La Boqueria & El Quim

I went to Barcelona to see Gaudi's buildings in person, but I also went for the food :) La Boqueria is the main market in the middle of Las Ramblas (Metro: Liceu) and it was one of the highlights of my trip. It's the equivalent of Pike's Place in Seattle, so if you are in Barcelona, go!

There's a map at the entrance in case you want to figure out where you want to go, but simply wandering around is the most fun.

Fruit greets you at the entrance

along with candy, saffron

nuts, and dried fruit.

Many stands offer fresh juice, but some add sugar

so if you want no sugar added, look for "Sucs Naturals" which cost the same as the ones with added sugar at about $2 USD

and get an exotic one like I did, dragon fruit and coconut:)

Since Spain is known for pork products, you will find all variations here

including the famous acorn fed Iberico for the equally famous price of 395 Euros or $450 USD.

I got a cone of Iberico for 5 Euros and it was so big that I saved half of it for a snack later.

Barcelona is on the coast so seafood abounds in all shapes,

sizes,

and prices.

If you don't want to cook, there are plenty of places to serve you whatever you would like to eat.

You can stock up on dried mushrooms,

dried salted cod, a specialty of the region,

olives,

or local meat.

Many places offered ready made boxes of food to go,

or cones of meat and potatoes,

or skewers of shrimps and calamari

or a combination of all three plus rotisserie chicken to go.

I was thrilled to find a stand specializing in peppers of all sizes and heat:)

Yes there is even an organic stand, but I saw no one buying anything there...

There was a line at the bakery

which also sold sweet treats like muffins and pastries.

You can even go nuts :)

After my juice and cone of Iberico, I wanted lunch, so I went to El Quim in the back of the market. It was packed but I managed to find a seat between two American tourists and three locals, all of whom were friendly and shared with me their favorite dishes to order at this landmark eatery inside La Boqueria.

Since it was 11 AM I ordered the BocaQUIM even though my seat mates were eating everything from fish and eggs with beer, to chocolate desserts with coffee and cognac! It's wonderful to eat with people who will eat and drink anything they like at 11 AM :)

The BocaQUIM may be the best hot sandwich I have ever eaten! It's the perfect brunch combination of toasted bread, caramelized onion with Modena balsamic, asparagus, egg, and pork loin. I'm craving it again just looking at the picture! 

For only 6.50 Euros or about $7.50, it was quite large and I only finished this because it was so good,

and also because I had a wonderful glass of natural cava with it for under 4 Euros or $5 USD. I had already devoured half the sandwich by the time they delivered my glass:)

Time to take the metro back to take a nap,

nice that the metro has animated screens to keep me awake!