Casa Felix, Tarragona
On our last day in Tarragona we ate a traditional Catalan meal at a restaurant called Casa Felix.
For starters we calçots with salsa romesco. Calçots are type of green onion or scallion. I thought that I would not like them because I do not like strong onion flavor, however the flavor was very mild and we dipped them in a salsa romesco made of almonds, pine nuts, hazelnuts, red peppers and olive oil. The calçots are grilled until they are charred black. In order to eat them one must peel off the burnt outside layer to get to the soft, stringy insides. I was hesitant trying this dish because I had never tried it before, but i enjoyed it very much.
We also ate two types of grilled sausages, pork chops, and grilled tomatoes and potatoes. The first sausage was chicken with a very nice flavor. The second was a small black sausage that I was convinced was made out of black beans because it was rather salty and fell a part when I cut it a part. I told everyone at our table that it black bean sausage, and since I have been to Spain before they believed me and we all ate it. Some enjoyed it more than others because it did have a rather strange texture and flavor. Later we found out it was actually a blood sausage and we were slightly disturbed because we had never eaten something that unusual before. I am honestly glad I did not know this previously or I definitely would not have tried it. I will not choose to order this in a restaurant but at least I can say that I have tried it!
For dessert we ate crema catalana which is a yellow custard with caramelized sugar crust on top cooked in a small clay pot. The dessert is very similar to vanilla crème brulée that most Americans associate with France. I can taste a slight difference the flavors and the texture but I enjoy both equally. We also each enjoyed a glass of sparkling white wine called cava. In the United States this type of wine is called champagne, however in Europe sparkling white wine cannot be marketed as champagne unless it is directly made and imported from Champagne, France.
The whole meal was enjoyed with red wine. We drank wine out of porrons, which are a traditional Catalan glass wine pitchers. The top of the bottle is a narrow cylinder that the wine can be poured into and stopped with a cork. From the base of the pitcher there is a spout that slants up and gradually narrows into a small opening. The purpose of this shape is so the wine can be stored while having minimal contact to the air. One is supposed to drink directly from a porró and it is a communal bottle. In order to keep the sharing hygienic, the consumer holds the bottle away from their open mouth while they pour into their mouth. My table and I had lots of fun trying to drink from the porró pulling it as far away from our mouths as possible without spilling on ourselves. Needless to say, we spilled on ourselves and had many laughs.
This meal was a fun experience to share with groups of students at IES and a memorable bonding experience. With full stomachs, wine stained shirts, and un poquito piripi, we rode back on the bus to Barcelona singing songs and having a siesta.