Kyle's Favorite Barcelona Foods

As his time with us and in Spain came to a close, our intern Kyle reflected on what his favorite foods have been. Some of them might surprise you!

With the end of my semester-long study abroad experience visible on the horizon, I’ve taken a moment to reflect on my time in Barcelona. While it’s still a bit of an odd situation in Spain at the moment, with limited business hours, social distancing, and little to no tourists, my time in Spain has still been an enjoyable one that has allowed me to focus more on trying to understand the (food) culture of Catalonia. With this in mind, I’ve created a list of some of my favorite foods here:

Fresh Fruits: My favorite fruits to eat here are strawberries, manadarin oranges, grapes, and blueberries. They’re so incredibly delicious that I restock them all the time. When the fruits are a block or two stroll away and are so sweet you’re practically eating candy, it’s really easy to maintain healthy eating habits. I know it might sound trite to start off this list with fruit, but the ones in my hometown have never tasted like this! 

Marinated Olives: I didn’t like olives much until my late teens, when I decided they actually were pretty tasty. There was no build-up or developing an “acquired taste” to them. I just started eating them and really liked the slightly peppery, buttery, briny flavor of green olives and the more intense fruitiness of black olives. However, when you immerse them in a garlicky, herby, citrus marinade, all of these flavors interact and create a culinary synergy that can make anyone a fan of olives, especially when they’re Spanish ones. 

Fuet: A cured sausage made of a simple blend of pork, garlic, and black pepper is cured until it firms up and develops a natural thin white coating of mold on the outside. What results from this process is a cured meat with a rich, fatty, velvety texture that is enhanced by its strong, porky, slightly musty flavor that pairs well with just about anything. Traditionally, it is paired with Manchego cheese which, when you try it, is understandably a perfect pairing. 

Manchego Cheese: Bread it and fry it, put it on a sandwich, eat it raw or pair it with fuet, Manchego cheese is a Spanish cheese that is as delicious as it is versatile. Rich, creamy, with a nutty, grassy note, once you’ve tried this cheese, you’ll understand why it’s so beloved locally and worldwide. My favorite way to eat it is by breading and frying it, and then putting a healthy dollop of romesco sauce on top. There’s something so perfect about how the fatty, rich, creamy Manchego pairs with the rustic, earthy, garlicky romesco. 

Romesco Sauce: This thick, traditional pounded sauce, made up of day old bread, garlic, tomato, ñora peppers, nuts, and olive oil delivers a rich flavor to anything it’s paired with. At least it was for me, it’s a life-changing discovery. It pairs with any and everything.

Mussels: With its location right on the Mediterranean, it’s tough to be in Spain and avoid seafood. Fresh, locally caught seafood is abundant. One of my absolute favorites is mussels. Grab a shell, open it, scoop out the mussel, enjoy the intense, ocean flavor. Repeat. Whether they’re served in a bright, acidic marinara or in a sauce made up of white wine and lemon, steamed mussels are delicious to me. 

Serrano Ham: No, it’s not prosciutto. It’s jamón. You can cook with it, and use its flavors to add another depth of flavor to fresh vegetables. You can put it on a sandwich. It makes an incredible addition to a charcuterie board. But, honestly, my favorite way to eat it is as is, thinly shaved, at any time of the day. 

Bellota (acorn-fed) Ham: Speaking of cured meats, jamón de bellota , the creme de la creme of Spanish ham, is a mind-blowing, life-changing, culinary experience that will make you stop and think about where this food has been all your life. An intensely nutty flavor, which comes from the local pig’s diet of acorns and only acorns, permeates throughout each slice, with the meat carrying most of the flavor and the fat carrying most of the smooth, velvety texture- both combining together to create the ultimate, melt-in-your-mouth slice. 

Crema Catalana: A smooth, rich, creamy vanilla custard with a slight cinnamon flavor, topped with a layer of burnt sugar. The experience of eating crema Catalana is accentuated with the pairing of opposite textures- the crunch from the sugar with the silkiness of the custard; it’s one of those perfect culinary delights. And no, it’s not a creme brulee. It’s much better. 

Narrowing down this list was no easy task, as Spain is a culinary wonderland, filled with amazing foods all over the country. Some other incredible Spanish staples that deserve a shoutout include: 

-gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) which is a very simple dish that packs rich flavors of garlic, paprika, and the natural brininess of the sea. If you get served whole shrimp, you have to eat both the tail and scoop out and eat the fatty, rich head portion of the shrimp as well. A bit messy, but totally worth it.

- tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelet) is a thick omelette, frittata hybrid made with sliced potato, sometimes onion, packed within a layer of beaten eggs. Great hot or cold, the tortilla de patatas is a really great breakfast or brunch option.

- patatas bravas are definitely some fierce potatoes (as the literal translation implies). These super crispy, fried potato chunks are served with a slightly spicy allioli. The intense crunch from the outside, paired with the light, fluffy inside of the potato, topped with the fatty, rich aioli- simply fantastic. 

A common thread tying all of these delicious foods together is simple, which allows each ingredient to do what it does best within each recipe, resulting in dishes that are not overcrowded with too many flavors all trying to compete with each other.

Part of the strength of Spanish cooking lies in its use of simple ingredients to create complex flavors, and the other part lies in the fact that these foods are easy to share, and should be shared, as that communal, social aspect of eating is something so very central to the sobremesa, an integral part of the Spanish way of life.