back in Tarragona after Xmas break in Bristol to be with family. It's definitely cold here, and all the surrounding hills are dusted with snow.....and we've had a fair bit of grey and rainy days, but today was beautiful......reminded me of the Alps......very cold, but crystal clear blue skies and sun. Makes you feel alive!! Who needs summer if winter is like this! (only kidding.....really looking forward to the summer, but have forgoten how hot it will get and how unpleasant it can be arriving at work and feeling like you need to change your shirt before you start).
Anyway here's a taste a perfect winters day. Click on the start arrow on the video window below.

Winter Scene

2009-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

Just a quick snap I took on 20 December of Tarragona beach. We have had raqin and it's quite cold now, but we also get lovely bright crisp days like this which makes winter so much more pleasant. Feliz Navidad or Bon Nadal whichever you prefer!

When is a dog really a pig?

2009-12-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

I love the Spanish jamones and wouldn't want to cast any sort of slur on them. However a funny thing happened to me which I feel I must share, hoping it will not do anything to put you off a great national product.
I was invited to someones house recently and when I walked in the door I was hit by the heavy, strong, unmistakable smell of wet dog.I reccognised it immediately from many a winter walk with dogs in my youth, and was about to say "what kind of dog have you got" when I was interrupted, and the moment passed. As time passed I was puzzled by the apparent absence of said dog, and anyway, it was 35 C outside so how did the dog get wet? I assumed there was a large, hairy dog-blanket somewhere which was creating the smell. Fortunately I never got round to asking about the dog because there wasn't one. The cause of the smell was not canine at all, but a large ham in the kitchen on the sideboard, covered loosely with a tea towel. I couldn't believe it. I was convinced the guy had an enormous dripping wolfhound somewhere which had been emitting the (supposedly) unmistakable, pungent smell of damp dog, but no. For a single person, a ham that size would take months to consume, during which time it was perfuming his flat with its own essence. He lived in a permanent bubble of musty, meaty, yeasty, shaggy haminess due to this particularly Iberian kitchen accessory, to which he was apparently oblivious. Suffice to say the flat was small, the ham was big and the weather was warm. By the end of the evening it was making me feel quite unwell. It took me a couple of weeks before I could look a salty pigs' leg in the eye again......if you know what I mean.

Spanish Ham explained

2009-12-21T22:57:00.000-08:00

For a country whose history includes large chunks of Muslim occupation it is maybe odd that Pork has become such a definitive national meat. Some have suggested that it is actually a tacit example of Spain’s propensity for rebelling against any who try to force them to be something they don’t want to be. All I know is that Jamon is worshiped here as a national treasure and is treated with a reverence bordering on obsession.
There are two initial distinctions to understand; Serrano and Iberico.

SERRANO
meaning ‘from the mountains’ is made using white ‘Landrace’ pigs. Confusingly it is also known as Jamon Reserva. Jamon Curado, or Jamon Extra. The pigs are compound-fed. The reason they are cured up a mountain is because it’s colder and therefore better for not giving you botulism which is always a good feature!.
Examples of Serrano appellations are:

Cured ham of Trevélez:
cured at least 1,200 meters above sea level. They are qualified to be among the “sweetest” cured hams due to the low degree of salting necessary for the drying and maturing processes to succeed properly. This is caused by the north winds coming from the high tips of Sierra Nevada, which still had copious amounts of snow on it when I was there last May (whilst the city temperature in Granada itself was about 35 C!)

Cured ham of Teruel:
cured at least 800 meters above sea level, with a minimum of a year of curing and aging.

IBERICO
Is made using black Iberian pigs or ‘pata negra’ . It tends to come from the west and south-west of Spain hwere teh cork oak forests border with Portugal. It is classified depending on feed and exercise. The best and most expensive are free range and fed only on acorns (bellota) the next best is fed a mix of commercial feed and acorns, and the least revered is fed only commercial feed and is housed in compounds. The hit parade looks like this:

3. Jamón Ibérico Cebo Campo hogs are compound-fed only commercial feed. Cured 24 months
2. Jamón Ibérico Recebo hogs are raised on commercial feed and fed acorns for the last few months of their lives. Part pasture, part compund fed.
1. Jamón Ibérico Bellota hogs are fed a diet almost exclusively of acorns (bellotas). The are free range and are cured for 36 months. The exercise and diet have a huge impact on the flavour. This is the most prized.

A final varition is a paletilla which is a front leg instead of a back leg. This is less revered, smaller and generally cheaper.

Bellota jamones are prized both for their smooth texture and rich savory taste. A good ibérico ham has regular flecks of intramuscular fat. Because of the pig's diet of acorns, much of the jamón's fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. (wikepedia)
The fat content is relatively high compared to Jamon Serrano thus giving a richer taste.
Other words you might have seen are Huelva, Jabugo, Guijelo, Salamanca. These are towns which have a DO status and produce particularly good Iberico ham

Of course the hams are not refrigerated. I don’t know how that would go down with the UK health and safety police, but it isn’t a problem here. Every bar has a ham on a stand and many have them hanging from the rafters which is a splendid sight to a glutton like me. Some bars employ sexy staff to entice customers in. I prefer the sight of sexy hams! The curious inverted plastic cones are to catch the drips of fat which form as the ham continues to cure and shrink. Pig fat in your hair tends to drive customers away!

More Xmas decorations. Oh, and by the way...anyone for a spot of Rodin?

2009-12-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

More Xmas decorations.
Oh, and bye the way.....anyone for a spot of Rodin? Enjoy!

Herbs R Us !

2009-12-13T12:09:00.001-08:00

AT LAST! I've found a local Arabic shop that sells fresh herbs!! I can indulge myself with BAsil, Dill, Parsley, Tarragon, Coriander and MINT. So it's fresh mint tea in the mornings from now on. No more dusty tasting teabags!! Yipeeee!!!!

XMAS DECOR

2009-12-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

Xmas is upon us and Tarragona has done it again. They have decorated the city centre with such understated style and class that I think every local council form the UK should come on a visit to see how it should be done. I've only taken a few quick snaps so far and they don't do it justice alt all, but will update with more.

A SURREAL TRIP TO BARCELONA

2009-12-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

Had the wierdest trip to Barcelona the other weekend. Took late train after work at 9pm. All good. Nodded off with Ipod. Woke up when gang of 8 noisy yoofs bounded on board and chose to sit next to me. Actually they surrounded me as it were. Last time this happened (25 years ago in Paris) I got mugged, so felt a prickle of apprehension. The guy opposite me seemed to have the role of ringleader/court jester and was talking non stop and making his mates fall about with laughter. He kept trying to catch my attention but I resisted his attempts. I noticed he had the end of a joint in his hand which he seemed quite happy to flaunt. I then witnessed him openly and overtly chop cocaine on a cigarette packet with a credit card and snort it .....twice in 15 minutes. This explained his manic chattering and fidgeting. They eventually disbanded and I arrived in peace (un-mugged!). Had booked a very cheap but centrally located Hostal. And therein lies the tale. Readers please take note that the classic combination of "very cheap" and "centrally located" invariably, by definition, without exception, inexorably means "shocking quality". So as i dodged the prostitutes and pimps of the upper Raval, and breathed in the perfume of urine and garbage that pervaded the alley in which my Hostal resided I did indeed ponder the notion of the proverbial "false economy". I pursuaded myself, as I had done before that I was at least getting an unsanitized (literally), authentic, street-level view of one side of the true Barcelona. I was officially "keepin' it real" as they say in street-parlance. Once inside, the hostal was ok. Honest. It was. Just about....Would I stay there again?? Ermmm.....well....errr....no. But that doesn't mean that I wish I hadn't had this experience. It's one of those character-building experiences that makes for great repartee....and blog material! I really should have known better from the name.....please don't laugh....but what do you expect from a Hostal in the middle of Barcelona that calls itself Hostal Miami! I mean please...! At least they didn't have a plastic palm tree in reception.
I explored the Raval area which was a relevation. If anyone is looking for a snapshot of 18th century Barcelona, all you have to do is wander the Raval at 3am, and squint your eyes so you can blur out any 21st century references like shop signs/clothes etc. The rest is all there. The maze of menacing dark narrow alleys formed by the tall blocks of gothic flats which seem to lean towards each other. The laundry hanging from every balcony. Dripping drainpipes, smelly sewers.The murky, shady, freaky creatures of the night who loiter in groups, beckon from doorways, shout, fight, laugh, scream. The transvestites, the African street hawkers, the tramps ferreting through the rubbish bins, the party-goers swaying and staggering through the darkness. All to a soundtrack of leaking nightclub music,restaurant kitchen noises, leary crowds of partygoers, distant screams and breaking glass....there's ALWAYS breaking glass. Maybe i'd had a bit to drink, but I felt like I'd gone back 200 years. It was uncanny. And then the rats....
As I made my way back to piss-alley Hostal I saw a family of rats at work. There were 8 of them running in and out of a drain grate in the road and they were climbing up and down a shiny metal rod which formed part of a large restaurant dump bin. I have never seen rats climb anything before, let alone a shiny narrow metal rod, but they zoomed up it like it was a ladder. I was quite mesmerised by their skill and lack of fear. The street was busy with people and we were only maybe 2 feet away from them.
My nights sleep was punctuated by the usual sounds of urban Spain. Banging, shouting, barking, refuse removal lorries you name it...i'm quite used to it now. It's just part of the night here. The next day I wondered if I had dreamed my medieval fantasy. I felt a bit like Mr. Ben in the cartoon. Had it really been like that? As i walked the streets, daylight had clearly contemporized them, the creatures had changed into normal shopkeepers and punters although the hookers and pimps were still around. But I'm convinced that come nightfall the Raval will transform itself once again into its sinister, but irresistible medieval alter ego.

TRADITIONAL BARCELONA TAPAS

2009-11-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

went to BCN on a pilgrimage to Commerc 24, the hot, contemporary tapas restaurant run by ex-Adria chef Carles Abelan. It's perfectly located in the less salubrious, but up-and-coming area of El Born. I think there is an unwritten law that seems to state that the best places are never in the 'best' areas. There's something about the integrity of a place that can't afford the best location. The food has to be good, to get people to come there. Anyway we couldn't get in. So had to shelve it for another day. In the mean time I managed to go to this place which was more old-school and very charming for it. Counter displays of raw ingredients which got passed back to the kitchen through a hatch for cooking and then delivered to you. The place was slick,busy and looked the part. Staff were nicely kitted out in white jackets and attitude; clearly from the school of 'bark and don't smile' which i'm actually begining to get used to. I've stopped taking it personally as it seems to be an 'across-the-board' policy. I orderd a pile of oyster mushrooms and some croquetas. Mushrooms were greasy and underseasoned with burnt flecks of something...maybe garlic....and lacked that vital acidity. No lemon/wine/sharp herb to lift them. I've come to the conclusion that the best way to cook mushrooms is to effectively steam them in an emulsion which reduces to become a dressing lifted by a squeeze or squirt of chosen acid. Season. Add herb. Done. I keep trying the croquetas in the vain hope that one day I'll find one that dosen't taste like wallpaper paste. I guess i'll have to keep trying....Spain has some nice food...but there's a lot of average stuff too.

MY GOD I FOUND IT!!!

2009-11-20T15:46:00.000-08:00

After many a disappointing 'pa amb tomaquet' (apart from the ones at Bodega and La Nau which, although different, are sensational in their own right due to the freshness of the bread and the quality of the oil) I finally found somewhere where they grill the bread for that smokey, burnt taste. They also serve whole garlic cloves so you can 'rub you're own' and therefore adjust the power of the allium to suit your mood/afternoon commitments. I have come to the conclusion that the fresh bread versions don't actually include garlic at all. Maybe this is deemed as a refinement in this region. I deem it as a churlish deprivation of joy. Anyway I feasted on bitter/smokey toast redolent with the AROMA of rubbed garlic, sweetened by freshly sliced ripe tomato, anointed with the sacred green oil and set alight with rocksalt. A shiny, timeless, fashion-proof example 'par excellence' of true food alchemy.

BLACK RICE WITH SARDINES

2009-11-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

With Pete I ordered Rrossejat, a local signature dish variation on Paella, The rice is fried first which gives it a chewey texture not dissimilar to Farro (spelt). The flavour is built as usual with a 'sofregit' of aromatics and a stock which I guess includes squid ink as it always appears to be quite dark. This particular restaurant chose a garnish of baked sardines which were just that...a garnish, cooked on top of the rice. I have to confess it was ok....but not outstanding. I've had more sensory pleasure from Valencian Paellas and Aroces in their various meat/fish combinations, particularly a Rabbit and Snail recipe I had once with tender broadbeans. The dark Rossejat had also taken on a slightly metallic taint from the castiron pan it was cooked in. I'll try it again soon and see if it impresses more. but for the time being the jury is out...

TRAVEL DISASTER NO. 1

2009-11-13T02:11:00.000-08:00

Last time I went home I planned it well and felt I knew the local area well enough to get from Tarra to the airport by bus. It's only 8 km. No problem. Located sales office. Tapped on window. Got ignored for 2 minutes. Then she left the office for 5 minutes. Then she came and barked 'dime' at me ( what do you want) so I said these very words in spanish.; " A TICKET TO THE AIRPORT PLEASE'. She said 'which terminal?'. I thought 'that's wierd', it's a tiny airport, there's only one terminal. She said she needed the information for the ticket. So I just said terminal 1. She printed the ticket and charged me €13.50. I thought it was a lot for a short journey but didn't say anything. Next day I was on a lovely plush bus half way to BARCELONA AIRPROT before i realized something was amiss. The miserable old bag had sold be a ticket to an airport 60 km away instead of the local one. And before you ask...yes....it's the same bus company...same ticket office...same woman. Of course I missed my 10€ flight and had to buy one on the spot for a cool €135. Ouch!!!! i'm still wincing at the memory. It appears that unless you specify, they default to BCN airport. I think they consider Reus airport to be little more than a cowshed in a field where planes are sometimes allowed to land. Admittedly it is small and basic but perfectly adequate. Oh well you live and learn....

THERE ARE SNAILS!!!!

2009-11-11T02:18:00.000-08:00

Locals love their snails..and most bars advertise their availability with a simple sign in the window saying "Hay caracoles" or "cargoles" in Catalan, sometimes illustrated with a cartoon drawing which looks like Brian from the Magic Roundabout. This means 'there are snails' but translates as 'snails are on the menu'. The classic recipe produces a bowl of snails in a spicy, slightly murky and thinnish red/brown sauce. I think the murk comes from paprika which can have that effect on a sauce. They are quite delicious and very different to the classic Burgundian treatment. All you need is a toothpick, glass of wine, lots of noise and wafting cigarette smoke (yes they still allow that here) for a truly definitive gulp of Spain.

MIDDLE-AGED RANT

2009-11-10T15:27:00.001-08:00

I’m quite bored by the number of bars that seem on the surface to be avid followers of the ‘grunge approach to hospitality management’. This takes the following form: Not beign ready for customers at your advertised opening times. Rubbing sleep from your eyes when said customers try to order. Sweeping the floor around your feet. Having last nights dirty glassware on display on the bartop. Not having any of your preparation (menus napkins chairs etc) ready for incoming customers. Looking like you've slept in your clothes.

Grunge is cool when it is a fashion statement, when it challenges previously established views which have become flabby and dull. Views that have started to drown in their own sickly niceness. It’s a breath of fresh air, an un-ironed revolt, a faded-denim slap in the face, an uncombed, unwashed wake-up call. But like any worthy movement it takes planning, consideration and attention to detail. To quote Banksy, ‘mindless vandalism takes a lot of thought”. What I see here in some of the bars has nothing to do with intelligent anti-fashion and everything to do with laziness and scruffiness. As with many movements before, it has hit the mainstream and been adopted by those who have no clue of the original ideal.

The trick with grunge is that it should be an illusion. It’s a fashion. It’s for looks only. The art is to look like you haven’t taken any care over your appearance…..to appear to disapprove aesthetically with ironing clothes and combing hair………to pretend that you don’t wash or shave every day because you’re just too damn cool.
Sadly I’ve been in to too many bars where the grunge leaks from personal fashion choice to slovenly, badly run business. To paraphrase Shania Twain “ so you think you’re Brad Pitt (in Kalifornia)….that don’t impress me much……unless the service and food/drink are amazing and you make me feel like I am wanted” …a sticky bartop is not cool, it’s just unpleasant…….an un swept floor is a sure sign of the state of the kitchen,……the miserable pout of the waitress who would so obviously much rather still be in bed is the antithesis of hospitality in any context. I would happily welcome any of the grunge puryeyors if only they could show me how their approach has elevated their artform and made things better for the customer. Bah humbug!!!!

BATTY VISITS

2009-11-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

Had visit from best friend. we go back a long way and share various obsessions such as food, markets, travel, wine etc. so had a great time. It's nice to share the experience so all visitors are welcome. Managed a one night in BCN which was nice. That city needs some serious time spent to really uncover it's hidden treasures. Gastronomic highs included Pete's baked Hake on sliced potatoes with garlic, (menu del dia €12 for 3 courses) the Priorat red at Bodega where they give you wine straight from the barrel (see Priorat label) chipirones (fried baby squid), a tapa of wild mushrooms and jamon in BCN, as well as a sausage and bean tapa. Of course we went to the market as well. Bought Galeras....mantis shrimp....which seemed too cheap to be true. €6/kg. ~They looked great and indeed tasted FANTASTIC, a real sweet prawn flavour. The reason for cheapness is that they are very hard to peel and contain little meat. You can't suck the shells either coz they are razor sharp and adorned with defensive spikes. But for the money would be amazing as the base for a rice dish, soup or pasta sauce. Well worth a try. Played 'russian roulette' with a plate of Padron peppers...small green peppers, sauted whole and served with rock salt (I add a squeeze of lemon and black pepper) the catch being that one in ten of the peppers are hot like chillis.....eat at your own risk!!! Finally Pete decided to join my special 'club for travel-navigation disasters' and gave me a panicked call from Vilanova i la Geltru when he should have been at the airport. Suffice to say he was in the wrong place...and time was ticking. But to his credit he hatched a plan involving a train/taxi combo based on me looking a googlemaps at home and approving his proposed route via mobile. He made it!!! the wonders of modern communications.

MISTAKES COME IN 3's so they say....

2009-11-01T17:47:00.000-08:00

Well I managed to accrue my 3rd food-based cock-up to follow on from the Prawns and Percebes. Let's hope this is the end of it and I can get back to some good gastronomic discoveries. Anyway I was in one of my favorite tapas bars and wanted to try some new stuff. Liked the sound of 'Aros de cebolla rebozado' believing that aros must be Catalan for Aroz (rice). So I had made up my mind this was some kind of interesting rice dish with onions. I asked the waitress and she gabbled away at me and I made the fatal mistake of nodding when I didn't really understand. Actually I did understand her, but her explanation didn't match my preconception, so I assumed I had misunderstood. She said 'it's a bit like Calamares (fried squid rings) and very delicious'. I assumed there would be squid in the rice dish. So I ordered it and almost burst out laughing when I realized what it was. DEEP FRIED BATTERED ONION RINGS!!! 'Aros' has nothing to do with 'aroz' but means 'ring' . So I sat in the deepest of Catalan bars trying to explore the inner mysteries of Catalonia's most fundamental ingredient and all I get is a McDonalds-ish bowl of onion rings. What's that expression about 'assumption being the mother of all cock-ups......'?

ANOTHER BIG ANTICLIMAX

2009-10-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

Been trying to get my paws on percebes for years. Those barnacles form NorthEast/Basque Spain that look like dinosaurs toes and allegedly cost lives in their harvesting. Finally saw some at local rough-neck Tapas bar and gave them a try. All I can say is that they were curiously pleasant....slightly sweet, thin fleshy tubes that you pull out of the papery barnacle shell with your teeth. I was mildly enjoying them thinking that as a curious barsnack they had a certain novelty appeal. Then the barman gave me the bill for €9. What the *?"!!*? Coupled with my Prawn fiasco the other day I'm beginning to feel like I'm getting the guiri (foreigner) rip off. But I checked the prices and they are the going rate in both cases. I fully understand and appreciate the ethos of foraging for food as a survival mechanism in all parts of the world, and i am aware that this practice has led to some of the worlds most outstanding gastronomic achievements. However, all I can say is if someone offers you a small plate of percebes for €9 you'd be better off going home and marinating a few rubber bands in some seawater and adding a tiny bit of grit every few mouthfulls. I bet you could do that for less than €2.!!!

HARD CORE PRAWN !

2009-10-29T02:15:00.000-07:00

Having eulogised bout the local seafood I thought I'd better put my money where my mouth is. The markets have many types of prawn all with different names, and price tags. But strangely not many feature on local menus. On way home the other night I stopped off at afore-mentioned fishmongers and splahsed out on the most expensive prawn...at €59/kg(yes....fifty-nine) Now I knew I wouldn't get many for my money but was hoping for fireworks in the mouth when I ate them. Wrong. What a dissappointment, and dare-I-say 'ripoff' I got 6 prawns for €10. Once peeled I fried and boiled the heads and shells to make a stock, which in turn became a paella-esque rice using chorizo, saffron, sweet peppers and onion. The prawns were added at the last minute. The rice was good. But the €10 prawns were bland and flabby in texture. A huge disappointment and definitely not worth the money. I can see why they don't feature on menus locally, nobody would pay the money for them. I am mystified and will do further research.

LATENIGHT SEAFOOD SHOPPING

2009-10-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about Spain is the different dynamic to life back home. The timings are all askew due to the midday siesta which takes some getting used to. I still get caught out trying to nip to the shops at 2pm forgetting they are all closed between 1pm and 5pm. The up-side is that I can walk home at 9pm from work and nip into the local fishmongers/carniceria/cheese shop/delicatessen....yes....they still all exist here as separate independent outlets (haven't come across a candlestick-maker yet) and I must say its a pleasure to hop from one to the other and shop like our grandmothers used to....
check out the local fishmongers display.....

While i'm on the subject I can't help but noticing that the fish selection in the supermarkets is also incredible. Why does the fish in Uk supermarkets look like it comes from a factory instead of the sea....even on the fresh counter....and I'm talking about Bristol...a major port twice the size of Tarragona.

A TERRIBLE CONFESSION....SORRY CATALUNIA

2009-10-15T14:34:00.000-07:00

I have a terrible confession to make, I feel like a heretic....I am betraying the one I love but I can't help it. I've tried and tried and tried...but i just can't help myself anymore. It has to be said. The hiddeous truth is..........I.....just.....don't .........rate.........pa amb tomaquet!. (no, the cat didn't just walk across the keyboard...that is the Catalan spelling for bread with tomato)
Now.....there is history to explain.....I first fell in love with the concept of toasted bread, rubbed garlic, fresh tomato, E.V. olive oil and salt when i was 15 and ate the product in the Valencia region many times as a young tourist. I have also reproduced the concept many times in my restaurants to good effect. Chargrilled sourdough bread or similar, rub with a garlic clove, (this tastes TOTALLY different from chopping the garilc and adding it to the tomatoes) paint with olive oil, spoon on chopped tomato flesh, season...close eyes....eat....don't speak for 30 seconds at least. It is the quintessential flavour of common sense. It encapsulates in one meagre dish the essence of great cooking tradition. That is to use your circumstances and best ingredients to perform alchemy....turn base elements into gastronomic gold. In Tarra I have tried many a tomato bread and have been mostly disappointed. Why? Well. 1. the quality of the bread. Its what I would call 'yesterdays French Baguette'....no hard crust or chewey ,lemony crumb. Its the easy cop-out but it brings the dish down. 2. The garlic has been mild to absent on most occasions.This might be considered as a refined touch, but to me it's the equivalent of de-caf coffee...kind of anathema. 3. The tradition of rubbing the tomato might be historically 'correct' but leaves me cold. I'd rather have a generous helping of ripe, chopped, tomato flesh instead of a smear of tomato water and seeds. And finally the most important missing element. The bitter twang of chargrilling. All the breads I have tasted have been 'toasted' not grilled over fire. Now the odds are stacked against me as: a) I'm not Spanish ...let alone Catalan. b)can every restaurant in Tarragona be wrong and Ant is right? But I actually don't care. I don't give a flying fig if I'm out of step with tradition....I just know that chargrilling sourdough bread over flames, rubbing it with a garlic clove, topping with chopped ripe tomato flesh, anointing with EVO and seasalt tastes a damn sight better that what I have been served.(actually I usually add black pepper and ...don't call the guardia civil......basil) So all I can say is that if what I have experienced is traditional Pa amb tomaquet then it has lost it's way.....viva la revolution!!! power to the heretic!!!! But then again, Imagine a well-meaning but deluded Spanish upstart trying to show Aunt Bessie how to make yorkshire pudding!

GRAFFITI....ART OR CRIME?

2009-10-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

Spain seems awash with graffiti. Having used Banksy as subject matter fo many a TEFL lesson I am still wrestling with the question in the title to this post. In the absence of a definitive answer I have resigned myself to position Of impartial observer. Tarra does not disappoint. Ranging from a whole street awash with highly attractive daubings and customized bollards...to witty (?) stencils and upsidedown DaDaist musings about altered reality and absurdity.

THEN THERE'S THIS.....ROUGHLY TRANSLATED IT MEANS
"THE IDIOTS ARE BACK
POLITICS IS CARRIED OUT BY SUBSIDIZED IDIOTS
MY ENEMIES HAVE MADE ME WHAT I AM TODAY"

A stencil reminiscent of our man Banksy

I saw this small and simplistic graffito (is that the singular?) and I just really liked it. The colour jumped out at me, and the juxtaposition with the door and grille just really looked good. I call it the blue rat. On closer inspection the outline of the rat has been carved into the stone.

WOT ??!!? NO FRESH HERBS? YOU MUST BE 'AVIN A BUBBLE.....

2009-10-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well who would have thunk it (sic) the Spanish in this region don't "do" fresh herbs....and I ain't talking Mary-Jane.....i'm after Basil...Mint, Corriander....or even just plain old Parsley....but no-way-Jose. My worries started when I realized I hadn't seen anything herbal in the Supermarkets.....must be a crappy branch i thought....but no....each one housed staff who looked at me as if I really was asking for marijuana....Never mind..the AMAZING central market is sure to have piles of fresh herbs, it has better seafood than I have ever seen in the UK. But no.....all I managed to find was two mangy packs of mint for €2.5 each!!! The stall holder told me the Spanish don't really go for fresh herbs and this was confirmed by a local who I chatted to.....what a surprise. I limped back to the flat with my equally limp mint and wrapped it in clingfilm as if it were the last of a threatened species (instead of the invasive weed it is) and pondered the sick irony of a city called Tarragona not having any tarragon. I started to make furtive plans for window boxes, grow-bags on the roof terrace and scattering seeds sent from the UK in the local park....I would start a herb revolution...Barcelona will have Basil, Catalonia will be swamped with Corriander, and you can guess which town would be come my hotbed for Taragon. I could see my face on the cover of Herb Magazine Monthly....'English maverick changes the cooking culture of an entire nation"....watch this space!

THE GRAND FINALE...DEVILS, GIANT BULLS, FIRE-BREATHING MONSTERS

2009-10-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

The finale of the festival...a health and safety nightmare. Couldn't believe it. the potential for injury is huge. The basic premise is to watch a parade of devils, monsters and giant bulls parade through town spraying fireworks everywhere. furthermore the idea is that you must try and dance under the shower of fireworks to fight off the evil forces. You may wear a straw hat for protection....yes straw....no...not very fireproof , i know.....just don't ask...!!! And that fire spray burns...I got caught in clip 1 below. When the footage goes dark, it's coz i was brushing burning embers off my hair and shoulders....I didn't have a straw hat!

The parade combined a wierd, slightly subversive...pagan....tribal anarchy with what I assume it might be like in a middle eastern war zone. The noise...smell of burning phosporous....drumbeats...costumes....and hypnotic rhythm to the whole parade would not have been out of place in a Haiitian voodoo ceremony. It was staggering...and it went on...and on....and on.......and on........

Its official! The Spanish are just DANGEROUS!!!!!!

2009-09-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

The main event of the festival. Human towers, pillars and castles. Runs for most of the days. Taken VERY seriously. Draws huge crowds. Teams from surrounding villages train together all year to compete at such festivals. And huge pride is at stake. Video clip is self explanatory. The tension during, and cheering afterwards was a surprise to me. Towers are judged by number of tiers and people in each tier. It is only recently that the young child who climbs to the top has started wearing protective headgear. And some do collapse. Hence the Red Cross tent and ambulances on standby!!!! In the clip the tower deconstructs itself to reveal a hidden pillar of people in the middle. This was a massive achievement.
WARNING: DON'T TRY THIS AFTER CHRISTMAS LUNCH IN THE BACK GARDEN!!!

I stumbled across this group of 'castelers' who were celebrating a historic achievement in the competition which hadn't been done for 11 years by any team. Only prob is I couldn't understand what the achievement was! Oh well! The were going bonkers ....throwing beer and generally hugging everyone in sight....so i just joined in. If You don't understand what all the fuss is about don't mock...just remember....we have cricket...and that takes 5 days!

How to cook a Paella for 500 people!!

2009-09-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Foodwise, the festival promised a giant street-cooked Paella for 500, public breakfast celebration of tuna and snail stew, two different sausage festivals, a Vermouth tasting, a Vermouth and mussel tasting, a 150 meter long cake, omelette tasting, another sausage tasting, another Tuna and Snail Stew, a cheese and wine tasting, a Tapas tasting, and yet another Tuna and Snail Stew-off!! Damn! they love their Tuna and Snails!
So how to cook Paella for 500.
Step 1:
Light a gert big fire under a gert big pan. Tip in 25kg of shellfish and get someone to start stiring with and oar.

Step 2:
Get a man in a white jumpsuit to chuck in chopped onions, tomatoes and about 50 kg rice.

Step 3:
Lubricate Rice with buckets and buckets of hot stock.

Step 4:
Lubricated workers so they don't dry out!!!

Step 5:
Serve up to the waiting crowd

THE CRAZY SANTA TECLA FESTIVAL!

2009-09-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Historic festival kicks off properly the day after I move in to the flat. Takes place all over the city for 7 days. Promises to include, human towers, pillars and castles, fireworks, The Hundred Year Old Spoken Dance of the Devils of Catalonia , Dancing Giants, Dragon of Sant Roc, Turks and Little Horses, Saint Michael and The Devils, and various acts that look like transvestite Iberian Morris Dancers. (Imagine hairy men in judo suits with ‘Priscilla Queen of the Dessert’ head-dresses and Swiss cowbells jumping around and knocking sticks and whacking people with inflated pigs bladders)

We also had the various pole and ribbon concept dances.....

And then what I can only describe as the dance for people who can't actually dance. It seemed to involve ordinary people forming a circle in the street, holding hands.....and then sort of jogging on the spot for 15 minutes whilst a band played for no apparent reason. I assume it was the precurser to the modern day aerobic class. All very cordial and pleasant and no doubt good for the circulation so who am I to ctiticize....

2009-09-25T00:42:00.001-07:00

There's something about walking down a tree-lined rambla at 11pm in shorts, sandals and a t-shirt with a paradoxically warm/cool breeze blowing that makes me want to kiss strangers!! The paradox is, of course, that the breeze is distinctly cool compared to the heat of the day, yet by British standards it feels like a giant hairdryer on a low setting is blowing in from the horizon. Just went to Bodega, a bar full of wine barrels where u can take any old bottle to be filled from their selection of 10 generics for about 2e a litre. It’s not a wine mecca....you get what u pay for, and the Rioja is definitely better than the Priorat....but you can't get a more authentic snapshot of Spain’s fundamental connection to food and wine as an integral component of every day existence. It’s a filling station for wine which happens to have some good things to eat. That’s all. But I definitely got the faint echo that places like this (like many a good English pub) provide people not just with cheap wine, but with an antidote to the often harsh realities of daily life. Dark wood, blue and white tiles, hanging jamones and chorizo. An austere glass chilled counter housing tortilla, sliced ham, anchovies and marinated squid. A bell jar of tanned, shiny, salty whole almonds. Now i've seen many of these since my arrival but most make my alarm bells ring when the ham is starting to curl, the anchovies look yellowish and the backdrop features a microwave. This one didn't. Can't tell you why. But I was right. For all its simplicity it was superb. The tortilla was at room temperature. Moist and tasting of fruity olive oil, sweet onion and soft potato. Spiked on a toothpick with a leaf of ruby ham. The almonds burst under your teeth with a salty, roasted explosion. Asked for a tapa of ham. Unusualy, she seemed pleased I'd asked. She rubbed bread with cut tomato and topped it generously as if she were feeding a son. The taste was wonderful, musky, sweet, soft, meaty, and moist from the tomato. Wow.

BODEGA

2009-09-25T00:36:00.001-07:00

I rent a room.

2009-09-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

Locate viewing street. Shave. Nice shirt. They are looking for a safe tenant, so dress safe. Meet student in doorway waiting for same viewing. We chat. Owners arrive. We go up 6 floors in lift. Flat typical average Spanish flat. Dark, grannys' furniture, central well, roof terrace for drying laundry. Room ok, furnishings basic but ok. Single bed, cupboard, desk, drawers, ceiling light. Window onto central well. OK. Two existing tenants ….Anna…nurse approx 30 y.o. and Roberto, Brazilian approx 45 y.o. Decision time. Student viewer backs down and says it’s not for him. The owners like me, I can tell. Think quick. Nothing to lose. Cheaper than Hostal. I’ll take it. Perfecto! Deposit 1 month + 1 month advance rent, copy of passport, NIE (numero identificacion de extranjero). Read through contract with owners. Surprise myself at how much I can understand of the Spanish legal speak. Sign. Keys. I’m in! That was easy! I have a home! Feels good.
Fetch cases from Noria. Say my goodbyes to them but I’m pleased to leave. Unpack properly for first time. Actually feels like today I have arrived. My new flatmates throw an impromptu lunch for me. Great welcome. Thx guys! This is going to be OK!

CENTRAL MARKET

2009-09-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Just love the buzz. It’s how food shopping should be. It’s so real…..no artifice. First the noise…..chaotic, uptempo, makes your heart beat quicker as soon as you walk in, then the smell…..fresh sea smells, cheese, jamones,…. Then the violence. The beheading, de-scaling, gutting, boning. The urgency to sell…to bargain…to get the best. My eyes are everywhere. I suddenly realize I’m smiling for no reason. Is that weird? Who cares! I walk around anonymous, watching, taking in everything, the prices….what could I sell a portion of squid for…the cuts…..is that ribeye? looks different….that must be tripe…’callos’…seen that on menus…now I know…. Chickens with head still on like in France…..que buscas carino? (what are you after, love?)....nada….solo mirar gracias!!! (nothing, only looking thx). I stand next to people straining my ears to try to understand. This is full speed, no-holds-barred real language...some Catalan, some Castellano. The best language lesson you can have and it's free!
Outside it’s like I’ve been to a rock concert, my ears are ringing. I head to basque tapas bar. Small beer in strange flat tumbler. Chistora sausage still warm, mushroom croqueta, tuna with padron pepper, fried cheese, pincho moruno. Would this work in UK? Keep thinking!

Nice Flat in Casc Antic

2009-09-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Went to see more flats in Casc Antic. First one really nice. Much better. I could quite happily have this one. Except 450 /mes....Next 2 back to 18c Paris ....musty .....creaky ....tiny....and I suspect rodent-friendly if u know what I mean.
After a bit of maths I realized that the only practical start up solution would be a flat share. Luckily saved some numbers from the local paper so made the calls. Determined not to use moblie so had to go back to hostal, get laptop, go across square to sister hotel for free wi-fi, then skype. Made appt to view room... Friday.
Hotel gets shirty with my constant usage of wi-fi. Need a lift so go to Central Food Market. Some people get their kicks out of window shopping for shoes or cars…..I do food markets. And this is a goodun!!

THE FLAT HUNT AND THE BROTHEL

2009-09-24T01:22:00.000-07:00

Went to school. Slightly dissap to only get 15 hrs. Still gives me opp to get other work. Did budget based on 900€ and realized sharing might be the only option. Still, went to see flat through agency reccommended by school. Modern, lift. All marble. Heavy smell of bleach made my eyes sting. Agent said it was the overzealous cleaner. Flat nice. Modern. But soooo boring. Don't mean to be fussy but it was so anodyne. Also area far and downhill from anywhere I would want to socialize. As the 'yoof' of today say..."I just wasn't feelin' it".
Went to Boronat, another agency. Said they had studio. Agreed to see it next day.
Santa Tecla fiesta week starting to kick in. It’s gonna be a week of street partying and historical celebrations. The Catalan flags are everywhere. As are signs of fierce brooding separatism. Weather thankfully cooler than last month.
Traipsed the gothic quarter and arranged to view more flats.
Guess what! First one was RIGHT next to the puteria! I couldn’t help but smile as we approached. Actually it was very cute.(see previous pic below) Absolutely perfect if you want to spend a year pretending to be Toulouse Lautrec....low ceilings...wobbly walls, mangy furniture and a pervading reek of mildew....and no doubt a neighborhood discount with " 'er nex-door". Throw in a free dose of 'consumption' and you could be well on you way to featuring in the Catalan re-make of Moulin Rouge!
I absolutely loved it. But it wasn't practical. The next 2 I saw were worse. Only in that they had all the 19c drawbacks but none of the charm. I was also slowly realizing I could not afford a place on my own.
Still I had some more viewings. In the Casc Antic (old part of town) as they call it. I’m beginning to love the area, and my newly ascertained prospective earnings add to the authenticity of living the 'impressionist dream'. Hopefully the STDs and ensuing madness will not follow. Went back to trusty old Hostal Nuria for a shower, then out to catch some fiesta. Live band in Placa de la Font....the locals turned out in force.The 'guiri' (foreigner) gave in at about 2am and hit the sack with earplugs 'a la Glastonbury'. Had a good nights sleep!!!

First Day of New Year

2009-09-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

First day of 'new year'. Ropey night in hostal Nuria. But absolutely typical of expectation. No air con, window open, noise from medieval streets. Mad sax player at 2am...argument in Catalan with neighbours. ..and nearly with me. Smoke-filled bar with local blue collars...Itchy bed, flat pillow...but nice bathroom. Traffic noise.... Back ache...fleas? Not sure. Maybe just my imagination. Check back on this point.
Everything as expected ...except feeling of vulnerability. (always thought I was a really resilient adventurer) Sadly this is overwhelming any sense of joy,liberation,excitement. Although I get by well I realize ...esp with the 2 langs that I am a COMPLETE foreigner. My notion of being a hispanophile is a joke. I'm a wannabe. It will take years.And does it provide any answers? Dunno. Although I already realize that to be happy you need good friends and family around you.
Went to main flat rental agency. They very aggressively pointed out I would need to give 6 mthd dep. And/or have a referee in order to get a flat. So reconsidering private paper ads. Decide take refuge in the joy of a Menu del Dia on Placa de la Font. Olives, ensalada, paella, postre, vino (bottle on table for you to help yourself) for 13e. Feeling better! Siesta needed. Made ap. to see a flat by market. Private ad. Quite hopeful. Sweet old couple meet me outside a typically dark dusty and depressing building. Show me flat of matching description. Big. With typical dodgy Spanish wiring. Depressing furnishings. Four bedrooms.....except one cannot be used because it is unsafe due to subsidence after a block of flats was built nearby 8 years ago. Still trying to get the insurance money. He showed me the huge cracks then shut the door and calmly told me to pretend that room didn't exist! Shame. Big flat. But no thanks!

FIRST NIGHT....what's that red light...?

2009-09-23T14:42:00.000-07:00

Did lizzaran. Great Basque tapas bar chain with realy good buzz and loads of tapas on the counter! Wandered the medieval streets. Great atmosphere.Still think this town amazing for a film shoot! Inadvertantly found brothel, complete with ropey old hag at bar who tried to entice me in. Little did she know.... See the pic above. It's the innocent looking bar with the nice planters above it and subtle red lights!!! I legged it back to Nuria, Got newspaper off bartender for accom leads. Hit the sack. Made plan for fire escape. Including radical jump to next balcony etc...be prepared. Hid valuables in random places.

Arrival In Spain

2009-09-23T13:17:00.000-07:00

Arrived without incident. The heat hits. But I knew that. Calm down...walk slowly...relax! Accept that you will sweat, so will the locals, it doesn't mark you out as a foreigner!! Having done a reke. trip I know my way around. Always helps. Get train from Reus to Tarra. This is it now. Put my Spanish to the test. The realities of functioning in a foreign country on a day to day basis are upon me....and I love it! Best way to learn. Walk from RENFE to Placa de la Font. Uphill. Know the way. Still impressed by the 18c vibe. Arrive at Hostal Nuria, my budget accom. for however long it takes. They recognize me from my last visit. Reminds me of childhood holidays... noisy blue collar bar downstairs with the inimitable atmosphere that comes from the combination of utilitarian functional 1970's design, strip-lighting, thick cigarette smoke, the smell of a hot plancha grill, trash TV on the wall in the corner and a bleeping gambling machine. Toothless tattooed elders smoking and arguing, younger wideboys with earstuds and obligatory blue work trousers and shirts also smoking and arguing. Room small...basic...but newly modernized. I'd checked it out last time. Basic single bed, small table (no lamp) tiny cupboard enough for 6 hangers. Balcony onto medieval narrow side street. can almost jump to other side...(see later) Bathroom fully tiled and modern! Almost a shame not to have clanking plumbing, dripping taps and the smell of sewers. If i'd wanted functional modernity I could have checked into the Holiday Inn!!!!