BRING IT BACK GREECE AND BARCELONA

These are the things I smuggled back in my suitcase Greece and Barcelona

This past fall, I went to Serifos for a friend’s birthday and then on to Barcelona for work. In Barcelona, I headed straight to the large market, La Boqueria, the way I always do when I arrive somewhere new. A market is the pulse of a community. It is where you can see what locals like to eat, what they sell to tourists, and ask questions and learn what people love to cook.

The famous market there is sprawling. On my first visit, I did not buy anything. I just walked the aisles, a slow, cursory look, so I would know exactly where to return and what to pick up the next time. When I went back, it felt like an absolute treasure trove. I brought home bottarga, one of my favorite ingredients. They had both tuna and mullet, and everything was vacuum-sealed and ready to fly. I bought jamón ibérico and other delicious sliced charcuterie, also vacuum-packed, and both the meats and the Marcona almonds made their way onto our Thanksgiving snacks table.

While I was in Barcelona, I also went to Bar Brutal, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. They had beautiful house-made tinned fish, and I picked up a few tins to bring back home, wrapped carefully in my suitcase.

I am trying to be better about not saving things forever, about actually using and gifting what I bring home. It feels good to let these flavors move through my kitchen instead of sitting on a shelf waiting for the perfect moment.

Here is a smattering of what I hope you find inspirational. Always bring an extra bag when you travel. I pack a soft Baggu for my clothes and save my hard suitcase for the food and ceramics I usually get home. Remember to tuck in a few large zip-lock bags to protect honey or anything that might leak. These small habits make it easy to bring back the things that catch your eye.

Soon, I will share a few recipes I made using these beautiful ingredients, so stay tuned, and thank you for following along. Let me know if you like this series. Bring It Back is meant to open your eyes to the world of local comestibles you can tuck into your own suitcase.

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GIFTS FROM TRAVELS

No. 1 GREEK MOUNTAIN TEA (GREECE)

I always bring back mountain tea when I am in Greece. It smells like the sun, is a little chalky like the soil, a little wild like the meadows, and a little herbal. The dried blossoms and stems look like something gathered on a long walk through the hills. I love it in the mornings or after dinner, just a handful steeped in hot water. It tastes like the landscape.

No. 2 JAMÓN IBÉRICO DE BELLOTA (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

One of the most beautiful foods Spain has ever created. Rich, nutty, melt-on-your-tongue delicious. At La Boqueria, the vendors slice paper-thin ribbons that fall like silk. Vacuum-packed and easy to travel with.

No. 3 LOUKOUMI, ALSO CALLED TURKISH DELIGHT (GREECE)

Small jeweled cubes dusted in sugar. You see them all over the Cyclades. Rose, mastiha, citrus. They feel old-fashioned in the best way, like something a grandmother might tuck into a tin for guests.

No. 4 BARLEY RUSKS (GREECE)

Hard, rustic, and perfect with tomatoes and olive oil or crumbled into a salad. Rusks last forever and always taste like the islands. I love their clean grain flavor and the way they soften just a little under oil, capers, and juicy, briny tomatoes. They are staple in Cretan and Cycladic kitchens as well as in Southern Italy.

No. 5 MARCONA ALMONDS (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

Spain’s greatest almond. Buttery, round, tender, so different from the California ones we are used to. I bought a couple of kilos at the market for aperitivo or the holiday tables. They are irresistible on their own but even better with jamón and a glass of something cold.

No. 6 PISTACHIO TORRON / TORRONS VICENS (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

Soft nougat studded with pistachios, sweet and chewy and bright green. Vicens is one of the oldest torron makers in La Boqueria, and they offer tastes of everything, which makes it absolutely impossible to resist. You cannot walk away with just one.

No. 7 BOTTARGA DI TONNO / TUNA BOTTARGA (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

One of my favorite ingredients in the world. I shave it over pasta, beans, eggs, toast, anything that needs a salty oceanic lift. La Boqueria had both tuna and mullet bottarga, all vacuum-sealed and ready to travel. Bottarga is a pantry treasure.

No. 8 ALMOND TORRON (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

The classic Spanish nougat. Toasted almonds bound in a sweet, honeyed slab. Crunchy, fragrant, deeply nostalgic. It reminds me of the Italian Torrone I used to get in my stocking every Christmas.

No. 9 ANCHOVIES (BARCELONA / LA BOQUERIA MARKET)

These are the good ones, fat, vibrant, salty, and super clean tasting. La Boqueria offers anchovies every which way — brined, oil-packed, lightly pickled. A little tin can transform a bowl of greens or a piece of toast. They are small but powerful souvenirs.

No. 10 FOREST HONEY (GREECE)

Dark, resinous, tasting of eucalyptus, pine, and wild fennel. This is the honey I carried back from Serifos, the one I found at Moni Taxiarchon. It was sold to me in the tiny shop inside the monastery by a Greek Orthodox priest. They also sell the incense they burn in the chapel, bundles of Greek mountain tea, and a small digestif made by the monks. The honey glows like amber when the light hits it. Honey is my favorite kind of sweet one that tastes unmistakably of place.

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