Catalonian cooking lessons =)

2nd fun experience of the trip! This happened on Friday. Perla, being the observant gal she is, found information at our hostel for a free walking tour of the Barcelona's gothic quarter the next morning. Of course, we're both always down for economising, so up we got the next day and went! It was run by some very cool people who work for a traveler's bar in Barcelona. Had a good time, for sure, and through it we learned of another great opportunity: Spanish cooking class!

The day before, we had stumbled across a supermarket and cooked our own dinner (pasta carbonara with sausage, all made ourselves - cheap and SO SO good!), so we decided that this would be worth it! 19 euro for dinner and the entire experience, and completely worth it. Such a steal considering the fun we had. Observe:

These are tapas, the name for a collection of Spanish appetizers. As far as the history goes, tapas originated in the days when, in taverns/pubs/bars, people drinking their wine wouldn't want the flies to get to them. So they'd stick a plate on top of the glass to keep it covered (tapar in Spanish is "to cover.") Eventually, people decided to put a little snack on the plate- good idea!- and sooner or later once hygiene wasn't quite the problem it once was, these plates migrated to the tables where people could enjoy their drinks and snackeroos without having to worry about balance problems! Delicious, delicious. The most fun was the bread things you see up top. First, you rub a clove of garlic on the cruncy bread. After, you take the tomato and rub it on the bread as well. (You don't eat it? quelle choque). Then, you top it off with your choice of meat/cheese, and perhaps some paprika. Yum, yum, gone. Rinse and repeat! We also had tortillas, but not in the sense you'd think. They're actually kind of like an omelette with potato and onion, and they're on the right in the top picture. And to top it off, tons of fried potato chunks. Drool.

Afterward, we had our paella cooking demonstration. It's actually a highly involved process which you don't want to mess up, so I figure it's for the best that they didn't just let us go to town with some seafood and rice. It also involved a special enormous, 18-inch or so pan (paellera) and cooking apparatus with three rings of fire arranged in a circle. Yeah, a bit bad for a beginner! It was really cool, though, and I'm glad we chose this. All the seafood (prawns, calamari, mussels, and clams) was bought fresh in the market that day, and we got to learn what really goes into this dish from an adorable Argentinian waiter as he made paella for 10!

The paella, before the addition of the rice. Seafood delight =D

Adding the finishing touches, including lots of olive oil.

Before the above photo, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the rice to cook. So what did they offer us to amuse ourselves? Sangria making lessons! Fruit, cheapo wine, orange juice, fanta orange and fanta limon, and sugar. And brandy. Can't forget that! We got a demonstration first, and after that they let us loose on all the ingredients. I feel like Perla and I were quite excellent in our preparation and made a fine pitcher of sangria...I giggled when I noticed how heavy handed some of our new friends were with the brandy bottle. For 8 people, we ended up with 6 "good" pitchers, and one "bomb sangria" made with whatever ingredients were left. We finished 4 and a half, and the bomb pitcher never got touched...we left it at the corner of the table, quite sad and alone.

The ingredients. Bring it on.

Adding the coup de grace...Brandy!

Not bad...not bad at all!

But anyway, we had ourselves a roaring good time and learned a little something too. Came home stuffed and happy. Until next time!