EATING BARCELONA WITH DEVOUR SPAIN

They had me at the tour's name : Tastes, Tapas & Traditions. I mean honestly, if they had just said Tapas, I would have been there.I had heard only raving reviews of the food in general in Barcelona so to be honest, I was a little skeptical about a food tour--I thought if all the food is good, won't we find it on our own?! And while we had many of delicious meals 'on our own', this food tour with Devour Spain took it to another level. One thing that I don't know if you realize you're going to get on a food tour, is the history of a city...it makes you really understand that in so many ways food is completely intertwined in culture.We started our day meeting our guide Victoria at Mercat Santa Caterina and from there we ate our way right through La Barceloneta.And I can't spoil the route for you but I'll share the highlights of what we ate and get your belly rumbling with the photos.... First, grilled botifarra sandwiches and a glass of cava to start the mid-morning snacks. Next, within the market, we sampled a selection of Spanish and Catalan cheeses, llonganissa de Vic, illonganissa al pebre, jamón serrano and jamón ibérico de bellota. The most fun was trying to sip wine from the porrón... it's a shared wine bottle that you tip backwards and aim for your mouth! The most delicious house toasted almonds, garrapiñadas, and chocolate catànie. OKAY, I am going to break down and tell you where to get this...this incredible creme filled croissant will change your life! You must visit Pasteleria Hofmann for this fresh baked goodness.Next up, house vermouth and spicy "Gilda" banderilla! And to finish the day, and really over stuff ourselves, homemade cod fritters, Mama Carmen's homemade fideuà with house white wine.