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Food & book trails – Catalonia

26th February 2019

TripFiction’s Andrew was given his best Christmas present EVER in 2018…the mouth-watering Food Trails from Lonely Planet: ‘Plan 52 perfect weekends in the world’s tastiest destinations‘. Food & Book trails – Catalonia.

Food & book trails - Catalonia

This book is a gastronomic tour of the world in 52 short breaks. We’ve scoured the globe for the greatest food experiences worth planning your travels around – not just fine dining, but also the best regional specialities, the most atmospheric street food spots, and the most memorable cooking courses’.

Whether we realise it or nor, food is one of the key ways in which we experience a place when travelling‘.

Here at TripFiction we have a passionate belief that literature and books are another way to really understand a destination….seeing a location through an author’s forensic eyes, walking the same streets as a book’s characters, eating the same local food as a protagonist and guzzling the same drinks.

So why not combine the two?

We’ve already tasted Food Trails in Paris and London, now let’s take a look at Lonely Planet’s Food Trail ‘A Catalan Food Lesson‘ and see which books set firmly in this fiercely independent region nestling close to the Pyrenees, between Spain and France, can further enhance your senses.

This Food Trail confirms how, ‘between the shining stars of Barcelona and Girona, rural Catalonia is an enthralling gourmet destination where traditional recipes and fertile volcanic soils are inspiring chefs.‘ Here are a few highlights:

  • Mercat de la Boqueria – ‘begin in Barcelona with an amuse-bouche of Catalan flavours at this historic food hall. Glance at produce ranging from grab-and-go cargols (snails) to slabs of goat’s cheese and glistening cured meats. Pinotxo Bar is wildly popular, with local legend Juanito Bayen dishing up plates of stewed chickpeas. Or balance on a stool here to sample fresh mussels, razor clams and “xipirons amb mongetes” (squid with beans)’
  • Casa Riera Ordeix – ‘leave Barcelona and head north for an hour to the spirited town of Vic. Here you’ll find the treasured delicacy of “llonganissa”, weighty truncheons of meat hanging from deli windows, with protected status and first mentioned in the 14th century. Casa Rieira Ordeix is a factory with an attached deli, and one of only a handful of authorised local producers’
  • El Jardinet – ‘appetite whetted, sit down for a feast in the heart of old Vic. Resaturant El Jardinet serves up some of the best regional dishes in a charming setting. Tuck into “fideua”, fine wheat noodles strewn with seafood, or juicy Iberico pork, lightly braised’
  • Can Xel – in the Garrotxa volcanic region, a 45-minute drive north from Vic, your first stop is in Santa Pau, a tiny village famous for its “fesol” (plump white beans). The best spot to try them is Can Xel: order a plateful of “botifarra amb fesols de Santa Pau”, beans accompanying succulent Catalan sausage’
  • Museo del Embutido – ‘bite off a chunk of sausage history in the village of Castellfollit de la Roca. This pint-sized museum, based on the premises of local cured meat experts J Sala Riera, has been laying bare the mysteries of medieval sausage-making, with opportunities to sample various meaty treats at the end. The village, perched precariously on a basalt cliff, also offers spectacular views of the surrounding region’
  • La Curia Reial – ‘bid adios to cuina volcanica in style by stopping in picturesque Besalu. Restaurant La Curia Reial is as extraordinary for its views as its food: it overlooks the medieval town’s fortified bridge. Savour mushroom-strewn terrines and expertly cooked game, finished off with jasmine-crowned melon soup’

After all that hearty local food, what could be better than settling down with a book set in this same atmospheric region. So grab a glass of red wine, and dive into some Catalan pages:

Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

Orwell’s book about how he joined the ranks of the anti-fascists during the Civil War, in which he was actively involved.

Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal 

The beginning of the 20th century: 13-year-old Conxa has to leave her home village in the Pyrenees to work for her childless aunt. After years of hard labour, she finds love with Jaume – a love that will be thwarted by the Spanish Civil War.

Approaching her own death, Conxa looks back on a life in which she has lost everything except her own indomitable spirit.

This story presents a fascinating timeless voice, down to earth and full of human contradictory nuances. It is the expression of someone who searches for understanding in a changing world but senses that ultimately there may be no such thing.

This is a Catalan modern classic.

Autumn in Catalonia by Jane MacKenzie

It is 1963, and in her mansion in the foothills of the Pyrenees, Joana idles her days away, banished by her powerful husband and alienated from her family.

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, her daughter Carla is impoverished and in trouble. Hating all her parents stand for, Carla has embraced the student movement against the Franco regime, but her father has been watching her, and, just before their wedding, her beloved fiance is arrested. Pregnant Carla runs to grandmother Maria, terrified, powerless to help either Luc or herself. Maria shelters her, but they know their movements are still being followed. Why did her daughter Joana marry into the Franco regime and abandon her family? Maria has never understood.

This is the story of three generations of women, torn apart by the Spanish Civil War, and by one determined man. It takes the arrival of an unknown cousin for them to start building bridges. Martin carries his own ghosts, but he has come looking for his family, and his belief in them helps them unite to face the enemy together, one autumn in Catalonia.

This is a story in which love wins over evil, and belief brings hope, emerging victorious into the sunshine of the Catalonian landscape.

Homage to Barcelona by Colm Toibin

A sympathetic look at the history of Barcelona, its art, culture, cafe culture, churches.

A readable delight for anyone who wants a bit more depth about the place they are visiting.

Marina by Carlos Ruis Zafon

In May 1980, 15-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts…

His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father German Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month. At 10 a.m. precisely a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings.

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

The above are just an amuse-bouche of five books to accompany you on your Food Trail through Catalonia. But we have over 40 books across all genres on the TripFiction database set in Catalonia.

We hope this gets your appetite, travel and literary juices flowing, and if you use this article as your guide for any culinary or reading ideas on your next trip to Catalonia, we’d love to hear from you.

Which restaurants, bodegas or other culinary places of interest would you add? Which books have we missed?

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