A few weeks ago, after a glorious road trip through Basque Country, Mamma Parla and I stopped in Barcelona for a couple of days. Our objective was to discover restaurants, markets, and shops specializing in locally sourced ingredients. At Mam i Teca we hit the jackpot.
Alfons Bach’s casual and unpretentious eatery serves delectable local dishes in a single dining room on Carrer de la Lluna in the Raval quarter. We started with an assortment of small plates, including serrano ham, which was beautifully marbled and possessed a richly nutty flavor.
We also had two cold dishes that consisted of tuna, anchoives, and bits of salt cod. One was a variation on Mamma Parla’s famous summer salad of white beans, chopped tomatoes and onion, and high quality canned tuna.
These were followed by eggs with little local shrimp and asparagus tips. The eggs were fluffy and buttery, the shrimp were sweet and the asparagus brought a delicate bitterness and crunchy texture.
Local mushrooms with peppers and asparagus were a seasonal delicacy worth a flight.
Ribs with blood sausage and chickpeas were heavily seasoned with coarse black pepper. The ribs fell off the bone, the blood sausage disolved into a savory liquid on the tongue, and the chickpeas were firm and earthy.
We paired the meal with Almogaver, a craft beer made in Barcelona.
Mam i Teca’s fresh, seasonal ingredients and Alfonso Bach’s thoughtfully preparation put this restaurant high on the list of Barcelona’s gastronomic destinations.
Carrer de la Lluna, 4
08001 Barcelona, Spain
934 413 335
HK Epicurus
August 6th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
I feel so ashamed that I still haven’t even started blogging about Barcelona from end of last year
And now I’m in Australia and trying not to repeat the mistake…. blog before it becomes too late ! : )
bryan nugent
August 6th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
spannish black pudding is great so much sweeter than our scottish stuff
jon p
August 6th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
That place looks pretty great. I like that beer label. What is it, some sort of ale? Good?
Frank
August 7th, 2011 at 4:04 pm
That ham looks unbelievable… actually, it all does! I have been wanting to get to Barcellona for years now. Should have done it when I was living over in Europe but I guess it’s still not too late. Save me a table!
Mamma Parla
August 8th, 2011 at 4:24 am
This place took us by surprise…incredible meal from start to finish. Best mushrooms I have EVER eaten! Definitely worth the flight. I did not understand everything Alfons was saying but it was apparent that he is very passionate about serving locally produced food and that he goes to great lengths to do so. Zero KM at it’s best!
bryan nugent
August 8th, 2011 at 11:33 am
Frank I can’t promote this company but maybe worth a look if you need some ham http://www.delinostrum.co.uk/
On Deck « Fresh Force
November 10th, 2011 at 10:03 pm
[...] i Quimet, which we for some reason skipped the last time we went. And Mam i Teca, which we thought super-fantastic and reasonably priced. And definitely Kaiku, which makes me [...]
Jen
November 7th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Planning on going to Spain later this month- definitely will check this place out!
Saturday Six #71 - Misadventures with Andi
May 14th, 2013 at 4:41 am
[...] to the road and ended up in one of my favorite cities, Barcelona and she shows us how to “eat like a local.” It’s got me wanting to hop on the next [...]