Today was our food tour of Barcelona with Food and Wine Tours. I booked this tour through Expedia. I find that in case something doesn’t work out I have the power of a big company behind me. It makes me feel a little more comfortable especially since the tour had been paid ahead of time.
So we got to the tour office which was located on a side street just off off of Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is the central tree lined street where many flower, ice cream, souvenir, and other interesting stalls can be found.
We were brought upstairs for our introductions. This is the first tour where we were the only people. So it was our own private food tour of Barcelona. We were greeted with a glass of Cava.
That was a very nice start. Sebastian was our delightful guide. He had plotted out the route we were going to take. First, we went to the Famous Merkat La Boqueria (Barcelona Market). There we had some delicious cheese! It was placed in a cone like the French do their fries. Yum! He pointed out the various stalls that have been in families forever. He also advised us about the tourist scams there. Sebastian took us to look at the many fish stalls. The fish were displayed on ice. Next we went by the farmers market. Our next stop was a Spanish olive oil shop, where we got to taste the various olive oils and some balsamic vinegar. Sebastian showed us a great to-go shop, a homeopathic shop, and a boutique bread shop.
Then we stopped to have a traditional Barcelona vermouth. This was something new to me. Once again, I am not a vermouth fan but this vermouth was different. It was served with an orange slice and a green olive. It was more sweet and delicious than I thought it would be. I guess I’m a convert. Next we went to Vicens which is a torron (torrone) store. We are big fans of torron, which is a nougat candy. It is a wonderful combination of nougat and nuts. We can find it in Santa Fe around Christmas time. It was a wonderful surprise to go to an entire shop dedicated to torron.
I thought it was interesting that Sebastian asked us what is a distinctively New Mexican food. Immediately I thought of Hatch Green Chile. No other food guide has ever asked me that question. Our last stop was lunch at Restaurant Agueloo13. We had soup, salmon, and ice cream or a brownie along with a glass of white wine. This scrumptious lunch was included in the tour. From there we walked back to the Barcelona Market which was much more crowded than before. It was a wonderful tour that gave us great insight into the delicious food of Barcelona.
Santa Fe City Different Foodie 