{"id":4253,"date":"2012-09-24T16:00:06","date_gmt":"2012-09-24T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/?p=4253"},"modified":"2014-10-05T12:23:25","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T10:23:25","slug":"what-im-craving-quail-eggs-and-sobrasada-from-el-celler-de-can-roca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/24\/what-im-craving-quail-eggs-and-sobrasada-from-el-celler-de-can-roca\/","title":{"rendered":"What I’m Craving: Quail Eggs and Sobrasada from El Celler de Can Roca"},"content":{"rendered":"

I didn’t think I’d end up going to Spain<\/a> 3 times in the last 12 months, after having waited to visit it until I moved to Europe in 2003, and then not again until last year, but there you have it. I have a soft spot in particular for Barcelona<\/a>, but when I was able to head to Girona, Spain for the Travel Bloggers Exchange (TBEX) conference, I knew it would be a great experience.<\/p>\n

The welcome party on opening night did not disappoint.\u00a0It was in a castle<\/a>.\u00a0There were human towers.<\/p>\n

And it was catered by\u00a0El Celler de Can Roca<\/a><\/strong>, also known as the #2 Best Restaurant in the World, by Restaurant magazine. If that list doesn’t impress you, they’ve also got 3 Michelin stars.<\/p>\n

I’ll let that sink in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So I was pretty excited to get there and see what they had cooked up for us. They actually distributed a map<\/strong> of the food rooms throughout the castle, one being dedicated to cheese, one to wine, and one to jam\u00f3n iberico<\/em>, Spain’s most famous cured ham. And there were many more. There were black sesame seed honey crisps, asparagus mushroom risotto, puffs filled with a truffle cream, smoked salt tuna sashimi, about 100 different cheeses, and of course many desserts after.<\/p>\n

I had the option of bustling around the different stations and actually getting something to eat, or balancing my teetering cava<\/em> glass\u00a0in one hand and fighting for a shot in the other and not actually getting any food as the crowds pulsed around me. Can you guess which I picked?<\/p>\n

Luckily for me, one of the last things to be served that night were these quail eggs with sobrasada,<\/em>\u00a0pressed, spreadable, and slightly spicy sausage (similar to sopressata<\/em> in Italy); which was spread on crusty slices of baguette and then the chef slid those fresh-cooked tiny eggs on top and handed them directly to you.<\/p>\n

Hot, crunchy, soft, a little spicy, they were delicious, and super simple.<\/p>\n

After I had two…or perhaps three of these, I was able to take a breath and finally get a shot, even if it was in the now-darkened castle.<\/p>\n

That’s what I’m craving.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Quail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I didn’t think I’d end up going to Spain 3 times in the last 12 months, after having waited to visit it until I moved to Europe in 2003, and then not again until last year, but there you have it. I have a soft spot in particular for Barcelona, but when I was able…<\/p>\n

Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,129,3,121,7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-discovering-food","7":"category-favorites","8":"category-food","9":"category-spain","10":"category-abroad","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4uB1-16B","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5050,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/08\/what-im-craving-chocolate-chip-cookies-from-eric-kayser-in-paris\/","url_meta":{"origin":4253,"position":0},"title":"What I’m Craving: Chocolate Chip Cookies from Eric Kayser in Paris","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"September 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Two months ago I had a quick trip to Paris. And now, I can't stop thinking about a chocolate chip cookie. A chocolate chip cookie? Not a macaron, a croissant, or a lovely little tart? In France? I had good intentions in France, I really did. 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These particular fried artichoke chips, or in Spanish chips de alcachofas fritas, (even more fun, in Catalan: xips de carxofes fregides) we devoured (and then savored when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Favorites"","block_context":{"text":"Favorites","link":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/category\/favorites\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fried Artichoke Chips eaten at La Boqueria Market, Barcelona","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7155\/6431693621_871ec92e4f_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7155\/6431693621_871ec92e4f_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7155\/6431693621_871ec92e4f_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4449,"url":"https:\/\/www.msadventuresinitaly.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/08\/2012-year-in-review-in-pictures\/","url_meta":{"origin":4253,"position":3},"title":"2012 Year in Review in Pictures","author":"Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy","date":"January 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I started my Year in Review in Pictures in 2009 (2011's review,\u00a02010\u2018s review,\u00a02009\u2018s review) as a complement to my stats-heavy Year in Review full of tools, sites, and statistics I started in 2006 (here's 2011 - 2012's coming soon). 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