Spain's #1 necessity!

When you go to a restaurant and look at the menu this is normally what you see Pasta con Jamon,Boccadillo de Jamon, Pizza con Jamon basically jamon,jamon,jamon!
What is jamon you ask? It is pig otherwise known as pork. Here in Spain jamon is part of there life style, I understand that people like it but you don't need it in every meal! If you tell people in Spain you do not eat pork they will think you are crazy, and then offer you bacon.

They love pork so much that there are whole stores that are all pork and nothing else.
The thing that is the most disturbing to me is whole ham legs curing themselves by hanging from a ceiling as they mold, smoke themselves and sweat, there is even a little plastic cup to catch the sweat as it drips down from the ham leg I find this quite gross. It also reeks and smells terrible when ever you walk past a pork shop you can smell it even though your not in the shop. I wouldn't mind these ham legs if they weren't in every bar, restaurant, and peoples homes! I just don't find them so appealing or yummy.

Around the Christmas time here when you go to a grocery store there are whole holiday displays of ham legs apparently here in Spain ham legs make great gifts considering pretty much everyone loves ham!

What I really think is interesting is ham can range from sliced ham that costs about 5 euros to whole ham legs that cost 150 euros,I do not know why people spend so much money on ham?

Spanish people think ham is necessity of life!

Mint & Lime Pasta -- oh yes!

Bar Lobo located just off Las Ramblas, is my new favorite cafe. It has a rustic feel and an open kitchen smack front and center of the cafe. There you can see just how fresh the food being prepared is. Perfect for foodies and/or germiphobes.

The pan con tomate is the best I have had to date. For lunch, I love to get the Mint, Lime & Fresh Mozzarella Pasta. It's light yet packed with a fresh and clean flavor. Who would have thought you could marry mojitos and pasta?

Highly recommended!

Rob & Jane Come to Barcelona

Friends from San Francisco came for a visit in September.  We were thrilled to have them, especially since it was during a transitional time for us.  Here are some of the pictures they shared with us.

We waited for over an hour on a little street in Gracia for an outdoor table to open up.  Luckily cacaolatlover snagged the first one that opened up for us.

After a great lunch, we headed over to the Boqueria Market where we slurped down fresh fruit smoothies.   My personal favorite was Strawberry Coconut.

Barcelona Patatas Bravas review #2 !!!

Today we had Patatas Bravas at a restaurant named Mi Gracia they were delicious they were a special kind of patatas bravas recipe,altohugh they were not original patatas bravas and it was just a recipe created by Mi Gracia,they were very good.They were a variation of patatas bravas.

They were crunchy patato cubes with pesto on top they were very very good. I rate them a 8.They were new and good!!!! My taste buds definietely enjoyed thesse ones! Thumbs up!!!!!!!!

Cheers to Mi Gracia

Barcelona Patatas Bravas review #1 !!!

I am starting this new thing were I eat patatas bravas all over Barcelona and I will write a review each time on the blog!! If you curious what patatas bravas are they are fried chunks of potatoes covered with spicy creamy sauce. And I will rate them one to ten. One being the worst and ten being heavanly.


Today we eat at ATN restaurant and there patatas bravas were quite good. I rate these patatas bravas a 7! Although they weren't traditional patatas bravas they were good!! Instead of creamy spicy sauce they had tomato sauce on them but they were still good.

What do spanish people call yogurt ?

What do spanish people call yogurt ??
I don't know Dannon other wise known as Danone ,what is this liquidy weirdness made out of? Why is it so liquidy what ever happened to Wallaby?

And Greek yogurt you know that organic good stuff? Here if you want non-liquidy yogurt and decent yogurt what they call Greek but not really Greek just what should be normal thick and regular or there is Activia which is ok. I must say that Greek and Activia are both bearably good!!

Cacaolat and the Chocolate Obsession in Spain

This is a chocolate obsessed nation.  No complaints here ;).  Anyone that knows me knows I have a chocolate problem however, I crave less sugar and more cocoa.  In other words Nestle, Hersheys and all that cheap stuff generally sucks.

However, I am fascinated by the abundance of chocolate here.  There are products chocolified here that I have never seen before.  It's almost as if it's edible, add chocolate to it.  In fact there are plenty of choices for chocolate formula and chocolate babyfood-- that's right for infants!

Check out the shapshot of a common Spanish supermarket below.  This was taken at Dia, but it really can be of any supermarket here like Condes, Coprabo or Bonpreu. Even some of the "healthy" markets have sections that look like this.

All calories aside, I have learned why one of their most popular chocolate treats "Cacaolat", is as popular as it is.  This is hard to say since I was born and raised in NY for 16 years, but this blows Yoohoo out of the water.  Cacaolat is no chocolate joke.  There is a deep rich chocolate flavor and almost tastes more like a traditional chocolate milk rather than chocolate water.  On a hot day pour one over some ice and add a cafe solo for a simple and quick DIY Spanish mocha.  Deelish. 

First Night in Our Aparment

We've had an exhausting couple of days.  Between the jetlag, heat and moving on the other side of the world with a baby, I was ready to hibernate the rest of the summer.  The first night in town we stayed at AC Hotel on a great deal.  It was a perfect clean stylish little place to grumpily crash out at with a huge pristine white pressed bed -- which delivered the best nap of my life.

Today was very eventful.  Here's the recap:

• This morning we moved into our apartment.  The rental ad said the unit was "5th floor with no lift" but in reality they should have called it what it was and that is the 7th floor.  Apparently the 1st floor really doesn't start until the 3rd floor.  You get the picture here.. (update: we actually moved outta this place after 2 days.. roaches.. ew!  Our new place has an elevator!)
• Federal Cafe- found this adorable cafe in the hood.  Had a delicious cage free egg bake with spinach and mushrooms. 
• Gym - the whole family joined a local gym and went swimming.

I've also noticed some interesting details about doing business here.  At this point it's not clear if this is a Barcelona or a Spain thing.

• Bank Draft - Seems to be the standard form of payment for rent, gyms and about everything that has a recurring bill.  Not a debit or credit card. It seems businesses want a direct wire bank draft.  Convenient for everyone except the sender.
• Capitalization fees - If you decide to join a gym, send a kid to school, start up some yoga classes or even purchase insurance there is a capital contribution fee for anyone doing business with a company for the first time.  These fees are a one time fee and in addition to regular monthly or other revolving fees.  For the gym it was about 50 euro, for preschool it varies from 200-300 euro and for private schools I've seen anywhere from 1500-3000 euros.  Insurance I was quoted was about 50 euro

The other detail our whole family noticed is the chocolate and Nesquick obsession.  It's EVERYWHERE!  Even Hello Kitty Nesquick cereal and crunchy chocolate doodles (think cheetos!).