Barcelona's best: Can Pineda

I've been to Can Pineda twice.  Even so, I still can't tell you how to get there.  It is tucked away in one of Barcelona's least popular "barrios" (areas), and even the directions given to taxi drivers illicit blank stares.  When you arrive there, you question yourself again.....uh oh, did I make a mistake coming here?  The decoration is, how should I put it? Kitschy, to be nice.  The wooden tables and chairs look like the ones your italian friends' grandmother had in her kitchen, and the walls are fully tiled in, oooh, let's see......a yellowish brown hue that can best be described as what you find in your baby's diaper.  Then all the plates and old pictures also remind you of "Luigi's" grandmothers house again.  Anyhow, you sit down, read the menu, and everything starts to feel alright......because in this little non descript place, magic happens.

Last night, we made the pilgrimage to Can Pineda.  Two of us having been there, and two virgins.....Emmanuel whom has been to several restaurants with me and always expects the best, and my other friend, Fernando, who is also one of the worlds biggest food lovers and critics.  It took us a good 10 minutes to decide what we wanted to eat, not because we were unsure of what was on the menu, it was because suddenly we all became 5 year olds at a candy shop.  Hardly containing our excitement, we wanted to order everything.  Emmanuel, knowing not a stitch of spanish, let the recently converted children choose the menu....and he was very, very happy indeed. 

Of course, we ordered a bottle of Enate Sotomontano Merlot, from Fernando's beloved region of Aragon.  Then out comes the plate of pan con tomate, tomato bread, which was eaten almost in its entirety by Emmanuel.  Then another plate of bread with Iberian Ham.  I usually don't gush about ham in my blogs because it is kind of a staple here, but this one deserves a mention.  The hue of the ham was darker than I am used to, with large edges of fat.  I was dubious of its quality at first, but as I sampled the first bite, those doubts all fled immidiately from my mind.  Umami.  That is the only way I can describe the sensory sensation that can best describe this ham.  It just dissolves in your mouth, coating your tongue in this inexplicable feeling of pure joy.  Before we could finish the ham, our second plate was brought out.
Pulpo con papada, Octopus and pork cheeks.  We chose this dish for the unusual combination, and also because it reminded Fernando of his childhood when they celebrated the day of St. Martin, which is when they massacre the pigs here in Spain.  He said that after the massacre, they would extract the pork cheeks, which is the best part, and make sandwhiches.

I have to apologize for the quality of the picture, because in our excitement, we dived straight into this marvel of a dish.  The delicate sweetness of the octupus, balanced out the saltiness of the pork cheek, topped with crunchy thin slices of yuca and drizzled with a balsamic reduction.  The octupus was fork tender, and the pork cheeks just melted in our mouths.  All the flavors balanced each other, it just combined perfectly, no one flavor outdoing the other.




After this came the dish that we ALL agreed we would have, Huevo poche con foie, butiffarra y trufa negra,  Poached egg with foie gras, blood sausage and black truffles.

Do you see the mountain of truffles?  This was, as Emmanuel put it, orgasmic.  The waitress explained that we should cut it all up and mix it together, and she was right.  Every single bite cause us to moan with pleasure.  It was a sensory overload.   Every single plate was left clean, and our intrepid diner, Emmanuel, promptly ordered a second dish.  He stated that basically, he would come back here just for this dish, and we said, well, the place might be booked.  Emmanuel quickly answered, " I don't care, I'll eat this on the sidewalk outside, in the rain, under an umbrella" as he quickly devoured the second one in two seconds.

On to our mains.  We chose three different things.  Paolo chose Entrecote de vaca vieja, Entrecote of old cow,  Fernando and I chose the Oxtail with truffled mashed potatoes, and Emmanuel the Gambas de Palamos, Prawns from Palamos (a city in the Costa Brava).

This is Paolo's Entrecote.  Perfectly cooked, on a sizzling plate of oil and it's juices.  Juicy, tender, moist.  It was perfectly seasoned, and accompanied by roasted red Piquillo peppers.  This plate of aged beef was one of the best that I have tasted in Barcelona.  After Paolo was done, everyone was sopping up the pan juices with bread, and as Emmanuel rightly stated, it should be served with a side of Lipitor.

This was what Fernando and I ordered.  The taste was incredible, but we both agreed that the oxtail was a bit dry.  It was disappointing, because done properly, this had the workings of being something superb.  We also found that they had skimped a bit on the truffles, which I personally think that they had given them all to Emmanuel, who had ordered a side dish of just the potatoes and truffles.  His came with the equivalent of Mt. Everest of truffles on top......oh well, perfect it isn't. 

And here are Emmanuel's prawns.  How can I describe these?  Better than lobster is what comes to mind.  Succulent and sweet, and tasting freshly caught from the sea.  Perfectly grilled and topped with just a smidgen of fleur de sel, you are hard pressed to find prawns like this anywhere else in the world.  Gambas de Palamos are reknowed to be the best,  mainly because every two to three years, they disappear.  This is a natural phenomenon that happens when there are extremely cold winters in Cap de Creus (northern Spain) that provoke underwater "waterfalls" that push the prawns to unfishable depths.  These currents also carry a variety of nutrients that feed the prawns, where they proliferate untouched by fishermen.  Then they slowly make their way back up to the coastal areas, in abundance and we have our Gambas again for a short time.  It is said that in 2011 the prawns will "disappear" again, so I am extremely happy that we were able to eat this bounty from the sea.

Now, on to dessert.  I wish I could say we were too full to order dessert, but you know me better than that.  Also, because at Can Pineda there is a gorgeous dessert called Bombetes.  This translates to little bombs.  It's basically filo pastry filled with cream or chocolate, then deep fried.  The result is an explosion of flavor in your mouth, as the cold liquid tempers the hot pastry in your mouth.  You have to eat them in one bite to get the full effect!

So, today, I don't think I will be able to eat anything until dinner time.  But it was well worth it.  I can't wait to make our "pilgrimage" to Can Pineda again some time, because I am sure that it will only surprise me once again.

If you want a break from your Barcelona nightmare of tourist restaurants, and would like to try excellent traditional Spanish cuisine, come to Can Pineda.  You won't regret it.

Can Pineda

St. Joan de Malta, 55

+ 34 933 083 081