¿Quieres Comida Picante? Quizás No en Barcelona (Do You Want Spicy Food? Maybe Not in Barcelona)
Although If You Look Hard Enough, Your Efforts Just Might Pay Off
What we might think of as spicy food in the United States is relatively rare in the Barcelona eating repertoire. Coming from Phoenix where, due to the multitude of international cuisines, especially Mexican, it is easy to find food of a variety of spiciness to satisfy anyone’s tastes plus having a husband who has never ignored the siren song of a chili pepper, I gradually became accustomed to many dishes that packed a kick (by the way, make note of the word “accustomed”, I’ll get back to that later). For someone who ran for the exits after first his first taste of Cajun cooking a New Orleans style restaurant in Philadelphia in the 1980s and whose head flushed like a cartoon thermometer after biting into a fried chili at a North Jersey Indian restaurant in the 1990s, I avoided menu items that displayed the red pepper pictogram next to the dish. Yet as time went on, I dared to try those that showed one pepper figuring I’d push the envelope. A friend told me that it was a result of getting older and our taste buds becoming less sensitive. That’s a plausible theory but perhaps it was because I became more “accustomed” to different flavors and styles of cooking as I got older and nothing really physical.
By the time I got to Phoenix, I was on board with exploring the boundaries of spicy food. Les became my “spice whisperer” and whenever he prepared meals, he was mindful of the amount of heat that I could tolerate. Gradually, I was able to enjoy it more, although I have to go easy on habanero peppers and am extremely careful with chiltepins (for a pepper smaller than a pea, they pack a lot of punch!)
Backyard Chiltepins in Phoenix
Once we arrived in Barcelona, though, I was surprised not so much by the lack of dishes that lacked the bite of those I’d experienced elsewhere, but that those purported to be “caliente” were not so much. For example, the sauce that is usually served with patatas bravas, aka salsa bravas, is described as hot but using the Spice Girls as my barometer, I’d say it ranks between Posh and Sporty and nowhere near Ginger. Mojo sauce, also served with potatoes packs a bit of heat but I’d say it’s about Ginger, definitely not Scary. About a month ago, we attended the Meat and Fire Festival in town. I ordered a meat-filled dumpling served with a spicy Romesco sauce. The server warned me that it was hot, but I confirmed that it was what I wanted. The sauce was only between a Sporty and a Ginger.
Of course you might wonder if I’m making a broad-based conclusion about Barcelona cuisine. Maybe but anecdotally, we’ve run across situations where people have confirmed an avoidance or distaste for spiciness. While there are quite a few Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian restaurants in the city, there seem to be fewer that I would expect in a city of over 1.6 million people. Madrid has attracted a large Mexican immigrant community and predictably, increasing numbers of Mexican restaurants1. While purchasing a container of spicy olives at the local greengrocer, the owner told us he despised spicy food.
However, Les and I did manage to find other avenues to explore the spicier side of Barcelona cuisine. We chanced upon a Mexican restaurant in the Clot neighborhood that brought back memories of some of the places we knew so well in Phoenix and Tucson, La Taqueria (more on that gem in a later post).
La Taqueria in The El Clot Neighborhood
Gringa All Day in the Eixample neighborhood is another favorite for brunch. I always go for the chilaquiles with both avocado and fried chicken. The spice is just about right. Today, Les and I brought our niece, Antoinette, her husband, Brian and daughter, Chloë. They had been sampling mostly local tapas dishes, but this was their first time at a more American-style joint. Needless to say they left with full bellies.
Les and Brian Enjoying a Casual Brunch at Gringa All Day
With that being said, one of our favorite restaurants is a wine bar called Contracorrent. As with most of the places Les and I have discovered, we stumbled upon it and were instantly smitten. The tapas plates change regularly and are highly creative. The wines are natural and mainly from Catalonia. The staff are extremely friendly and the owner, Nicola, always treats us well. Before we went back to the US in June we had dinner there and I was relaying to him the tales of my travels there a few weeks prior. What I had mentioned was that after a few days in the states, I discovered that I had missed spicy food. In fact I was craving it (so much for “accustomed”). My ah-ha moment was when I decided to treat myself to a spa day at the Alvadora Spa located in the Royal Palms Resort. Les and I had enjoyed going there on occasion and as a graduation gift to myself, I made an appointment for a full-body sports massage. I arrived early, so I decided to have breakfast in the restaurant. When she brought out my order, the server asked me if I wanted any hot sauce. I said I did, and she asked which one. I was a bit puzzled until she told me that they serve four flavors of the brand, Cutino. I told her, I’d like all four, but she recommended the Verde sauce. I also liked the other three: Jalapeño, Chipotle, and Habanero. All were excellent, so much so that I bought four bottles in the gift shop to take home.
After hearing about these, Nicola told us about his love for hot sauces. We told him we’d be going back the following week, and we’d buy some for him. He specifically requested the habanero. We had dinner there on Saturday and presented him with the bright yellow bottle of habanero heat. He graciously accepted our gift and showed it off to his admiring staff. I would not be surprised if it shows up in one of his dishes at some point down the road.
As You Can See, We’re “Hitting the Sauce” in Barcelona
1 Orihuela, Rodrigo and Macarena Munoz Montijano. “Rich Latin Americans Investing In Real Estate Are Turning Madrid Into a New Miami.” Bloomberg Linea, 2 June 2023, https://www.bloomberglinea.com/english/rich-latin-americans-investing-in-real-estate-are-turning-madrid-into-a-new-miami/.