Modern Catalan Cuisine

The first cases de menjars in the city were opened in the 18th century by Italian cooks who imported some of their dishes and products and fused them with indigenous ones to produce a purely local cuisine.

In the 19th century, French cooks became the fashion and, in their restaurants (even the word, their word, was new), they imposed a luxury and recipes till then unknown by the Barcelona bourgeoisie; an empire that lasted over a hundred years.

Right up until the mid-20th century, local cuisine was reduced to a secondary role, with rare exceptions like Casa Leopoldo, which opened in 1929 l'Hostalet, where it is still going, and Hostalet, later Orotava and now closed. But in the 60s and especially the 70s, it began to emerge. Restaurant menus began to include dishes that had remained, silent and silenced, in the confines of family celebrations, the day the good folk of Barcelona decided to give their all, in the words of the time, "tirar la casa per la finestra", and went back to the best of good home-cooking or as they say "la cuina de l'àvia", another priceless definition.

A good example of this cooking is Ca l'Isidre, which opened in 1970. The movement was given a big boost in the 80s, when consumers began to appreciate and ask for the products they found at the craft fairs that started to be set up all round the country. The change was experienced by restaurants like Gaig the old Fonda d'Horta of Carles Gaig's father, which became a cult gastronomic establishment Neichel, Mediterranean and market food, with some French influence but very respectful to local produce.

It was also in the 90s that Ferran Adrià appeared, with his restaurant at El Bulli (Alt Empordà), although his research kitchens are on Carrer de la Portaferrissa, in Barcelona. Adrià has put Catalan cooking on a different planet and, directly or indirectly, is the reason for the appearance of a plethora of young chefs, many installed in Barcelona restaurants, like Drolma, at the Hotel Majèstic Àbac and Arola, at the Hotel Arts, to mention the most famous, who, on the basis of their ideas are seeking to discover new universes. The word autor could give a clue to identifying them.

Restaurants :

• La Panxa del Bisbe. “Creativity without pedantry”, or “cuina rumbera”, are expressions used by the owner of an establishment where you eat modern dishes without emptying your pocket.

• Lluçanès. The best produce of Osona for reinventing traditional recipes and giving them new flavours and textures.

• Comerç 24. Recipes as classical as escudella, cooked in an informal way, form part of a string of dishes that provide a gastronomic world tour.

• La Dama. A Modernista building designed by one of Gaudí's disciples, where the cooking is between Catalan and French: from Llavaneres peas with salmon espuma frothy salmon to foie marinated in Sauternes.