La Bascula

[A shabby-chic vegetarian-friendly co-op restaurant]

At any given time, La Bascula seems like the place I'd go for a meal or a tea. Even though I order almost the same thing everytime, I don't get sick of it. From the outside, it didn't even resemble a restaurant, but a cool anti-establishment art exhibition space. It bears huge bar tables recycled from doors. This is the waiting area-cum-bar for those crowded weekend nights. You can watch the co-op members labor over their organic food creations through the big kitchen while waiting with a beer and salivating at the empanadas displayed at the counter. Behind the counter, another huge and colorful dining area awaits you. The bohemian-feel decor brings out the cozyness and goodness of homemade fusion food using natural ingredients.

Even Lionel keeps nodding in agreement how everytime the meal never fail to satisfy us to the brim. Well, it is his favorite restaurant, and I can see why that is so. This gem of Barcelona eateries is the fruition of a group of cooking friends who drafted up the concept of a co-operative kitchen. I don't know exactly how their model is based on, but I know it involves everyone taking a part in either the kitchen or the dining area.

Their recipes are inspired by their Latin American roots (Argentinian to be exact, but not forgetting the heavy Italian influence there). The vegetarian-friendly menu (90 percent vegetarian) consists of manually elaborated Italian filled pasta, French savory crepes, Chiliean vegetable soups, Argentinian empanadas, and even the Columbian arepas. The empanadas and filled pasta are their specialty and they always come in an assortment of flavors. Sometimes I hop in for tea or merienda. It's a great location to catch up with a friend over a cup of their special teas or mate, with a slice of their confections. There's a glass display at the entrance to the dining area filled with the cakes and tartes of the day.

The portions are a true value-for-dough. Even if you order a slice of savoury tarte, it comes in a generous portion, with a beautifully assembled salad. Last night, i had a tortellini de canela, rellenos de calabaza, pistachio, y queso fresco con salsa de pesto (homemade tortellini with cinnamon, filled with pumpkin, pistachio, and a fresh curd-like spanish cheese, dressed with a generous ladle of pesto sauce.) Lionel had a gnolotti de curcuma, rellenos de ciruela, espinacas, y queso de cabra con salsa de nuez (filled pasta made of turmeric powder, stuffed with a mixture of prunes, spinach, and goat cheese, and dressed with a walnut sauce.) You can have white wine by the glass, and a flan de dulce de leche for dessert, and the bill for two should come under 30 euro.

A far cry from those over-priced fancy restaurants that come out from a guidebook or tourist-geared booklet printed in ENGLISH, La Bascula is where you can mingle and blend in with the average Spanish crowd over a wholesome meal shared with friends. For dinner, it's a deal, but make sure you go right before nine to beat the crowd. (Remember 21h or 9 p.m. is the normal dinner time for Spaniards.) If you can't wait, you can have a small tapas or a cheese sampling elsewhere in the Barrio Gotico at five!

IN THE KNOW:
La Bascula
C/ Flassaders 30 | Tel. 93 319 9866 | Open Mon-Sat 1-11.30pm
Metro « Jaume I »
(Restaurant is located one parallel street away from where the Picasso Musuem is situated)
Prices: Empanadas 2 euros. Most dishes ~6-7 euros. Desserts ~3 euros.

Le Sarrasin

[Buckwheat Grains]

North Americans use buckwheat to make pancakes, the Bretons use it to make les crêpes, the Italians pasta, and the Japanese soba noodles. Even Russians and Poles, who are known to consume the grain the most, employ the healthful grains in their porridges.

Contrary to the what most people think, le sarrasin is not a cereal. These seeds are really the fruit of a plant from the Polygonaceae family that also include the rhubarb. Perhaps because of its abundant nutritious qualities, it has been grouped with other cereals, though its nutty taste makes it distinct from them all at the same time.

With its Central Asian origins, buckwheat has sipped into Europe during the Middle Ages. Removed from the husk, the triangular-shaped seeds are then used to make the flour, like le blé de sarassin, used in France to make «galettes de sarrasin» (also known as «galettes de blé noir», due to the darker hue of the flour.) Other use of buckwheat flour includes a type of small russian crêpes accompanied with caviar, known as blinis.

I've listed a few reasons why you should raid the shelves of your favorite health-foodstore for these grains the next time you go grocery shopping.

Tiny grain with a boatful of benefits:
- Rich in lysine, an essential amino acid that plays a key role in the makeup of body proteins.
- Great source of Vitamin E and some vitamin B1 and B2.
- Charged with minerals like magnésium, potassium, zinc, and phosphore.
- ease in digestion and used in treatments for hemorrage and frostbite.

(A Weekend Herb Blogging post hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen.)

A virtual gastronomic tour of the Rue Mouffetard

[To-die-for French Cheeses]

If you're a gastronomy junky, than a trip to Paris can't be complete without trotting down the "food market" on Rue Mouffetard. Well, it's really a street with many food stores and restaurants. And in the mornings and on weekends, makeshift stalls selling fresh vegetables and flowers are also set up on the sides and corners of the road. Here are a few foodie highlights I've come across, which you could look out for if you pay a visit yourself.

La Galette
This buckwheat crepe comes from the Brittany region (Bretagne). The rough difference between a galette and a crepe is that galette is savory and crepe sweet. Most often served at home simply with a fried egg and ham, it is kind of a cross between comfort food and instant cooking.

Les Tartes
Lots of them. Just use your creativity if you're making them. I've tasted a friend's version of salmon with zucchini and another version with pumpkin and squash with bits of ham. Here in the window of a tarte cafe, you have savoyarde, vegetarian, and grilled aubergine.

La Fromagerie
Hmmm, French cheese… For me, it's to die for. The past trip I've tasted some really good Comte. Also I got acquainted with a creamy Saint-Marcellin that is made with both goat's and cow's milk. If you wanna learn more, here's a great online resource with info on cheese pairing and cheese history.

My favorite kind is an aged Beaufort, made from raw cow's milk from the Savoie region in the Alps. Belonging to the family of French Gruyères (not Swiss), the 19th century French gastronome and writer Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin named Beaufort the "Prince of the Gruyeres".
(Beaufort photo and info courtesy of Frenchcheese.co.uk.)

Les Fruits de Mer
Stores dedicated to only seafood are easily spotted in Paris. Featured in this picture are Coquilles St. Jacques or what we call scallops en Anglais. Sea urchins, crabs, prawns, squids, and octupus... all the sea creatures you can name.

Du vin
The Mouffetard has two specialty wine shops that I know of. If you could converse in a little French, you can ask the shopkeeper to recommend you one according to the region you fancy and the budget you have. They're usually helpful with that. This recent trip, I tasted a red from Vallée du Rhône, an excellent Cassis white from the coastal town in Provence, and a Chardonnay.

La Sidra de Asturias

[A bubbling alternative at parties]

How could sparkling cider replace sparkling wine in ushering the new year? Well, that was precisely what happened in Madrid on 31 December 2004. In an act of defiance due to certain political matters, the Madrileños refuse to pay the cavamakers in Catalonia for their sparkling white wines that are traditionally served during such festivities in Spain. Thus the sparkling cider from Austurias graced all the tables in Madrid at that time. I happened to be in the capital city and at the end of my stay my immune system caved in. Little did I realize how much cider I gushed down as my friends kept pouring for one another at meal and snack times. The mere 4.5 percentage of alchohol in those green bottles certainly adds up.

Asturia is the region in the northwest of Spain that is known for its cider. Together with Galicia, and Bretagne in France, celtic/gaelic tradition have trickled into Asturia through the early settlers. You could see in this particular brand of sidra, which spots a bagpiper. (Bagpiper selling cider? Beats me.) It is a traditional drink and traces of it could be found in regional cooking as well.

Another northern region of Spain known for its cider is the Pais Vasco, or Basque Country. The taste of a Basque cider is slightly harder than its Asturian cousin. To learn more about spanish cider, check out La Sidra Asturiana's DO (designation of origin) website. It has a ton of information including types of apples and the history of cider.

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Note to readers:
I'm off to France for 10 days. Upon my return, you shall feast on what I come across in Paris, Valence and Marseille. Hasta muy pronto. À bientôt!!

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

[ Dark Chocolate Chips ]

In my last post about the foodie care package Talia in Amsterdam sent me, I failed to emphasize how delectable her chocolate brownie tasted. It had a lingering scent from the almond essence infused that gives the brownie an added notch of oomph. The generous amount of walnuts used highly enhanced both the texture and nutritional value of this treat. I brought some to French class and shared with some of my classmates and all were awed by how tasteful Talia's version of this American confection could be. Truth be told, I tend to shun them at office potlucks or baby showers when I was living in the states because they're usually too sweet. With the hint of almond fragrance, and the controlled volume of sugar, this brownie promises a crowd-pleasing effect.

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C or 325 degrees F

Combine items in a heatproof bowl:
140g butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups + 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place bowl over simmering water in a bain-marie and stir mixture occassionally until completely melted and hot (but never boiling!) Remove from heat and stir in:
2 teaspoons of almond or vanilla extract

Add, mixing well between addtions:
2 cold eggs
1/2 cup flour

Once all is well-combined, beat vigorously for 40 stokes with a wooden spoon.
Stir in 2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted to center emerges slightly moist.

Slice them up and share them with family/friends or slobber it up guilt-free all by yourself!