Sunday, January 14, 2007

Ticket to Spain Via Passionate Eater Express

Thank you so much for all of your visits these past several days! I am racing to keep up with everyone, but I think I'll have to catch up with your comments (including your kind compliments, generous wishes, thought-provoking inquiries, and humorous observations) next week! Hopefully.

Until then, I wanted post some photos of a meal I recently enjoyed at
B44, so that you can feast your eyes (and imagination) on the roasted flavors and vivid red colors of Catalan cuisine. I hope these pictures are help you to travel in mind, spirit, and stomach to Spain, via the Passionate Eater Express!

What better image to start you on your journey to the picturesque Spanish countryside, than an image of a rustic dish of morcilla blood sausage, soft baby white beans, and herbed aioli? This sausage dish immediately evokes images in my head of a lively, local, family-owned tapas restaurant with aged, cured meats hanging in the windows with tightly-raveled butcher twine.

Now, briefly depart from your stay in the Iberian peninsula, to visit the Balearic Islands, by visually sampling tender monkfish, shrimp, clams, and mussels, all harvested from the rich ocean waters encapsulating the islands, and swimming in a pureed tomato and pine nut picada.

Your journey in the pristine and abundant Mediterranean waters is not finished without a visual taste of a romescada or operetta of plump shellfish with romesco sauce. By visualizing this dish, one can gain a better understanding of the crucial role that seafood plays in the Catalan cuisine.

But remember, although that Catalan dishes focus heavily on the bounty of the sea, the dishes are not just seafood-oriented. The best way for you to remember this is through a picture of roasted rabbit with a hazelnut garlic picada. Such an image will help you to envision rolling grass fields and dense, forested areas that supply the inland Spanish region with wild game, mushrooms, and truffles.

How could any visit to Spain be complete without the saffron-infused paella and chockful of fresh shellfish, roasted peppers, and spicy chorizo? Simply put, it couldn't.

And of course, crema catalina, a crème brûlée imbued with the warm spiciness of cinnamon, helps one to appreciate the prolific Spanish dairy farms which produce fine, smoky-flavored cheeses which are paired perfectly with fruity Spanish wines from local vineyards.

Add a stamp of hunger on your passport, you've just traveled with me to Spain! Now if only we could get frequent flyer miles for trips on the Passionate Eater Express!

26 comments:

  1. Wowzas. I'm full just looking at those gorgeous pictures. Sadly, no good Spanish restaurants exists in OC. We looked and found only one place that does Spanish tapas on Tuesdays. Man, paella...when will I ever taste a proper one!

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  2. Wow, all those pictures have me craving seafood! I grew up in Vietnam where fresh seafood was always plentiful, so it's definitely something I miss living in Colorado. Awesome blog:)

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  3. Nice pages here. Great information. Will visit again and recommend.

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  4. Excellent photos. I would like to try the Paellea. You are lucky to live in a place with access to fresh sea food.

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  5. I'm going to visit your blog more than just this time. Infact, I think I'll link you!
    Seafood is by far one of my top five favorite foods in this entire world. (So far). You're so lucky to have tried all of these foods in your blog. Ahhh, it's all making me so hungry.
    Nice photos, too, by the way! =]

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  6. That all looks so good.

    The crema catalina looks especially yummy.

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  7. I bet your fat.

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  8. YUUUUUUUUUUM! And, anon, I don't know if Passionate Eater is fat, but if I could eat food like that all the time I wouldn't mind putting on the pounds at all! YUM!

    (Spanish food is my favourite!)

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  9. PE, I love every restaurant at Belden Place, they are all good, but my personal favorite has got to be Plouf. Have you eaten there?

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  10. Dear Passionate Eater,
    I'm leaving this note to appologize, I'm completely new to the Blogger interface and in trying to tag your blog for looking at again later I inadvertently taged it for objectionable content. Please let me know if you get any flack from this as I have no idea how to untag you. Though I'm sure that once they look at your blog they will realize that there is nothing objectionable about your blog. Again apologies for my snafu, please let me know if you have any fallout over it.

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  11. great blog - I mentioned you on my blog . . come see :)

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  12. Dear friend,
    I'm a spanish woman... you've forgotten "tortilla de patatas", I mean, Spanish omelette, which is not so fashion but always present at every high social event!

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  13. That is making me SO SO HUNGRY! I work as a Seattle copywriter at a PR Firm whose clients are some of the best restaurants in the city, and there's something to be said reading it from the source, such as your blog! Keep it up!

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  14. Great blog and great food! i´m feeling hungry right now!!!

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  15. oh it all looks so spectacular!! wish i were eating it. that is a ton of food!

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  16. www.lost.eu/14b9c

    this is a really cool game it's called lost and if you are one of the top winners you can get money! but its really fun even if you don't want a prize. good luck!

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  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  18. What type of camera and settings do you use? Your photos are incredible!

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  19. Frequent Flyer via PE Express! I love it! This entry makes the dinner I just ate seem so unsatisfactory and bland.

    Oh, PE! I'm in the city this week. A lunch time rendevous, perhaps??

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  20. Oh wow, creme brulee is my favorite. It's almost midnight and now I am hungry, mmmm. Good blog, just stopping by.

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  21. Great blog. Especially the pictures. Pity they're not in smell-o-vision!

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  22. I just discovered your blog and enjoyed reading this post 'cause I'm Catalan.

    Moreover, I was in SFO in August and I fell in love with it, so I'll keep reading your blog.

    Best regards form Barcelona.

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  23. You seem like a lovely person to have a meal with! :)

    It's nice to see women who don't view food as poison.

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  24. the dishes look terribly authentic for being cooked abroad! i can tell because i live here.Love your blog and linked to it!

    best

    neki desu

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