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Thursday, June 21, 2012

Barcelona Sandwich Special. Bocadillos for the boys!

Bocadillo may sound like a dinosaur, but it's actually the Spanish word for sandwich. While on a recent trip to the Catalan capital I naturally spent most of my time trying to find the best places to chow down on some Spanish sarnies. And so I present to you here the three best examples of stuff-in-bread Spanish style.

Let's start with Bar Fidel, a great little bar/café found at the heart of the trendy student area of Raval on Carrer de Ferlandina, just off Carrer de Joaquin Costa. Like most good cafés in Barcelona, this was a very understated, relaxed little place; just a few tables, a few chairs and a couple of people chilling behind the bar taking orders. The menu on the other hand was a much less relaxed affair, hosting more than 60 different sandwiches, these guys mean business. Sounds like a dream come true. But wait, no, it was all in Spanish! 60 Sandwiches, the delights of which I could only imagine. It had become a most haunting nightmare- all these sandwiches locked away from me by the cruel mistress of language. I fruitlessly span my gaze across the menu, left to right, right to left. But then, like a beam of light from the heavens, I spotted the beautiful, glorious word I knew deep down I was looking for, the word no language can keep from me, the word, the holy grail....'Chorizo'. The fact that moments later the kind waitress behind the bar leant over and handed out a copy of their English menu is neither here nor there. My choice had been made. Chorizo. With Camembert.


Chorizo and Camembert - Bar Fidel


It came served in a delicious crusty baguette and was amazing. The rich, sweet, salty thick sliced chorizo perfectly accompanied the creamy smooth Camembert. There is one other ingredient which I will reveal at the end, it is the secret to all the sandwiches I sampled, and which I can say without fear of contradiction has changed my life forever.

Next I shall move onto Bracafé, a Brazillian/Spanish chain of cafés, as far as I can see only found in Barcelona. It was in fact a misjudgement that caused me to visit the Ronda de San Antoni Bracafé establishment. I had intended to investigate the adjacent San Antoni market, but to my dismay it was closed on the day of my visit. Hunger took the better of me and so I was drawn to the nearest scran spot, which happened to be Bracafé. It would be an understatement to say that the menu wasn't quite as inspiring as Bar Fidel, and perhaps being given the English menu right away took some of the magic from the precedings. But nonetheless, I decided to go for a classic Spanish sandwich I had eaten many times during my first visit to Barcelona, the Tortilla de Patata; Spanish potato omelette.


Tortilla de Patata - Bracafé


To my surprise - because to be honest I didn't have the highest of hopes - it was pretty dam good. Served in a lovely crusty, floury baguette, the omelette was well cooked, nice and moist, with plenty of potato and of course the secret ingredient, which the keen eyed amongst you might be able to spot it in this photo.

And now, last but not least Café Vienna. Now this little venture was most definitely a premeditated outing. While googling away for the best sandwiches in Barcelona in preparation for the trip (as you do) I stumbled across an article in the New York Times by their food critic Mark Bitten. In the article he describes his visit and makes the not so insignificant claim that Café Vienna serve the world's best sandwich. What makes this claim so intriguing is the fact that this is not some grand Spanish deli or a tiny hidden away little café; Café Vienna is essentially a fast food chain. And so naturally I decided this had to be investigated!

The sandwich in question is a baguette filled with Iberico ham or in spanish Flauta de Pernil Iberic. Iberico ham is a Spanish salt cured ham. But it's not just any cured ham, this stuff is considered the best of the best. It costs around £60 per pound and is produced exclusively from black Iberian pigs fed on a diet of acorns.

Upon entering Café Vienna, it becomes very clear that they are aware of Mark Bitten's review. By this I mean they should probably rename the place to Café Mark Bitten. The walls are plastered with posters of the sandwich with a NY Times seal of approval and the review itself is actually printed in every menu. At this point I began to wonder if Mark had been paid a few Euros for the review, but nevertheless I went ahead and ordered the infamous sandwich with a large glass of beer (you know, the ones only English tourists buy).

Flauta de Pernil Iberic - Café Vienna       


I sat down at a plastic table with my tray of food and unwrapped my sandwich from its waxy paper surround. First impressions were good, it looked great, nice deep brown baguette and the famous dark slightly glossy ham poking out the edges. I'm going to cut to the chase. It was amazing, the baguette wasn't crusty, it was crunchy, crispy even, and the Iberico ham was insane. Forget proscuitto, this is the shit. It has a deep, rich, sweet and slightly nutty flavour which is apparently thanks to all the acorns. There is a third essential ingredient to this sandwich, the secret ingredient I have kept from you that has featured in all these sandwiches. And that ingredient is......wait for it......tomato. That's right the humble tomato. But not sliced and chucked in as an after thought. The secret to all of these sandwiches is that the baguette is rubbed with tomato so that all the pips and juices get soaked up into the bread keeping it incredibly moist and delicious. This technique was used to optimum effect with the Flauta de Pernil Iberic; the tomato ensured the super crunchy baguette didn't dry out the sandwich and the subtle flavour of the tomato let the incredible ham shine centre stage without distraction. But is it the world's best sandwich? I don't think so, I've had better in Amsterdam (see some of my earliest posts). But don't get me wrong this is a blummin' good sandwich and deserves some applause.

So there you have it, tomato is the key to Barcelona's bad-boy bocadillos. Try it for yourself instead of  mayo or butter, it's better for your figure and downright delish.

Adiós


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Gaby's Deli, Charring Cross Rd, London. Falafel fest

Gaby's Deli is found adjacent to the horrid, culture-void, baudrillardian tourist hell-hole that is London's Leicester Square. It is the shimming needle in the face-less chain infested haystack, the dazzling diamond in the bland tasteless tacky rough, and so on. Gaby's has been around for almost 50 years, serving some of the best falafel and salt beef to be found anywhere in London. In fact the owner, Baghdad born Gaby Elyahou claims to have been the first to serve falafel in the UK, making him in my book, one of the best people to have ever lived, ever.

The first thing you notice when approaching Gaby's is the window. Like Sirens pressed up against the glass, an array of delactable deep fried, crispy little treats draw you in. Some recognisable and some a little more alien. But we weren't there for the window treats, we were there for the main event, we were there for the falafel.

Unsurprisingly it did not disappoint. Like most human people I've enjoyed my fair share of delicious deep fried chickpea balls wrapped in a flat bread or stuffed in a pitta. But this wasn't delicious, no no, this kind of enjoyment deserves a new word, or at least a combo word to express the taste sensation that is Gaby's falafel. This falafel was super-amazing-incredelicious.

I'm not going to go into the intricacies of the arrangement, we all know what goes into a falafel, all I'll say is this. If you have any respect for your taste buds you will eat this falafel, you will do anything to get your filthy little mitts on this golden, crunchy, buttery amazing falafel. Do it. Do it now.


N.B. I had the falafel in a pitta with all the trimmings, I picked this photo to show off the how amazing the falafel themselves are. The pitta, hummus, salad and sauces were all great and for £4 it's an absolute steal. Go!

(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellaphon/6847892873/)