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A love letter to "pan con tomate"

September 12, 2019
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Bread rubbed with a half tomato, drizzled with olive oil and topped with salt.

So simple. So healthy. So delicious. And so Catalonian.

It's called "pan con tomate" (that's "pa amb tomàquet" in Catalan and "bread with tomato" in English).

We eat it almost every day when we're in Barcelona or the Catalonian countryside. It's the first thing we order in Spanish restaurants -- before we even look at the menu or wine list. And it’s a staple of our Barcelona Experience.

"Pan con tomate" is very similar or even identical in ingredients to the Italian antipasto bruschetta. The difference is one of tone and feel. While Bruschetta is typically prepared in a kitchen and served occasionally, "pan con tomate" is far more casual and everyday, usually prepared at the table by the person eating it.

Bruschetta is harder to eat, because a large quantity of diced tomatoes tend to be precariously perched on top of narrow slices of bread. I often lose a few cubes of tomato when I eat bruschetta.

"Pan con tomate" is easier to eat, because the ingredients are kind of mashed into and drizzled onto what is usually a larger slice of bread, rather than heaped on top.

And Catalonians eat "pan con tomate" far more often than Italians eat bruschetta. For example, in Catalonia, "pan con tomate" is happily consumed for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

Both "pan con tomate" and bruschetta almost certainly emerged sometime in the 17th or early 18th century after Europeans started incorporating Mexican tomatoes into their diets. (The Europeans got domesticated tomatoes from the Aztecs, who got it from the Mayans, who got it from pre-historic South Americans.) The first written recipe for "pan con tomate" that we know of was published in 1884. The use of toasted bread with garlic and olive oil in Europe no doubt pre-dates the Romans -- the Spanish and Italians just started adding tomato to something they were already eating.

The standard way to eat "pan con tomate" is to use a kind of baguette-shaped bread, sliced and brought to the table with whole tomatoes, olive oil and salt. You slice a tomato in half, then rub it on the bread or toast while squeezing it a bit. Then you drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle salt.

The best way to make "pan con tomate" (i.e. the way Amira makes it) is to use ancient-grain, naturally leavened bread toasted over a wood fire, rubbed with tomato and drizzled with a pressed-garlic infused olive oil and topped with seasalt.

Garlic is a common but not necessary ingredient in Catalonian "pan con tomate," where it is rubbed on the bread before the tomato either in raw or roasted form.

The whole point of "pan con tomate" is extreme compatibility with Catalonian life. It uses ingredients always on hand. And it's a way to avoid wasting old bread. You can easily compensate for the dryness of the bread with the amount of tomato and olive oil you put on.

"Pan con tomate" is super flexible. You can put cheese on top, or -- my favorite -- jamón ibérico. You can and should eat it with tortilla, which is what Spaniards call a potato omelette ("tortilla española" or "tortilla de patatas").

In fact, "pan con tomate" pairs perfectly with all the Catalonian things -- cava, ham, cheese, stews, seafood, sausages and more. It's Catalonian, of course, but also gloriously Mediterranean.

I love bread. And I'm very gluten tolerant. But "pan con tomate" is easily the healthiest way to eat bread. The tomatoes, garlic and olive oil are extremely good for you.

And "pan con tomate" is charming, too, because it highlights and showcases the work of the farmer -- the quality of the tomatoes and olive oil, plus the quality of the bread, dictate the quality of the "pan con tomate."

In my experience, "pan con tomate" tastes best with family and friends in the shade of an olive tree or grape vines on a breezy late-summer afternoon while gazing across Xare-lo vineyards with Montserrat on the horizon. But it's also delicious everywhere you can get your hands on good bread, tomatoes and olive oil.

You should eat "pan con tomate." -Mike

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Tags Spain, Barcelona, Catalonia, Pan con tomate, Delicious
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Tasting French cheese in Spain

September 8, 2019

We enjoyed this incredible Valençay cheese during The Barcelona Experience, which ended yesterday. It was one of 20 cheese we tasted during this tasting, which itself was one of several cheese tastings.

Wait, you say, isn't that a French cheese?

The answer is: yes. Catalona, which borders France, is one of the best places in Spain to find French cheese. (We also tasted lots of Spanish cheeses, and a few other French and Swiss cheeses.) Valençay is from the Loire Valley.

Valençay is made from raw goat milk, and is covered with grey ash.

It looks like a very strong cheese, but it's surprisingly mild. I think this is my favorite cheese in the world right now.

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Tags Spain, Catalonia, Cheese, Delicious

Wine tasting in Barcelona

August 7, 2019

This photo was taken at a natural-wine tasting for sommeliers in Barcelona during our first Barcelona Experience. The tasting was a wonderful event with cool people at an amazing venue in the city.

We love wine tasting, and we're planning some fun and surprising wine tasting in Barcelona and the nearby cava county (they make a lot more than cava!) at the upcoming Cava Barcelona Experience, which is now only one month away!!

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Tags Wine, Spain, Barcelona
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Why Barcelona is my favorite place to drink vermouth

July 20, 2019

Good vermouth is a delicious, refreshing and delightful beverage that's misunderstood, abused and maligned. The drink is also associated with Italy, or maybe France. But I think that in the last few years, Barcelona, Spain, is the best city to drink vermouth. (And, of course, we'll be drinking Barcelona's very best vermouth during our Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience.)

I'll tell you why in a minute. But first, let's talk about vermouth itself.

Vermouth is a fortified white wine flavored with botanicals. The "fortification" involves the addition of alcohol (brandy or neutral spirits) to bring the level to at least 14.5% in Europe or 15% in the US. (By definition, vermouth is at least 75% wine.)

The name "vermouth" comes from the French pronunciation of the German word for wormwood (wermut) -- and wormwood is one of the few universal ingredients in good vermouth.

Fortified, botanical wines have existed in China for millennia and Europe for centuries, mostly as a medicine. But Vermouth as we know it today was invented in mid-18th century Turin, Italy. That Italian invention was a red vermouth. Later, white and dry vermouth was developed in France.

Vermouth can be sweet or dry -- or, more recently, extra-dry white, sweet white, red, amber, and rosé.

Vermouth is used as an ingredient in cocktails, of course. That's the American way. Before World War II, more than half the cocktails commonly quaffed in America contained vermouth as an ingredient. And Americans even drank it neat. But the war stopped imports of vermouth from Italy and France, and Americans lost touch with it.

It's still a necessary ingredient in the quintessentially American cocktail: the martini. Interestingly, the original martini used sweet vermouth, but over time a dry martini with dry vermouth became the preferred martini. Use of the term "dry martini" gradually changed from meaning "dry vermouth instead of sweet" to meaning "a lesser amount of dry vermouth instead of the normal amount of dry vermouth.")

Cocktail books list more than 200 cocktails containing vermouth, mostly dry vermouth. As a result, most Americans think of vermouth as a cocktail mixer exclusively.

Many people think they don't like vermouth, but only because they've never tried the good stuff. They've been exposed only to the mass-market industrial brands, or they've tried old vermouth in the back of someone's liquor cabinet or sitting with the spirits at a bar (which destroys it) -- or both.

Once you open a bottle of vermouth, the clock is ticking, and should be refrigerated, and also consumed within a month or two. (Vermouth is commonly ruined because people believe it to be -- and handle it as -- a spirit. In fact, it's white wine and should be treated as such -- drunk cold and young and soon after opening.)

Vermouth is normally made with Clairette blanche, Piquepoul, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Catarratto or Trebbiano grape varieties. Non-white vermouths are also usually made with white wine, but colored by caramelized sugar.

The taste of vermouth is dominated by the proprietary blend of botanicals and other ingredients used by the maker, which may include wormwood, cloves, cinnamon, quinine, citrus peel, cardamom, nutmeg, marjoram, chamomile, coriander, mugwort, sagebrush, juniper, lavender, holly thistle, hyssop, gentian, ginger, black elder, anise, iris root, apple brandy, honey, cinchona bark, sweet flag, licorice root, cascarilla, angelica root, lemon peel, lime peel, bitter orange, bergamot orange peel, pomelo peel, oregano, dittany of Crete, gallic rose, st. john’s wort, honeysuckle flower, kieffer lime leaves, sage, star anise, cinnamon bark, cardamom, tonka bean, vanilla, allspice and many other ingredients.

While vermouth "manufacturing" happens predominantly in Italy and France, the vermouth "revival" is happening strongest in Barcelona. Spanish vermouth tends to be less bitter and taste sweeter, even though it also tends to have less sugar.

Personally, I think Barcelona is the greatest city in the world for enjoying vermouth. Every neighborhood seems to have a vermouth bar -- some of which are old and fancy; others are literally two stools on the sidewalk. Many serve their own house-made vermouth from a tap, and it's often cheap, as little as 2 Euros per glass, which comes with snacks, such as potato chips, olives, anchovies, shellfish or pan con tomate.

The Spanish way to drink vermouth is neat or on the rocks with an olive, a slice of orange or lemon and, perhaps, a splash of soda, before lunch, before dinner or after church on Sunday (many Spaniards have stopped going to church but continued the Sunday vermouth tradition). Vermouth is usually consumed as a very social "first drink of the day." The pre-dinner vermouth session can last two hours and signals the end of the day and the beginning of the evening.

And it's this ritual, combined with the enthusiastic house-made vermouth renaissance in Barcelona, that makes the city so great for vermouth. To drink vermouth at the right time in the right place is to join the locals in an extremely enjoyable ritual.

I'm really looking forward to sharing my favorite vermouths and vermouth bars during our Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience!

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Tags Spain, Barcelona, Vermouth, Wine
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Barcelona at night is another world!

July 19, 2019

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience, which is 5 nights and six days of pure Catalonian coolness -- food, wine, vermouth, cheese, tapas and breathtaking scenery in the Cava wine country.

But one singular experience is to find out what it's like to go deep inside Barcelona at night. The bars, streets and alleys of the Gothic Quarter are another world, unlike anything anywhere.

We're going to take our small group to our favorite hidden restaurants, dive bars and secret spots, where we'll eat and drink into the wee hours.

Just once in your life, you've gotta experience Barcelona the way we do it.

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Tags Spain, Barcelona
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Come experience Barcelona inside and out!

July 8, 2019

We're so excited about our upcoming Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience (which happens September 2 through September 7)!

Everybody's heard about Barcelona -- the unique and legendary city of Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner, the capital of Catalonia, and the best place in Europe to eat and drink all night long.

But fewer people know about the nearby Cava wine country -- a breathtakingly beautiful land of vineyards and wineries and amazing food.

During our Cava Barcelona Experience, we'll take you deep inside both the city and the country. Our small group of friends (including you!) will skip all the tourist traps and immerse ourselves in the real Barcelona that most people never see.

From a beautiful home in the Cava country, surrounded by vineyards, we'll explore the region's most intriguing and secret food spots, most authentic markets, restaurants, artisan shops and other hidden gems. We'll enjoy wine tastings, cheese tastings and more with Barcelona's top experts. And we'll learn how to cook -- and eat! -- Catalonia style.

We'll experience the true bohemian side of Barcelona, enjoy tapas of the highest order at the best local spots and explore the musical rhythms of flamenco. We'll talk to cultural experts to enlightened us about all things Catalonia.

You'll not only learn and taste and explore, but together we'll honor those who have kept the flame of ancient Catalan traditions, food methods and agrarian skills alive.

Best of all, every day of The Experience will be filled with delightful surprises, incredible scenery and unforgettable gatherings with friends.

If you think you or someone you knows is interested in enjoying the culinary and wine-tasting experience of a lifetime, click here or just send email to: mike@elgan.com

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Tags Spain, Barcelona
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I ate eels and didn't even know it

April 10, 2019

After two fantastic days in Spain's cava wine country planning for The Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience, our friends Florian and Veronica made us lunch, which included a delightfully mild, oddly grey-colored pasta. Or so I thought.

It was a wonderful outdoor lunch, and we had a great conversation and very good food and wine, which included local cava and a nice red wine from a very cool winery nearby.

Amira and our hosts talked about the "pasta" in Spanish, and I was kind of spacing out and not really paying attention -- something about seafood, I gathered. The flavor was very mild, boosted by some garlic and chilis.

I had seconds. Then thirds.

Later, in the taxi to the Barcelona airport, Amira mentioned to me that the "pasta" was in fact a Spanish delicacy called angulas, which are baby eels -- a traditional and monstrously expensive Basque dish (some $200 per pound).

Their lifecycle is the opposite of salmon, which live in the oceans but swim up freshwater streams to spawn. Angulas live in European freshwater streams, but swim out to the Atlantic to spawn in the Sargasso Sea.

Upon their return to the Atlantic coast of Spain, fisherman scoop them up with nets.

Thank you, Florian and Veronica for the wonderful lunch! (I have GOT to improve my Spanish!)

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Tags Spain, Catalonia
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Creating the Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience is an act of joy and love

April 10, 2019
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We’re hard at work planning our upcoming Cava Barcelona Gastronomad Experience! It looks like a lot of fun, but in fact it’s really a lot of fun. The planning is an act of joy, because of the beautiful, brilliant people we get to be with. And it’s an act of love, because we love the culture of Catalonia.

We’re meeting with old friends and new, and Amira is working with our food visionary friends to hand-craft magical gatherings and delicious experiences. We’re tasting everything, scouting locations and planning the deepest, most authentic and most life-changing exploration of Catalonia’s mind-blowing food and wine culture.

During this adventure, our small gang of gastronomads will learn how to cook, drink and party Catalonian style. We’ll explore the amazing foodie city of Barcelona with the both deep traditionalists and new-school innovators who make Barcelona’s food scene unlike any other in the world.

Join us!

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Tags Spain, Catalonia, Cava, Barcelona, Wine, Vineyards, Joy, Love
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