Andalusia, Spain - Granada 1
When we arrived at Granada in the late morning, I thought first it was much colder than Seville! Perhaps because it was cloudy at that time, but Granada, located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, had a little different atmosphere from Seville. To get to know the city more, we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and started wandering around.
Soon after we walked through the Plaza Nueva, the oldest square in the city, we found a empanada shop, Kameleon Empanadas. While we were peeking the inside, the lady at the shop approached and opened the door to get us in. Then we really had to buy one or two, which wasn't a problem. A real problem was to choose one from several options of fillings. We both tried one with artichoke and mushroom. It was pretty good! The dough was delicate and not oily at all; the filling was generous and flavorful.
Next we saw ZirÃes, a Middle Eastern pastry shop on the same street. Arabic pastries are part of traditional confectionery from Granada and they were on my must-eat list that I made before the trip. Granada was the last city to be reconquered by the Catholic Monarchs and still remains the Moorish legacy.
There were about a dozen kinds of pastries on the showcase but they looked somewhat similar to each other. Basically flaky paper-thin dough (Phyllo) or shredded Phyllo dough (Kataifi) with some kinds of nuts and sticky honey syrup. The shop lady kindly told us each flavor. We chose five to sample. They were delightful! I should learn more about Arabic desserts rather than just knowing a word of Baklava.
After the unexpected wonderful snacks, we decided to go to a pottery shop in the AlbaicÃn that I was interested in. The AlbaicÃn is the oldest Moorish quarter of the city that dates back to the 11th century and located on the hillside. When we were climbing up the series of winding cobbled alleys and stone steps breathlessly, we realized how nicely flat Seville was. Meanwhile, the maze-like AlbaicÃn, tightly packed with simple white or earthy colored houses, was very charming to wander around.
Actually the pottery shop looked closed on the day. We needed to come back to the shop another day. Since we were already in the AlbaicÃn, we stopped by at Mirador de San Nicolás, a very popular square in front of the 16th century San Nicolás Church. There were so many people who came to see the beautiful views of the Alhambra, which we were going to visit the next day, from there.
Well, it was hazy and the lighting didn't corporate with my camera. The sunset is known as the best time for the view spot anyway. In fact it was difficult to focus on the view there because the square was not only busy with the crowd of visitors but also was noisy with some musics as well as messy with several (apparently illegal) street vendors who ran away when the police car arrived.
We walked down to the street that we had savory and sweet snacks and then we checked out around Calle Caldereria Nueva where you can find many Arabic tea rooms and shops. The area looked more like a tourist trap and we left there quickly.
La AlcaicerÃas in downtown, located at the original Moorish silk market, was another street full with Arabic goods. We often ran into a cloud of exotic scent from several spice and Arabic tea vendors around the area.
Plaza de la Trinidad was a nice garden square that provided us with a bench and a peaceful moment in the busy downtown area. We stayed there until almost the time to our lunch reservation.
Betula Nana was a local restaurant that serves traditional dishes with their own creative twist. The restaurant has been highly rated. The lunch slot of the day was fully booked. While we were there, I saw at least five couples who came but sadly had to leave. Gladly I had a reservation that I made before the trip.
The hostess welcomed us warmly. The dining area with only six tables was small but airy and bright.
Fluffy bread was served with a kind of creamy dip like hummus with pepper.
One of starters we shared was Boletus Carpaccio - finely cut fresh Boletus, served with EVOO dressing and flavored with citrus, accompanied with crunchy beetroot and tender sprouts. Boletus is a sort of mushroom. This uncomplicated chubby mushroom dish was one of the best mushroom dish I have ever had! I would love to copy the dish. I wonder if I can find Boletus or similar mushrooms in Wiesbaden.
Another starter was Mazamorra with smoked cod, topped with smoked eel, Barbote sardines and black and red pearls (fish roe) and surrounded with green apple slices. Mazamorra is a traditional Andalusian, more precisely Cordoban chilled soup, made with almond, bread, garlic and olive oil. It was one of my must-eat food list and I was happy to try this imaginative version. The soup was pretty thick and made me full before our main dishes come.
J's sherry arrived!
One of the main was cod confit at low temperature on roasted pepper hummus, accompanied by smoked eggplant and Lebanese style gratin with mild kimuchi olioli. The cod was super tender and tasty.
The other main was risotto with roasted cabbage, artisan Sobrassada (cured pork sausage) from Mallorca and soft Mahón cheese, a traditional cow's milk cheese from Menorca. The risotto was cooked perfectly. Each rice piece was beautifully al dente. The menu said roasted cabbage but it tasted like pumpkin and its color looked like pumpkin... We google-translated their Spanish menu into English. I wonder if it was actually pumpkin. Anyway the risotto was splendid. I could eat the whole dish easily. It might have been a little too sweet for J's taste, though.
We chose Pistachio tart - ricotta mousse semifreddo with Sicilian pistachio cream. Incredibly delicious! We shared the wonderful dessert but should have ordered one for each. At first J said he would eat a couple of bites but I think he had more than three bites after all.
Chamomile tea brought the lovely ending.
It was the Sunday right before the Valentine's Day. The big pink hearts were floating above the streets. How sweet!
We heard a marching band nearby and walked to the music to find out what was going on. It looked like a kind of religious ceremony. According to a local news online, it was a professional walk of a brotherhood in La Zubia, a municipality located in the province of Granada to celebrate its 275 years of existence. The first day in Granada was short but gave us a lot to see and eat.
To be continued...
