The smell of the ocean and the sight of the fish at the markets made us hungry.
It’s time to stop and recharge at find ourselves at a bodega – a sort of wine bar - that serves local wines and, of course, plenty of vermouth one of our current drinks of choice.
While we snack on cured meats and pickles, we also learn that while there is the option of adding some soda to your vermouth.
It’s generally frowned upon by locals to add anything to your vermouth. Not wanting to stir things we copied the locals - continue drinking it on the rocks while fuel up on a few more bites.
Then it’s off to do some cooking.
Feeling inspired by our visit to the fish markets and stocked up with a nice little haul of those cheeky prawns we managed to smuggle out (remember the bit about our near arrest?), it’s time to transfer some of that inspiration onto the plate.
We are lucky enough to have been invited to cook at Mon Vinic which is a famous wine temple. Sommeliers from all over Spain travel to come here to study. With our impressive haul from the markets, it’s time to create some delicious treats.
We want to showcase the pure quality of the prawns and not mess with them too much, but still trick them up a little.
First up is Guillem Oliva's take on a surf and turf, because it wouldn’t be a Spanish dish if we didn’t add a little pork to it.
Guillem pickles the tails, grills the prawn heads, adds a piece of pork belly to it and then some roasted veg for extra health benefits of course.
Next is a very simple dish of salt baked prawns, simple: just covered in salted with some aromatics such as thyme and finished with a good squeeze of olive oil. It’s the perfect way to feature the pure flavour of these little tasty morsels. The last prawn dish is a prawn broth: some baby prawns, cured pork belly and fresh peas for a bit of balance.
We finish up the meal with by simply grilling some scampi; no need to do anything more to these guys.