Bon Viagte!
New year, new country… Apricots and Sage is off to Spain!
And you’re coming with!
For the next four months, I will be studying Gastronomy in Barcelona, Spain. For those of you who have followed along since my high school days, you might remember the constant back-and-forth I went through when it came to attending culinary school or a traditional four-year university. Although I have loved every second of my traditional college experience thus far, even with the many curveballs the pandemic has thrown, I’m thrilled to finally get a little taste of that culinary school experience. And I can’t help but freak out a bit about the fact that I get to live in Spain while doing it.
It’s no secret that I go into hibernation on here during the school months. I whole-heartedly believed that once I got out of a dorm and sorority house and into my apartment, I would finally be back to my high school blogging days. The days when I had an infinite amount of time to create and test recipes. To actually sit down and take the time to write a well thought-out post. Why a full-time college student/part-time barista thought such a thing? It must have taken an incredible amount of naivety. Six months came and went and, predictably, I was in the kitchen so little that I spent more time dusting off the top of my Le Creuset—perfectly perched on our stovetop—than actually cleaning its interior. I have a hopeful feeling that my content will be a little more consistent this semester, though.
While I’m abroad, I plan to take full advantage of being immersed in an unfamiliar country and embrace the uncertainty I will inevitably experience by documenting all of my culinary and travel adventures. Not only will I be welcoming a whole new style of cuisine in my everyday diet, I will also be studying it. I plan to share with you everything from recipes my roommates and I will make in our apartment, grocery hauls from the market, and dining experiences at local restaurants to all of the new culinary techniques, history, and culture I will learn from my classes. I also hope to do a fair amount of traveling both in and outside of Spain, so my travel posts will be back in full swing (Ibiza, here we come!).
To properly send me on my way, my mom and I cooked a tapas dinner the night before I left. We drew inspiration from a Williams-Sonoma Barcelona cookbook one of my incredible friends gifted me for my birthday, some recipes online, and some experiments of our own. We decided it was the ultimate tapas dinner menu, which I’m sure I’ll have to argue with once I actually get my taste buds on some real tapas. Thankfully, our version should keep me full until I land in Barcelona. Here is what was on our Spanish-fusion menu:
Chicken Pintxos with Romesco Sauce
Gambes a la Planxa (Grilled Shrimp with Parsley and Garlic) - we threw some arugula, cilantro, and lemon in for good measure
Pa amb Tomàquet (Catalan Tomato Bread) - this was so simple, yet so amazing. We created an antipasti board and topped the bread with proscuitto, manchego, mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and roasted vegetables (eggplant, bell pepper, and zucchini)
Patatas Bravas - well, our version of it. Par-boiled, cast-iron fried, and oven roasted baby gold potatoes with a pesto aioli
Spicy Marinated Olives + Pickled Affair
That’s all for now. I wanted to give you a heads up that A+S will be changing direction for the next few months—and definitely for the better. I could be getting a little in over my head, as usual, but hopefully I will get to share with you as much as possible. Worst comes to worst, I can always just document my experience living in Spain without knowing an ounce of Spanish or Catalan. I’m really counting on a combination of anxiety and boredeom during my flight over there to motivate me to finally pick up a few phrases. There’s that naivety again…
Okay… meet you in Spain!
