07 February 2011

Barcelona: Mercat de la Boqueria & other food adventures


To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, Luis and I went to Barcelona for a long weekend. I find it pretty scandalous that I've been living in Paris for almost five years and had never gone to the Catalan capital, which is just an hour and 40 minutes away by plane. It was the first time for Luis as well, and we enjoyed a lovely weekend filled with warm sunshine (high temperatures of about 18-20 Celsius, so much warmer than Paris!), all the Gaudi architecture and historical sights and of course the incredible food. The highlight was undoubtedly the Mercat de la Boqueria (Boqueria Market), Barcelona's world-famous food market right on Las Ramblas in the center of the city.

Though the first mention of the Boqueria Market dates back to 1214, construction of the present-day market began in 1840. Open Monday-Saturday from 8am-8pm, the market is enormous and has fresh produce, meat, fish, cheeses, olives, oils, vinegars, spices, chocolates, nuts, flowers, juices, tapas bars...all as far as the eye can see! We ended up making two trips to the Boqueria...the first time to take it all in, the second to pick up some goodies to bring back home. I could easily have gone back a third time even!


The selection of fresh fruits and vegetables was just amazing. We were particularly thrilled with the variety of wild mushrooms...all at a fraction of the price that we pay in Paris!






Rivaling all of the luscious produce were heaps and heaps of fresh and dried spices, chili peppers, olives, oils, vinegars and sauces. We picked up some saffron, caper berries, olive oil, paella rice and balsamic glaze. Can't wait to use them all!





Needless to say, the choices of meats (particularly jamón ibérico and Spanish chorizo), seafood and cheeses (including the classic manchego and cabrales as well lesser-known Spanish cheeses such as tetilla and the Basque idiazabal) was pretty spectacular too. 






The Boqueria Market is also the perfect place to sit down and have some tapas, pick up a bottle of wine or cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and even sample some vegetarian goodies (at Burequitos or Organics). 


With such amazing eating at the Boqueria, it's a wonder that we got out to eat anywhere else, but of course we did. Barcelona and Catalunya in general are known to be brimming with incredible gastronomy, and we found that to be true everywhere from the simple tapas joints (our favorite was the Cerveceria Catalana in the Eixample neighborhood) to the roadside paellas (granted paella hails from Valencia, but we thought that the Catalans do it pretty darn well!) to the upscale Medittarean-Oriental fusion cuisine that we had at a spot called El Salero on the night of our anniversary. All in all...viva Barcelona! We can't wait to go back!!!

Pimentos de padrón at Cerveceria Catalana

Patatas bravas at Cerveceria Catalana






Crema catalana at Cerveceria Catalana





Paella - somewhere near the Sagrada Familia

14 comments:

  1. What a fun weekend - love your pictures!

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  2. I love that you scheduled a 'market visit' while on your anniversary trip. The couple that cooks together :)

    Putting this place on my list of places to go to.

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  3. Amazing! I would love to visit some day!

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  4. I was in Barcelona last September and the food experience was something to remember. I had the most luxuriously delicious razor clams on the beach in Barcelonita. You blog today makes me want to go back

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  5. Oh my..those are beautiful photos every one of them, and great great food!!! Delicious!!

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  6. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Congratulations!

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  7. Congratulations :)
    Really great trip and really wonderful occasion :)
    I love your pictures :)

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  8. Cogratulation :)
    I just love looking at those pictures... they are so amazing. Thanks for sharing them with us :)

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  9. Wow! Everything looks gorgeous! Spain isn't too far from here via airplane, either. I've ALWAYS wanted to go to the Boqueria Market!! I've always seen it on TV and was son in awe of the vast amount of produce and spices! Hope you guys had an amazing anniversary!!!

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  10. I did a food trends job in Barcelona in the summer and wrote about that market. It is the BOMB! Not only that, but they have markets like that all around Barcelona, its amazing. I'm coming to Paris this weekend, so let me know your favorite places to eat! So much good food to choose from!

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  11. Oh wow! Your pictures make me miss Spain and all the incredible food. I'm still sad I didn't have a chance to make it to Barcelona. If anyone out there knows of a great culinary tour in Barcelona, please shout out!

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  12. Also, tell us more about Mediterranean-Oriental food?

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  13. I was in Barcelona for the 1st time a year ago and LOVED it. We also loved the Cerveceria Catalana, and ate there several times. La Boqueria is an amazing place. Did you eat at Bar Pinotxo? Amazing food. Thanks for the great recap.

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  14. Wow! such beautiful pictures! Glad to know you guys had fun - Mom

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