Culinary Backstreets
Sam is originally from Boston, MA. USA. He studied writing, ecology and Spanish language during his undergraduate degree at Hampshire College (Amherst, MA). He then went on to train as a chef at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) and earn an introductory certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2013.
He currently lives in Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain and works as a culinary tour operator, wine educator, Social Media agency professional, and freelance food/travel writer for several outlets.
Culinary Backstreets
Find Sam Zucker's Writing Portfolio, Photography Portfolio, Food Tours, and Blog here
Each year at the end of May, more than 12,000 penyistes and 200,000 hungry visitors devour 12 tons of snails in one mere weekend in the city of Lleida, the capital of Catalonia's interior. The Aplec del Caragol ("Snail Gathering") is now an internationally known gastronomic event of impressive magnitude.
In the windy coastal region south of Barcelona, surrounded by the wide vineyards of Baix Penedès, entire families are decked out in winter gear and ready to eat...some salad! In the late 19th century, the word xató (pronounced "sha-TOH") first appeared in writing in the Catalan press.
Chefs and dedicated diners throughout Barcelona are thrilled to proclaim, "Bar 68 is reborn!" For more than 10 years, this well-known and well-worn dive bar has served locals and travelers alike. Under new ownership, the old favorite has been refreshed with new staff, an appealing new menu and some of the best cocktails in the city.
It's one of those culinary mysteries worthy of a good detective: namely, how did a drink the color of Pepto-Bismol become one of Barcelona's most iconic libations? The story begins around 1975, when the bar La Barretina - then a hot spot, now long gone - began serving leche de pantera ("Panther Milk").
Barcelona Metropolitan Magazine
Every weekend, my Facebook feed floods with events around Barcelona that offer plentiful food, drink and fun. So many, in fact, that residents who might normally flee the city on Saturday mornings find themselves tempted to stick around and sample the never-ending flow of new and exciting ways that the city's community is making eating social.
Of all the Chinese foreign nationals currently residing in Spain, 70 percent are from Zhejiang. The province is also known as the 'Land of Fish and Rice', which seems a fitting connection to both their immigrant home and the fact that food service is still their number one business pursuit when they arrive in Barcelona.
Between late January and the end of April, calçots are hard to miss in Barcelona, and beyond. Eating calçots (large, sweet spring onions), grilled meat and sausages in huge excess, with plenty of salvitxada (a sauce similar to Romesco), washed down with copious streams of red wine, is a much anticipated event during the coldest months of the year.
The mantra at El Nacional is "products from the peninsula". This grandiose shrine to the foods of Spain, Portugal and Southern France now occupies a massive building on Passeig de Gràcia, just above Plaça Catalunya.
Everyone in this industry would love to open their own little coffee corner," says Elisabet Sereno, National Coordinator of Spain for the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE). "But it's not easy." Elisabet has recently opened True Artisan Café coffee shop in Barcelona, just steps from the Arc de Triomf.
Of the countless steps that can be taken through the alleyways and avenues of Barcelona, how many are contemplated in terms of their historical significance? Some of the most subtle history of Modernista Barcelona is not in the obsessive details of the towering Sagrada Familia, nor in the undulating façades of the decadent monoliths of Passeig de Gràcia.
Head to one of Barcelona's many vermut bars and enjoy the revival of this trend that goes far deeper than what's in the glass. If you live in Barcelona and enjoy drinking during daylight hours, it is nearly impossible for the resurgence of the vermouth culture to have passed you by unnoticed.
Fresh, seasonal and local, Catalan cuisine has withstood a turbulent history and owes much to the region's immigrants.
We waited outside while those before us, one by one, wedged themselves into open seats, my hunger and anticipation building as I perused the relatively straight-forward, 'build your own noodle bowl' menu. Finally two spots opened up at the low bar, giving us a front-row view of the equally small kitchen and the giant pot of simmering, meaty broth that could practically double as a hot tub.
The well-known street is working-class by day and trend-setting by night, with bold graffiti as the backdrop; shouting neighbours and skateboard wheels on concrete its soundtrack. However, one thing that brings the starkly contrastingly denizens of the upper-Raval together is the hands-down consensus that kebabs are delicious and that the best come from Bismilla Kebabish-a 100 percent Halal, Turkish and Pakistani restaurant that boasts over a decade of success.
The creative potential of Barcelona's own bartender corps is just beginning to blossom. With several hours of detailed, daily prep and an arsenal of tools and gadgets rivaling that of their chef-coated brethren, bartenders here are fast approaching the prestige awarded to their counterparts in craft cocktail meccas such as San Francisco, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.
According to research carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona's market culture was much more resilient in withstanding the post-World War II proliferation of modern shopping centres than neighbouring France and the UK.
La Taguara Arepería: The Venezuelan-style arepas of La Taguara are thick, baked corn cakes that are re-warmed to order, sliced open and spread lovingly with soft butter before being stuffed with a wide array of traditional Venezuelan ingredients. "This isn't fusion," says co-owner Juan Ignacio who, though Basque by birth, has spent the majority of his life in Venezuela.
Though the variety of food offerings at Mercat Princesa (which, for lack of a better description, is a gourmet food-court the likes of which are rarely seen) is impressive, what first grabs the diner's attention is the Gothic building in which it is housed.
An ingredient that chefs swoon over for its velvety yolk and naturally-ingenious versatility, eggs are often used as a final coup de grâce to push a dish over the edge from intelligently designed to indulgently enlightened. As one who has been accused of 'putting an egg on everything', all I can say is, "Why not?"
Upon entering the well-lit glass and stone space--built in 1890-you encounter the timber and brick bar with its high, minimalistic tables set against a wall of softly back-lit, rough wooden planks. Many architectural accents at Llamber seek to fit into the nook of 'repurposed' chic.
CataVino.Net
"Claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy ...There are, indeed, few who are able to drink brandy. That is a power rather to be wished for than attained."
Nothing is more desirable in Barcelona than that perfectly-sun-splashed table on the tiny terrace in the charming plaça that seems perpetually occupied. It may not seem like it, but people do eventually pay their bill and leave, you just must be patient.
Your visit to Spain need not take on the predictable pace of one city on Tuesday, then bolting to a new city on Wednesday, with one too many museums (and perhaps a little party island hastily thrown in at the end to catch a quick sunburn) before jetting back to cooler climates.
With every bite of their Sunday paella, Spanish families-whether they realize it or not-are paying homage to the old Moorish kingdom of Al-Ándalus, one of the greatest civilizations that Iberia has ever known. How did this relationship evolve?
Football in New England and football in Barcelona don't really see eye to eye. Both teams have their fanatic fans and both sports are filled with epic moments of glory and bitter moments of defeat, but in Spain there are always two questions: "Do people really watch the Super Bowl just for the adverts?
Unless you fancy yourself a bit of a sweet talker, convincing a vendor at Barcelona's world-famous La Boqueria market to sell you just one slice each of six different kinds of jamón isn't likely to happen.
The city of Santiago de Compostela is really more of a town than a city. It's small, yet bustling with university students, locals, tourists, and-of course-road-weary pilgrims soaking up the glory of a long road traveled. The Camino de Santiago is the city's biggest claim to fame-a Medieval pilgrimage taken for centuries by Christians to the final resting place of Saint James.
In Catalunya, though game birds are popular in the realm of classic cuisine, the humble rotisserie chicken (pollastre a l'ast) is deeply revered. Salty, crunchy, and incredibly moist, these whole-roasted chickens (a l'ast roughly translates to "spit-roasted" in Catalan) are synonymous with Sunday family gatherings and classic restaurants throughout Barcelona.
Barcelona is known for many things, among them art, history, industry, tradition, trade, food (of course), and night life. The Barcelona locals, as well as party-hungry tourists, have an international reputation for doing everything a bit later in the evening than their other European counterparts.
First things first: Barcelona is NOT a city where you can walk into any random restaurant and expect an "at least decent" meal. Yes, this food Mecca is full of amazing cuisine, culture, craftsmanship, tradition and innovation; however, it's also full of businesses (restaurants and otherwise) that are operated with the sole purpose of capturing tourist dollars by selling inferior products at a brutal markup (troubling, I know, but true).
In Spain and Portugal, the grill is an indispensable tool, whether it be a flat-top griddle ( plancha), a wood-fired pit, or a traditional barbecue, fueled with a fragrant mix of charcoal and hay (like those used to grill calçots ).
Chef Javier Morón and business partner Sergi Salguero have joined the slowly growing cadre of gourmands and entrepreneurs who bring their passion for food and service directly to the public of Barcelona in the form of underground—“clandestine”— restaurants.
Welcome to the Vi Jazz festival in Vilafranca del Penedés: balmy summer nights, free Jazz concerts galore, and abundant local wine in the historic center of this modest Catalán city of around 40,000 inhabitants. Dating back to the 12th century, Vilafranca is the economic engine and heart of the Penedés wine industry.
Every wine-producing country has its own pride and tradition and Spain is no different. In fact, a well stocked bodega here in Barcelona is often as overwhelming as it is inspiring, and the enterprise of picking a wine often becomes more challenging than merely selecting a price bracket.
The heart of the city is small and best seen on foot, and as you walk hand in hand along avenues that have seen over two millennia of romance—among flower stalls and medieval archways—you too will surely carve your own, lasting moment into the history of Barcelona. Fore this is a city that vibrates with countless love stories and majestic visages of mighty empires come and gone.
To find Bar Cañete, head down a bleak street branching off the Ramblas of Barcelona into the heart of the lower Raval. Among Russian import markets, used cell phone stores and corner groceries, Bar Cañete and Cañete Mantel (the fine dining side of the same kitchen) stand strong as bright spots for people in search for excellent, honest food and a convivial atmosphere in these less-than-vibrant economic times.
Samfaina is a dish that truly embodies the simplicity of mediterranean cooking; a preparation remarkable similar to the famous, humble ratatouille of Provence. However, Samfaina passes on the powerful herbs of its neighbor to the north, instead relying more on the subtle qualities of local produce, delicate olive oil, and the fond of sautéed salt cod in the case of this classic recipe, Bacallà amb Samfaina.
Editor's Note: Tara Stevens is a well known name in the Barcelona food world, both by expatriate readers of the popular English-language magazine Barcelona Metropolitan, as well as by locals who hound her incessantly for a review of their new joint. Knowing Tara personally, it's funny to me when she comes up in conversation.
The idea of creating a list of 'the best' of anything can often incite passionate debate bordering on fanaticism, so lets view this a list of 'things not to be missed"-a list of my 20 food and drink treasures in Barcelona, and where to look for them! ¡...
There are thousands of bars in Barcelona, and though wine is an integral part of Iberian culture-cultivation of grapes and vinification date back to before the Roman conquest of Hispania by Caesar Augustus-it is actually no easy task to find a bar in this city with a diverse list of fine wines by the glass.
The slogan of new Barcelona restaurant E l Pecat is 'Art and Cuisine'; an honest motto that is upheld by reserved yet delicious food. El Pecat is sinfully good (hence the name; 'The Sin' in Catalan), with a passionate team of dynamic partners and a young chef who is poised to become the next big name.
Beer in Barcelona falls into two categories: cheap lagers for which people hold strong allegiances (locality wins over flavor), and artisanal, complex ales that are harder to find on a night out, more fun for hops enthusiasts, and certainly not sold from plastic bags in the corner of Plaça Reial.
What is vermouth? Well, let's start with what vermouth is not. Vermouth is not only a supporting role to classic cocktails, nor is it the dry, bitter stuff that languished away in Mom and Dad's liquor cabinet, only to be drunk in secret by soon-to-be rueful teens when left alone at home for the weekend.
Hundreds of years before Catalunya became part of Spain, the land was under the control of the Crown of Aragon; a kingdom that stretched from the Iberian peninsula through southern France, modern-day Italy, and as even as far as Greece.
Fox News. Leisure
After you move into your new apartment, the next step is to furnish and equip it with everything that will make it a home. Today, we'll get your kitchen ready. With the kitchen, the key is collecting a handful of multipurpose tools that can be used in a wide array of food preparations.
My First Apartment.Com
Ask yourself: Does cooking seem like too much of a hassle? Do you think of dinner as an event that requires hours of tedious preparation? Do you not cook because the food you make just isn't very tasty? Do you wait until your chef friends come around to suggest a group dinner?
One of the best things about being a young adult without major commitments (marriage, career, mortgage, school, etc.) is your ability to travel. Take advantage while you can! Travel is without a doubt much more expensive than it was in the time of the beat poets or the era of Parisian bohemians, but staying with friends or local hosts is a great way to lighten the financial load of your journey.
As the summer weather and city-wide events have begun to take full effect in NYC (as well as in my current local of Barcelona, Spain!), the sun, music, outdoor film showings, and plush green grass are far too inviting to spend your evenings indoors.
For years I fantasized about picking up and shipping off across the sea to Europe; a one way ticket and an unforgettable experience. People would ask me, "Where do you want to go after (culinary) school?" "To Spain!" I would reply. This all started years ago before ever going to the Culinary Institute of America.
For lovers of food-centric holidays and holy days, this November is extra special. For the first time in nearly 100 years, and the last time for 70,000 years, the dates of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincide. What does this mean? More food to eat, and more things to be thankful for!
Talk to anyone over 50, and they will likely tell you (depending on where they were raised) that "neighbors" aren't what they used to be. Growing up in the 50s and 60s, my mother and father knew their neighbors because they were all part of a community.
Surprise your sweetie on Valentine's Day with a delicious home-cooked dinner. The menu: Red Wine-braised Osso Bucco with Citrus G remolata, Parmesan Polenta and Arugula Salad. And for the dessert, the delicious chocolates your honey brings you, with another glass of wine or a good cup of coffee.
With the winter weather closing in, soup sales are up and salad sales are down at the on-campus restaurants here are the Culinary Institute of America. Nothing is better on a cold day than a hearty, heart-warming bowl of homemade soup!
Sam is originally from Boston, MA. He studied ecology and Spanish language during his undergraduate degree at Hampshire College (Amherst, MA). He then went on to train as a chef at the prestigious ...