Foodies

I was going to give you a detailed history of each cuisine by country, but I am feeling dissatisfied with that style at the moment. Instead, I am going to give you a preview of the dishes I want to try in the hopes that my readers can suggest more! Or at least drool over possible eats with me ... Also, since I know we are operating off of a budget here, I will include some of the lesser celebrated dishes and go for the cheap eats. That way, if we find ourselves in a bit of a financial squeeze by the end of the trip, we'll know where to go ...

In Paris, cheap wine is good and there are few corners you can turn where you won't find a boulangerie (bakery) full of freshly baked goods. According to the travel section online in our local paper, the budget-wise traveller can eat quality dairy and good wine every day in Paris because "you have your whole life to eat vegetables". Cheap eats include steak and frites (fries!), ham and cheese in baguette, and quiche. Online Tripadvisor suggests that the cheapest way to eat is to buy market food, including fresh, locally farmed vegetables and meats. Also, large grocery chains are the most moderately priced in Paris, including Monoprix, which is a department store that will sell you everything from clothes to food, and Franprix, which is a small grocery store chain. Among the notable dishes you can try in France (though not necessarily part of budget-friendly travel) are coq au vin (chicken cooked in red wine), pot au feu (beef stew), bouillabaisse (a fish stew), foie gras (fatty duck), escargots, and les jambes des grenouilles (frog legs). My personal nostalgic favorites included the potato omelette, which used to cost just 4 francs outside Versailles, and any kind of galette. A galette is a small savory pie, which can contain creamy sauces and meats and vegetables or, my favorite, the tomato basil galette. Far from traditional but SUPER yummy. Vegetarians? There are lots of options, including vegetable quiches, vegetable stews, vegetable galettes, and more non-traditional preparation of dishes cropping up, especially in Marais, where the hip, trendy, University crowd tends to hang. The more famous dishes from France tend to be the desserts and I can attest to the quality of these dishes firsthand: mousse au chocolat, crème brulée, profiteroles (little cream puffs!), éclairs, chocolate filled croissants, les gâteaus (cakes), and many other delightful pastries stuffed with cream, liqueurs, chocolate, caramel, and drizzled in ganache.



Are you hungry yet?

In short, the most decadent part of our trip will be in Paris, sampling the creamy, rich textures of traditional French cooking and the savory flavors of seasonal, regional herbs.

In Barcelona, we will begin our foray into tapas. I think I already gave you good preview of some of those dishes in a previous entry (What are tapas, anyway?), but I will mention a few more: grilled razor clams, baby calamari, ham croquettes, chiperones fritos (fried, blackened hot peppers dipped in sea salt), tuna and stewed cabbage, cheese and prawn tortillas, chorizo sausage, crab mayonnaise or cream cheese with blueberry jam over a sweet croissant ... literally, the combinations of ingredients to make tapas is endless! The drinks are equally enticing: orxata is a soft drink made from chufa, a papyrus plant; granizado is an orange, lemon, or coffee slushee drink; beguda de pobre (drink of the poor) is a mix of oranges, anise, and sugar to make a refreshing and surprising drink; cerveza is a beer in a bottle; caña is a draught of beer; and, of course, cava and wine.

Catalonian entrées? Try calçotada with romesco, fire-grilled spring onions dipped in a sauce made from tomatoes, red peppers, onions, garlic, almonds, and olive oil. Or any of the following: Conill con cargols, rabbit with snail in a perfumed sauce; sarsuela, a fish and shellfish dish served in a tomato-paprika spiced sauce; fideua, paella served over noodles instead of rice; arros negre, or rice served with black squid; faves ofegades, or beans cooked with black and white Catalan sausage served with peas; tiro amb naps, roast duck with turnips; or mariscada, which is fish and shellfish served with garlic and olive oil. Um ... yes, dining as a vegetarian seems like a daunting task in Barcelona, but I think we can manage. La Boquería is the place to find vegetables all the time. Dessert? Mel I Mato is a soft, white cheese served with honey, crema Catalana is a custard pudding coated in burnt caramel, pastisset is a cake stuffed with almonds, menjar blanc is a milky almond pudding, and, of course, churros are a sweet, donut-like pastry.



Phew. Okay, I need a snack break after reading all of that. Until next time fellow foodies!