Del Mercat de la Boqueria – Barcelona Central Market

The first thing that greets you at La Boqueria are the Jamon shops selling slices or huge chunks of heaven.  Jamon Iberico, made from the black footed pigs that eat wild stuff that gives them all that beautiful flavour.  If you ever have the opportunity to get close to different types of Jamon, give em a sniff.  

Museo de la Xocolata – Chocolate Museum Barcelona

Only 2 days in Barcelona, so many places to go, so little time and yet another chocolate museum beckoned.  There are many chocolate museums in Spain, and I previously visited Chocolates Perez, an operational chocolate factory with mini-museum in Villajoyosa. 

Chocomad visitors to Spain will be delighted to know that there are 4 other chocolate museums in Spain.  

1. Museo del Chocolate in Sueca, Valenca,
2. Chocolates y Museo Clavileno, Villajoyosa (The Villajoyosa Tourism Office says this one opens at will, so make sure you habla Espanyol and call beforehand)
3. Planete Musee du Chocolat, Biarritz
4. Museo de la Xocolata, Barcelona

Ok, so I lied about the third one as it is in Biarritz, France, but it is just a short hop away from El Pais Vasco in Spain (Basque Country).  Museums are usually cluttered with dusty, antiquated exhibits and yawning children, but this being Barcelona, would they really live up to their reputation for inventiveness and innovation? 

Oriol Balaguer’s Paradigma del Chocolate – Overdose Pt 2

Hot, sweaty, tired from walking all over the city visiting pastry and chocolate shops in a blistering Spanish summer heat, I was waiting all week for this. Oriol Balaguer’s much vaunted Paradigma del Chocolate, or as they say in Spain, mucha aclamada, for this is a variation on his famous 8 textures of chocolate, a masterpiece of a cake called Paradigma del Chocolate.

Oriol Balaguer, Barcelona – Chocolate Overdose Part 1

Oriol Balaguer, Spain’s rising star pastry chef?  I’m not sure about that, as Spain is one tough market to lead, but he sure does make good chocolates!  One can only imagine the sleepless nights he and his team have trying to figure out how to decorate the damn mold for his many different flavours!

You see, he only uses 1 mold, the cocoa bean shape, and trust me, trying to come up with different decorations to make each one unique is a pain in the butt.  This was my first time tasting his stuff in Barcelona, having only had his chocolates in Japan.  At Calle Morales in Barca lies his kitchen and though he was on holiday, his chef prepared the following for me:

1. Custom Selection of the most interesting chocolates
2. 18 piece collection
3. Paradigma de Chocolate – 8 Textures of Chocolate Cake