BARCELONA NEXT
Fourth in a four-part series on the food of Barcelona.
Read Part 1. Read Part 2. Read Part 3.
My son, Seri, lived on Carrer Regomir in the Barri Gotic and introduced me to what I call the third food scene in Barcelona. He and his buddies were poor students and could afford only sandwiches. But what sandwiches they've got in Barcelona! There are all kinds, and they are very inventive. Though they are sometimes misnamed tapas places by food and travel writers, these are all sandwiches places -- not tapas places that sell small sandwiches. Tapas are something unique and distinctive, and there are tapas bars in Barcelona, but there are other categories of eateries too, the two most important being the lunch counters or diners and the sandwich shops.
The first of these are the so-called famous tapas bars of the Boqueria. There's only one problem: They're not tapas bars. Pinotxo Bar or El Quim in the Boqueria or Cal Pep in Born are technically -- don't laugh -- diners. They're fantastic, but they're not tapas bars, although they do have tapas. The second of these eateries are sometimes called tapas bars, but they too are really establishments that serve entrepans, which means "between bread." They are sandwich shops.
Artisan sandwiches -- not tapas
One of my favorite sandwich shops calls itself artesans de entrepa(sandwich artisans), and Seri took me there for a quick bite soon after I arrived from the airport. The small unassuming shop is called Conesa at Calle Llibreteria 1 (34 933 101 394), overlooking the Plaça St. Jaume, where I had a botifarra i calçots sandwich. This was a pan-seared botifarra sausage, a sausage made of veal or pork or both mixed with spices, and grilled baby leeks, with some roasted green bell peppers, a little cheese in an oval sandwich loaf that was griddle-pressed as one would in a panini press. This was so good I could see why the boys lived on this stuff and for 3.50 euros. It's an incredible deal in this town with high-priced food.
The next place Seri took me days later was a wacky sandwich place called Bo de B, at Calle de la Fusteria 14 (no phone) at the corner of Calle Merce, opposite the central post office. The window display had various foods and toppings running from Indian-style curries to roasted beets, not to mention all the makings for crepes. I ordered a hamburguesa, which was no mere hamburger. It was a very inventive sandwich using ground beef. In a large oval-shaped roll a long thin hamburger spiced nicely with garlic and paprika was griddled and placed in the bread with a squirt of mildly hot chile sauce, avocado sauce and vinegar, and then topped with accompaniments of lettuce shreds, diced tomatoes, diced bell peppers, shredded red cabbage, cooked corn and lentils. Every bite was enlightening and different. It was quite good for 5 euros.
 The most amazing of the sandwich shops, the Xampaneria is on Calle Reina Cristina 7 (34 93 310 0839) on the edge of Barceloneta. Seri warned me the place was so crowded that in the nine times he'd been there he'd never made it further than 10 feet into the place. So we decided to go "early," which was 1 p.m., and we were able to order some sandwiches. It was a whirlwind of short-order cookery like you've never seen. It was madcap, and I wondered how a non-Spanish-speaker would manage. I knew it was my kind of place when I saw the slices of bacon being deep fried. I ordered a lomo, foie gras and York sandwich, which is made in a griddled roll with sliced roast pork loin, foie gras and dry cured York ham. Seri got a sobrassada, foie gras, and camembert sandwich, both of which came with a romesco sauce. (By the way, camembert and Roquefort cheese are hugely popular in Barcelona.) The sandwiches were hot, greasy, juicy and utterly delicious. We ordered a cava to drink and a whole bottle came out, to which Seri said in calm response to my wide eyes, "We’ll drink the whole thing; it's only 2 euros." And delicious it was, and tipsy we were.
A blend of Turkish, Catalan and Indian
There are a number of sandwich places selling doner kebap (yes, spelled with a "p"). Curiously, these are not the Turkish ones, even though the name is Turkish. Most of these places are run by Indians or Pakistanis, and none are bigger than a Middle Eastern-style cookshop. They appeal not just to the immigrant community but especially to students. Although the shops are all over town, there are a good number in Raval (where many students live). The weird thing about these sandwiches is that they are a strange fusion of Turkish-Catalan-Indian food.
The place we went to was a favorite of Seri's friend Devin, and it had a sign outside saying "pollastre doner kebab jaswal." This was Jaswal Super Alimentacion, Calle Joaquin Costa 11 (34 93 442 53 47). We ordered a doner kebap, which as best I can make out is made with pita or a small oval soft roll while the durum kebap is made with naan or tortilla and not pita. In front of us were two vertical rotisseries, one with lamb or beef and one with chicken. The chicken looked much more appetizing with the golden brown white meat and fat dripping down as it turned slowly, so that's what I ordered. The counter man sliced it off with a hand-held rotary saw, which struck me as overkill. The chicken went in the pita with some allioli, some hot sauce, shredded carrots, red cabbage, onions, green bell peppers, cooked corn and cucumbers. It was then folded over and wrapped in aluminum foil for take-away. It dripped all over when I ate it, and it served as a very tasty and wonderful snack or lunch. The durum kebap was wrapped like a burrito.
When I think about all the food I ate in Barcelona (and I haven't even written about all the Catalan food I made in my apartment's kitchen), I find myself most nostalgic for the sandwiches we usually had with cava. Yelling an order to the short-order cook and then eating something I assumed was what I ordered is really one of the best food memories I have of living in Barcelona. Of course, as Seri said, you can drink a bottle of cava with it. A bottle? Sure, it's only 2 euros.
Tasca El Tropezon. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Sepia amb sigron (cuttlefish with chickpeas) at Cal Pep. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Pans & Co. sandwich shop on the Rambla. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Doner kebab from Jaswal in Raval. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Doner kebab meat on the spit at Jaswal in Raval. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
El Quim in the Boqueria.Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Vavelas a la plancha (griddled razor clams). Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Tapas at the tapas bar Irati. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Tasca El Tropezon. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Sepia amb sigron (cuttlefish with chickpeas) at Cal Pep. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Pans & Co. sandwich shop on the Rambla. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Doner kebab from Jaswal in Raval. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Doner kebab meat on the spit at Jaswal in Raval. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
El Quim in the Boqueria.Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Vavelas a la plancha (griddled razor clams). Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Tapas at the tapas bar Irati. Credit: Clifford A. Wright
Clifford A. Wright won the James Beard / KitchenAid Cookbook of the Year award and the James Beard Award for the Best Writing on Food in 2000 for "A Mediterranean Feast."
Photos, from top: Hamburguesa from Bo de B in the Barri Gotic; Xampanyeria in Barceloneta. Credits: Clifford A. Wright
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