Narrator: If you want a food scene with bombs, fires,
and out-of-this-world flavors,
I have just the place for you.
You might be familiar with Spanish dishes like
jamón and paella, but we're in Barcelona,
and this city has its own food culture.
I have $50, or 44 euros,
and I'm on a mission to try the local flavors
in one day, without breaking my budget.
One of Barcelona's signature dishes is la bomba,
a potato and meat croquette topped
with garlic aioli and romesco sauce.
It was invented by Maria Pia more than 60 years ago,
and her secret recipe has been passed down
at her family's tapas bar, La Cova Fumada.
Narrator: Josep Maria Sole is Maria's grandson,
and sells about 250 bombas a day.
Narrator: Other tasty and popular items
at La Cova Fumada include octopus and artichokes.
And part of La Cova Fumada's charm is the good company,
Joaquin, Felix, and the local patrons.
After lunch it was hard to leave them,
but there was more food to try, and I'd spent only 12 euros.
A trip to Barcelona isn't complete without a visit
to La Boqueria, and this market's been around for centuries.
It's a maze of jamón, nuts, seafood, and produce stalls,
which led me to this cup of fruit for just two euros.
Spain is the world's third largest wine-producing country,
so of course I had to try some.
Vila Viniteca sells and distributes more than 3,000
varieties of wine and distillations from around the world,
but just one place in the world makes the sparkling wine
Cava, and that's Catalonia, the Spanish region I'm in.
- You can find different profiles inside the cava style.
Narrator: Gonzalo Fernandez is the Vila Viniteca's
sommelier.
- You can find young cava.
It's very crispy and fruit-forward.
Or you can find
aged cava.
More complexity, teeny bubbles.
- To Barcelona!
Narrator: Our toast with a medium-aged Cava was dry,
a little fruity, and surprisingly just four euros a glass.
My big splurge was dinner at Racó de la Vila.
Spain's Catalonia and Valencia regions make a dish
similar to paella called fideuà,
and pasta, not rice, is the main ingredient.
Peppers, cuttlefish, crayfish, shrimp and mussels are added.
Stock, and then into the oven for the flavors to bake
together into a truly delicious dish.
The restaurant serves other traditional Catalan dishes
like calçots, pan con tomate, and crema catalana.
This sweet treat might look like crème brûlée,
but it has two important distinctions.
The crema is cooked with lemon peel and cinnamon,
and it gets its caramelized crust from a hot iron.
These two things combined made it impossible
for me to put my spoon down.
But I dropped 25 euros on just the fideuà
and crema catalana.
After a full day of feasting in Barcelona
I spending 43 out of 44 euros.
The fideuà was 19 euros
and took a big bite out of my budget.
But it's meant to feed a crowd and the price reflects that.
Barcelona was a lot more wallet-friendly
than I would have guessed for a major tourist destination.
So I give it a 10 out of 10.
It was worth every dollar and delicious bite.