The streets of Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood become a mishmash of sensations after dark. Some corners stink of pee. Others are home to African men singing, catcalling and yelling. Young people with ripped jeans and faces adorned with metal move in groups from street to street, bar to bar.
We run out of Casa Almirall, giddy from that first glass of wine and hunger pangs attended to with a tapa of local queso. Our final destination for the evening is tucked behind somewhere in this street. “36, 38…no, it can’t be that way”. I spin around and head the other direction, looking for the building sporting the number 24 above the doorway.
I press the buzzer for apartment 3’2 and upon pushing, the whole front of the doorbell casing falls off. But broken aesthetics aside, the latch releases the door, we heave it open, and enter a long, almost empty corridor.
We see the lift and call it, the first glass of wine forbidding us to climb three flights of stairs, but when it arrives there is a sign saying that the lift is not intended for people. After our first impression with the doorbell, we decide to play it safe and go with the option we were avoiding – the stairs.
We scale the metal stairs, each footstep letting a loud “clang” rumble through the stairwell. Graffiti lines some walls, lights don’t work in others. We find an open doorway with legs of mannequin dummies and a spray painted sign on the brick wall saying “Hidden Factory Barcelona”. It seems we made it.
The warehouse where Hidden Factory is located, in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood
In Barcelona Gaudí is all around, and I’m not just talking about his famous monuments such as the Sagrada Familia, Casa Milà and Casa Batlló. From underfoot on the Passeig de Gracia to overhead in Plaça Reial, he has left his mark on the city that has become famous in the wake of his legacy. He adorns the doorway of what looks like not much more than a council estate in one neighbourhood. He overlooks young, energetic boys as they partake in their state education all the day in another. But he doesn’t always exist in the food.
Aperitif – The Pavement of Passeig de Gracia
Vermouth is a tradition that is nowadays engrained in the Catalan culture, but, in fact, is something that is Italian and was brought to Barcelona in the 18th century by Italian migrants – along with a whole host of Italian restaurants that Barcelona have now marked their place in the city’s dining scene. But with such a long standing history in Barcelona, of course, the first course is to show off the Catalan Vermouth tradition.
I sip on my vermouth – a fortified wine, dark red and sweet, with a hint of herbs and bitter flavours, and served in true Catalan style with a slice of orange and olive, then topped with a sparkling water from a syphon. And while I love the drink, tonight Gaudí is appearing in the other part of the vermouth tradition – the food. Or if I am to be technically correct, under the food.
Our apertivio is served on octagonal, mint green plates, but the design on the plates is exactly the same as tiles, designed by none other than Gaudi himself, which lie underfoot on Barcelona’s most prominent upmarket street, Passeig de Gracia.
The pavement on Passeig de Gracia, designed by Gaudí
Photo Credit: Beth
The recipes tonight are traditional Catalan recipes from the late 19th/early 20th century, but interpreted in Javi & Nico’s own inventive way to show of Catalan cuisine in the most delicious form possible.
In one corner of the plate we have a calçot, a typical member of the onion family that falls somewhere between a leek and a spring onion and originates from Valls, a pueblo a couple of hours outside of Barcelona. It’s served on top of romesco sauce, a Catalan sauce that is the traditional accompaniment for this special vegetable.
But aside from the usual preparation of tomato and ñora peppers, the sauce has also been prepared with sea urchin, giving a different kick to this well loved Catalan favourite. The whole thing is then finished off with black sea salt, to remind us of the preparation of the calçots – over an open fire with the skin burnt to a crisp, later to be removed.
Starting the meal at Hidden Factory in Barcelona with an aperitif – the small “snacks” to accompany a glass of vermouth
Catalunya has long been a place that has experienced a high level of domestic immigration from within Spain. From as early as the start of the 19th century, people had been moving to the region from across the country, but particularly from poorer regions such as Andalucía in the south, Extremadura in the west, or Galicia in the north-west. People were coming here, to one of the main industrial areas in Spain, in hope of a better life. Of course, they brought with them food, and the last little bite on the place tonight represents that melting pot.
Pulpo ai feria (boiled Octopus sliced and served over slices of boiled potato and sprinkled with paprika) is a typical dish from Galicia in the North West of Spain, but these days well loved across the entire nation.
For tonight’s recreation of this Galician favourite Octopus has been boiled and thinly sliced, then arranged on the plate with tiny cubes of spicy chorizo from Huelva sprinkled over the top, with a bed of potato sitting underneath it all. The potato is creamed and combined with Torta de Caeser, a strong cheese from Extremadura, in Andalucía.
So here we have touches from Galicia, Andalucía and Extremadura (three of the historically poorest regions in Spain from where locals travelled across the country in search of work) on our plate here in what has always been one of the industrial capitals of Spain, Catalunya.
Enjoying the food and wine at Hidden Factory in Barcelona
First Course – The Roof of Casa Battlo
Once the apertivo is done we move onto the first course, and in the terms of Gaudí we move from the floor of Passeig de Gracia up to the roof of Casa Batlló, one of his most famous works located right in the middle of Passeig de Gracia itself.
Casa Batlló is a house that Gaudí was commissioned to remodel in the early 20th century, and he totally went to town with the eccentric, modernism style that had emerged in Barcelona during the time. There are no straight lines, no design conventions.
The front of the house looks like some creature that could reach down and grab you at any point, and in several parts both inside and outside of the house, the building has the feeling like it could almost become alive at any moment.
When designing the roof, Gaudí wanted to tell the story of Sant Jordi, one of the two patron saints of Barcelona, whose legend has it that he once did the heroic manoeuvre of saving a princess from dying at the hands of a dragon that has been bothering villagers, all while expertly killing the dragon in the process.
The roof of Casa Battló, a house famously remodelled by Gaudí and the inspiration for the first main course of the evening at Barcelona’s hidden restaurant, Hidden Factory
Photo Credit: Neil Howard
The roof of Casa Batlló is coloured and scaled to represent the dragon, and the first course in front of me tonight represents exactly that. The scales of the bacalao represent the tiles of the roof, with caviar making a line down the curve, similar to the style seen on the roof of Casa Batlló.
Along with the cod we have samfaina – tomatoes and peppers slowly cooked right down, creating Catalunya’s answer to ratatouille) along with another Catalan favourite, alioli, but tonight made with smoked eggplant instead of the standard garlic and olive oil combination.
Xavi putting the finishing touches on the bacalao, the delicious salt cod dish that was inspired by the roof of Casa Battló on Passeig de Gracia
Second Course – The Fireplace Inside Casa Battló
From the roof we move down to the first floor of Casa Batlló. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve been inside (I think last time I was slightly traumatised by crowds speckled with screaming children) but there is one particular thing inside the house on the first floor that I will always remember.
The mushroom fireplace inside Casa Battló, Gaudí’s famous work on Passeig de Gracia, and the inspiration for our second main course of the evening at The Hidden Factory in Barcelona
Photo Credit: Beth
It’s not just the roof and the façade of this spectacular building that are designed in true, avant-garde, Gaudí style. When people think of Gaudí’s remodelling of Casa Batlló, they think of the design of the house itself, but in fact, he also designed much of the furniture to go along with it. And the standout piece of this has to be the mushroom fireplace.
Gaudí’s work was always inspired by nature, and what could be possibly more back to the earth than wild mushrooms so next up on our plate we find a wild mushroom revuelto – a selection of wild mushrooms gently cooked with egg yolk, along with foie (not my favourite but in the context of the dish and the evening, it worked) and (this time my favourite) proper hand-cut jamón iberico de bellota (Acorn Fed Iberian Ham).
Foie and wild mushroom “revuetlo“, accompanied by delicious hand cut Iberian ham, a dish inspired by the mushroom fireplace inside Gaudí’s famous Casa Battló monument
Third Course – The Seat in Park Güell
For our last main course of the night, we are actually experiencing not a tribute to Gaudí, but to his right-hand man Francesc Berenguer who was responsible for many of his the word credited to Gaudí, but legally unable to sign off on any of it. In fact, after Francesc Berenguer’s death Gaudí announced that it was as if he had lost his right hand, and slowly became a recluse as he became strangely obsessed with his final work, the still today unfinished Basilica de la Sagrada Familia.
The serpent-like seat at Park Güell, an interesting and beautiful spot to look out over Barcelona but also the inspiration for our third main course of the evening
Photo Credit: Kate Bunker
But it’s not the famous Sagrada Familia we are talking about tonight, it’s the seat of Park Güell – the seat that looks like a serpent and is definitely the highlight of the park, which is today a popular Gaudí attraction. It’s represented by an important Catalan dish from the 19th century – one that is actually shared with the south of France – called fricandó.
Only just yesterday someone asked me to put in one sentence the difference between food in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville. When referencing the cuisine of Barcelona, the first thing that sprung to my mind was “richness” and “heavy sauces”. The use of heavy sauce in cooking is not typical across Spain, but this is found often in Catalan cooking, in a style much reminiscent of French food – thanks to the shared history and terrain, as well as the proximity to the border.
Tonight we are eating veal stewed with cinnamon and cardamom, and rolled up inside rice paper sheets then served béchamel sauce on top. This rich meat, accompanied by a rich sauce, is something I wold only expect to find in Catalunya. The whole thing is arranged in a snake-like shape with black fresh truffle is sprinkled across the top, resembling the mosaic works of Park Güell.
Our third main course at The Hidden Factory in Barcelona – stewed veal, wrapped in rice paper and fashioned into a serpent shape, then topped with rich bechamel sauce and shavings of truffle, among other things
Always Finish With Dessert
I remember when I learnt that in Catalunya it’s perfectly acceptable to drink cava for breakfast, but it’s also a typical finish to a long, drawn-out meal. So of course, it’s only appropriate that soon after finishing the fricandó that our rapidly emptying glasses of red wine are replaced by Catalunya’s own sparkling wine, to go alongside something sweet to finish. In my opinion, no dinner in Catalunya is complete without a
In my opinion, no dinner in Catalunya is complete without a Crèma Catalana, and tonight it’s accompanied by an almond biscuit sort of thing which Xavi & Nico hand dip in chocolate before arranging them on the plates. The whole affair is finished off with a sheet of black garlic caramel – which sounds weirder than it tastes.
It seems like it’s not so long before we are trying to find our way back out the same warehouse, in fits of giggles thanks to the interesting finds in the corridors which become much funnier after several glasses of wine. But in fact more than three hours have passed – time flies when you are having fun! We leave full, happy, and eyes opened wide once more about how food can tell stories in the most unconventional ways and places.
Always finish with dessert: Crèma Catalana with a sheet of black garlic caramel
How To Do It
Nico & Xavi generally offer their “Hidden Dinner with Gaudí” two to three nights per week. The price is 86 euros per person, and totally worth every last cent! You can contact them or head straight to the Eat With website to make a booking.
Their warehouse space is located right in the very centre of Barcelona, on a busy street in the Raval neighbourhood. Our dinner started at 8.30pm (we were eating by about 9pm) and it was nearly midnight by the time we left!
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