Ring a Roses
Thursday 6 November 2008 by kinakoJam
While we were in Spain, we didn't manage to snaffle one of the golden tickets to Ferran Adria's El Bulli restaurant.
We did, however, find ourselves driving a couple of hours to where El Bulli is situated on Spain's Costa Brava. On a little boat, we floated quite far out from the shoreline. The boat's driver tantalizingly pointed out a white dot on the shoreline: the house behind which El Bulli is situated. Some people snacked on fish-paste vol-au-vent canapés, anti-seasickness tablets and yummy olives.
(photo by Lander Larrañaga)
(photo from my i-Phone)
Then we ended up in this tiny bay, where strange sculptures and ancient picnic furniture lurked among olive trees and bushes of blue flowers.
(photo by Lander Larrañaga)
In this secluded spot, we ate very traditional food - including paella, which was announced with much fanfare by the proud chef.
(photo by Lander Larrañaga)
It looks pretty, but I'm not such a paella fan. I'm just not so into that type of rice. The best things for me were the fideuà (short noodles with lots of seafood), and as always, the silvery, oily anchovies draped on the fresh tomato-smeared 'pa amb tomaquet' bread. At this meal, Benji B gave a nice speech about his method for making the perfect cheese toasty. After this trip, he says, he's going to switch it up and be all about the late night pa amb tomaquet.
Other highlights: the tiny clams, and the fried sardines (boquerones) which I prefer to the vinegar-marinated ones. Tony Nwachuku of Attica Blues was also enjoying these.
