Tastes like home ?????
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 close encounter you inhale the smell so familiar and natural to you. It is possible that you immediately go back to childhood, to connect with thousands of memories and you feel your body generate an electric current of emotions that runs through it and shakes in the center of it.
There are flavors that, when they pass over the tongue, provoke a childish party in your taste buds with balloons and streamers. There is no better movie scene that interprets what I'm talking about better than the end of Ratatouille, when the food critic Anton Ego tastes the dish selected and prepared by the little rat and Ego is perplexed.
I don't mean to compare myself to an art critic like the one in the cartoon, but I can relate to that feeling when I try a Ratatouille outside the house that resembles my father's. For some Latinos that feeling might come with a good plate of black beans or fruit punch for Christmas, maybe some tostones with rice, or beef stew. For some Latinos that feeling might come with a nice bowl of black beans or fruit punch for Christmas, maybe some tostones with rice, or beef stew. But for me those memories include not only the flavors I cherish from Mexico, but the ones I learned from my Catalan mother.
I get excited when I see the most ordinary things of life in Catalonia: the sidewalk -or sidewalk as we call it in Mexico-, 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 the living room of her house.
The lunch at Teleféric Barcelona ? Palo Alto had that effect on me. The croquettes are even better than the ones my mother (sorry, mami) makes. Crispy on the outside, perfectly browned as they should be, but so light on the inside. They're like little clouds of prosciutto.
The grilled octopus over mashed potatoes with a different touch was a new taste for me, surprising and delicious, they converge so harmoniously that they seem to be chatting on the plate when served. The octopus was perfectly cooked, neither hard nor too soft. And the tip of the tentacle crispy like a party snack.
We shared a black paella between all of us -4 people- and it's a good portion, although it might be better for three people since we ordered many other things besides this one. The paella tastes like the good paellas of Barcelona, the rice is just right, good flavour, but it's the seafood that's really worth it. The squid melts in your mouth like butter and the scallops are firm, but of good consistency.
We ordered a Salmon Tartar that came bathed in a peculiar sauce that claims to be avocado and rosemary. The latter is hard to hide, but the avocado could almost be spared because the rosemary obfuscates it almost entirely. This Tartar is accompanied by 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 you for exploring new culinary horizons and enriching the already rich culture of this region.
This restaurant is excellent and, by many Google reviews, a favorite in Palo Alto. I compared these reviews with those of restaurants in Barcelona and Sant Cugat. It stands out that, on the other side of the Atlantic, these restaurants are very expensive for what they offer. Of course, the competition for a good tapas place is much greater. It could also be the chef and the quality control of the dishes.
If I had to criticize one thing about Teleféric Barcelona ? Palo Alto, it would be their patatas bravas, which are a bit watery, bland and without a joke. Perhaps it's because the sauce they present is too sweet rather than spicy - there's a reason they're called "bravas" - or perhaps their Alioli is too thin for my taste, so thin that it's on the verge of being just an ordinary mayonnaise. I fear that the chef, no doubt excellent judging by the other dishes, has restrained himself and wanted to make his potatoes and aioli more digestible for the ?American? palate. I was also forced to order an extra dollop of aioli for the paella which only comes with two pinches of it on top of the rice in the paella pan.
Churros, a dish that every Catalan boasts about, leave a lot to be desired. I confess that I am not the expert on churros as it is not something I particularly like in general. That's why I took with me the one who goes through life in search of the best churros and these ones from Teleféric left a lot to be desired. Crunchy, yes, but too crumbly and hard. I would have liked to find a churro as good as their croquettes, crunchy on the outside, yes, but soft on the inside. A bit disappointing.
But, dear readers, the above fact did not disappoint me enough to keep me from returning. I will be back, I assure you. First of all because I asked the store manager -yes, they have a little Catalan products shop right next door- to let me know as soon as they get mató, a formidable light cheese that is only found in Catalonia, usually accompanied with honey and thus creating the emblematic dish ?mel i mató? I'll be waiting.
I'll go back to this little shop too, because I probably won't be able to go back home this Christmas and spend it with my mom and dad. And I must get a good Catalan nougat to get us through the bad pill that family distance leaves us with the damn coronavirus that stalks the world and I hope that the only Catalan shop I know of in the area at the moment, has it.
Christmas is our favorite tradition at home. It's the one where all our ancient cultures converge and merge harmoniously. More than a decade ago now, I was as far away from everything as I have ever felt in my life: Australia. It was New Year's, I was painfully missing family and I walked into a bar with a Colombian friend just to explore what to do that night of lonely souls. In that tiny Sydney bar they were selling Champagne and nougat. I couldn't afford the champagne, but I couldn't resist ordering the nougat. I ate each bite slowly and, facing my friend, I held back the tears that were building up at the taste of my homeland, my home, so far away.
The best thing about Teleféric Barcelona? It takes you home, or for those who haven't been to Catalonia, it's a great way to travel across the pond in times of pandemic, or at least give your taste buds a treat.
Don't miss the oysters with gazpacho. A marvel. They make an effort to surprise the customer from the presentation, colored rocks from which a mysterious smoke is released. The fresh taste of the sea is worn extraordinarily well, like a good dress that dances in the sea breeze. The gazpacho brings out the juiciness of the oyster without overpowering it. Although it sits on top of everything else, the last thing you discover is the crunchy encounter with the ham, subtle but as a finishing touch, it makes its presence felt.
For the end, the best of the dessert. Those torrijas de nata are finger-licking good. And, although the churros were not quite shocking, the chocolate that accompanies them if it has a particular taste to my land, the land of the Sardana and barratinas. Without being too sweet, it's a liquid that you want to put over everything. That's what I did with both the excellent homemade vanilla ice cream and the ganache of the same black gold.
Teleféric ? Barcelona, I'll be back for more. More oysters, more torrijas and, of course, in search of mató and some nougat that I'm begging to find on their shelves. Above all, I will come back because it takes me to the arms of my mother, who is so far away and I miss her so much.
