I have recently moved from hectic London to sunny Barcelona and I have always wanted to learn a bit more about the history and culture of this amazing city. I tend to escape the tourist areas and like to experience a city like a local as much as possible. And is there a better way to do so than on a food tour? I don’t think so. Especially since food is such an integral part of the Spanish culture and Barcelona ranks among the ten best gastronomic cities in the world. So I went on a food tour in Barcelona.
A Guided Food Tour in Barcelona
A guided tour gives you a chance to learn lots of interesting quirky facts. For example, do you know why a bat is the logo of Bacardi? Or what is the difference between a cava nature and a cava dulce? Why are most pavements in Barcelona decorated with ‘panots’, the city’s characteristic flower tiles? And why do Spanish people give each other a rose and a book on April 23, Sant Jordi’s day? You can find an answer to all these questions by joining Barcelona Eat Local food tours.
Barcelona Eat Local offers guided walking food tours to experience the best of Barcelona local gastronomy in undiscovered and fascinating neighbourhoods. I joined the Sant Antoni and Poble Sec Tour. These two districts near the city centre have a unique food culture that celebrates old traditional cuisine by combining it with new creative ingredients and trends.
Sant Antoni Market
On the day we met with our guide Andrea right in front of Sant Antoni Market, which is currently closed and under renovation. There is a temporary market though, which is where we went instead. Andrea started to tell us more about the city and the history of the walls that originally surrounded it. After that, she guided us into the lively market of Sant Antoni.
Our first stop was the stall of the Masclans’ Family (St Antoni Market, Comte d’Urgell 1). They are cod artisans and they have been selling bacalao since 1882. They gave us a tray with some ‘esqueixada’, a ‘buñelo’ and a ‘croqueta de bacalao’. Esqueixada is a traditional Catalan cod salad, served cold and mixed with peppers and olives. Buñelo and croqueta are two slightly different types of cod fritters. Everything was simply delicious!
Jovani & Vins (€€)
The second stop was Jovani & Vins (Comte Borell 38), a cava wine cellar where we had a refreshing cava tasting master class. Our guide was very knowledgeable about cava and gave us lots of useful information on how to distinguish a good cava from a bad one. Also, we learned how to differentiate between a brut nature and a brut from its taste.
El Sortidor (€€)
From there we headed towards Poble Sec. Andrea told us lots of interesting historical facts and unknown stories about this fascinating neighbourhood. She showed us Casa Montserrat Gili (Carrer de Blasco de Garay, 24) a modernist house built in 1916. Then we walked us to Plaça del Sortidor. There we had lunch at the namesake restaurant, El Sortidor (Plaça del Sortidor, 5), a modernist restaurant that opened in 1908. We enjoyed a glass of clara (beer mixed with lemonade) while making our own pan con tomate. We also had some delicious jamon iberico and some super tasty patatas bravas. Apparently, this place has its own very special and secret recipe for the sauce.
Ca L’Isidre (€€€)
We then headed to Ca L’Isidre for dessert (Carrer de Flors, 12). This place is a family-run and top-notch restaurant that serves really authentic, traditional Catalan cuisine. There we sampled the best crema Catalana in town and I will definitely go back soon!
El Jabali (€)
We ended our tour at El Jabali (Ronda de Sant Pau, 315), a unique place where you can sip vermouth in the trendy bar upstairs or buy some delicious ham in the shop downstairs. This is where the best restaurants in town come to source their ham because the owner travels around Spain to select only top-quality ones.
Why You Should Go on a Food Tour in Barcelona
The tour lasted about 3 hours and was educational, entertaining, and cultural at the same time. A real pleasure for the senses! If you love food and are curious about culture and history, whether you are a tourist or a local wanting to learn more about the iconic districts of Poble Sec and Sant Antoni, you have to book a tour with Barcelona Eat Local!
Booking.comAverage Meal Price per person: € (€10 to €25) – €€ (€25 to €40) – €€€ (over €40)
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