Tastes like home 故乡的味道
Anna Lee Mraz Bartra. Peninsula 360 Press
Have you ever been away from home for a long time? Away from your family, your mom? And one day, you see her again. You rush to hug her and when you're in that tight encounter you inhale the smell so familiar and natural to you. You may immediately go back to your childhood, connect with thousands of memories, and feel your body generate an electric current of emotions that runs through it and shakes it to its core.
There are flavors that, when they pass through the tongue, provoke a child's party in your taste buds with balloons and streamers. There is no scene from a film that interprets better what I say than the end of Ratatouille when the food critic, Anton Ego, tastes the dish selected and prepared by the rat and Ego is perplexed.
My intention is not to compare myself to a food critic like the one who shows the cartoon, but I identify with that feeling when I try a Ratatouille far from home that resembles the one my father makes. For some Latinos this feeling might come with a nice plate of black beans or fruit punch for Christmas, maybe some tostones with rice, or beef stew. But for me those memories not only include the flavors I keep from Mexico, but those I learned from my Catalan mother.
I get excited when I see the most ordinary things of life in Catalonia: the sidewalk, the clothes hanging on the balcony of the apartments on a clothesline like the one my grandmother used to lend me to make castles of sheets in her living room.
The food at Teleféric Barcelona - Palo Alto had that effect on me. The croquettes are even better than the ones my mother makes (sorry, mommy). Crunchy on the outside, perfectly golden as they should be, but so light on the inside. They're like little clouds of Serrano ham.
The grilled octopus on mashed potatoes with a different touch was a new flavor for me, surprising and delicious, converging so harmoniously that they seem to chat on the plate when served. The octopus is perfectly cooked, not too hard, not too soft. And the little tip of the tentacle crunchy as a celebration snack.
We shared a black paella between 4 people and it is a good portion, although perhaps it is better for three, since we asked for many other things besides this one. The paella tastes like the good paellas of Barcelona, the rice is on point, good taste, but what it is really worth is for the seafood. The squid melts in your mouth like butter and the scallops are firm, and with a good consistency.
We ordered a Salmon Tartar that comes bathed in a peculiar sauce that claims to be avocado and rosemary. The latter is hard to hide, but they could hold the avocado as the rosemary obscures it almost entirely. This Tartar comes with a very distinctive handmade corn tortilla.
This dish, although delicious, reminded me much more of what I've eaten in Peru than in Catalonia. I congratulate Teleferic Barcelona for exploring new culinary horizons and enriching -the already rich- culture of this region.
This restaurant is excellent and, as far as I can tell from the many reviews on Google, one of the favorites in Palo Alto. I compared these reviews with those of the restaurants in Barcelona and Sant Cugat. It's remarkable that, on the other side of the Atlantic, these restaurants are perceived very expensive for what they offer. Of course, the competition for good tapas is much greater. It could also be the chef and the quality control of their dishes which makes the difference.
If I had to criticize anything at Teleféric Barcelona - Palo Alto, it would be its Patatas Bravas, somewhat watery, bland, and unsavory. Maybe it's because the sauce they present is too sweet instead of a little spicy -there's a reason they're called "bravas"-, or maybe it's because their Alioli is too mild for my taste, so much so that, it almost is just an ordinary mayonnaise. I fear that the chef, no doubt excellent judging by the other dishes, has restricted himself and wanted to make his potatoes and aioli more digestible for the "American" palate. I was also forced to order an extra portion of aioli for the paella that only comes with two pinches of it over the rice in the paella pan.
The churros, a dish that all Catalans boast about, leaves much to be desired. I confess I'm not the expert on churros because it's not something I particularly like in general. That's why I took with me someone who goes through life looking for the best churros, yet these ones from the Teleféric fail to pass their test. Crunchy, yes. But too crumbly and hard. I would have liked to have found a churro as good as their croquettes, crunchy on the outside, but soft on the inside. Kind of disappointing.
But, dear readers, this fact as told above did not disappoint me enough to not go back. I will return, I assure you. First of all, because I asked the store manager - yes, they have a little shop of Catalan products right next door - to let me know as soon as they obtain "mató", a formidable light cheese that can only be found in Catalonia, usually accompanied by honey, and that is how the emblematic dish "mel i mató" is created. I am waiting.
I'm going back to this little store too because I probably won't be able to go home this Christmas and spend it with my mom and dad. And I have to get a good Catalan turrón (nougat) to get through these bad times where the physical distance apart from family leaves us feeling sad and frustrated because of the damn coronavirus stalking the world, and I hope that the only Catalan store I know in the area at the moment, will have turrón.
Christmas is our favorite tradition at home. It is the one in which all our ancestral cultures converge and merge harmoniously. More than a decade ago, I found myself as far away from everything as I have ever felt: Australia. It was a new year, I was sorely missing my family and I walked into a bar with a Colombian friend just to explore what to do on that night of lonely souls. In that tiny bar in Sydney they were selling champagne and nougat. I couldn't afford the champagne, but I couldn't resist asking for the little piece of nougat. I ate slowly with each bite and, in front of my friend, I held back the tears that were accumulating at the taste of my land, my home, so far away.
The best of the Teleféric Barcelona? It takes you home, or for those who haven't been to Catalonia, it's an excellent way to travel to the other side of the pond in times of pandemic, or at least give your palate a good taste.
Don't miss the gazpacho oysters. Wonderful. They strive to surprise the customer from the presentation, colored rocks from which a mysterious smoke is emitted. The fresh taste of the sea they wear extraordinarily like a good dress that dances in front of the sea breeze. The gazpacho highlights the juiciness of the oyster without dominating it. Although it's on top of everything else, the last thing you discover is the crunchy encounter with the ham, subtle but which endpoint, makes itself felt.
For the finale, the best part of the dessert. Those torrijas (cream puffs) are finger-licking good. And, although the churros were not entirely impressive, the chocolate that accompanies them does have a particular flavor of my land, that of the Sardana and the barratinas. Without being too sweet, it's a liquid you want to put on top of everything. I did that with both the excellent homemade vanilla ice cream and the ganache from the same black gold.
Teleféric - Barcelona, I'll be back for more. More oysters, more torrijas, and, of course, in search of the mató and some nougat I pray to find among its shelves. Above all, I will return because it takes me to my mother's arms, who is so far away, and I miss her so much.
