Pictures From The Chocolate Museum In Barcelona

Outside the museum which can be found at Commerc 36, 08003, Barcelona
Gaudi's famous reptile reworked.
Antique Chocolate Tools.
Asterix
Lucky Luke

HomerUnbelievable!! All of the above photo's with the exception of the the antique chocolate making kit are made from chocolate. Great fun to see this museum, the history of chocolate is revealed and there is a cool cafe selling the obligatory hot chocolate and assorted chocolate bars from around the world. Well worth a visit we say if you are into that sort of thing, one thing's for sure, that's someone with a lot of time on their hands!!

BUBO - One Of The Best Patisseries In Barcelona

Inventive and stunning shop display coupled with innovative design.Loved the ideas and colours.
Very smart modern patisserie
Beautiful individual pastries.
Macaroon's of every flavour and colour.Sweet tooth's really are spoiled for choice in Barcelona, it seems every street has a world class patisserie, ice cream shop or bakery. We think we found the best though, Bubo was fantastic and an inspiration to us. Their design, packaging ideas and beautifully executed patisserie was outstanding. Obviously the chef is a very talented man and we applaud his achievements. Burch & Purchese are looking forward to returning very soon. http://www.bubo.ws/

A Visit To Espai Sucre

Outside the school, Carrer Sant Pere Mes Alt 72, Barcelona 08003
Stunning cooking school, inside the 'old building'.
Jordi Puigvert chats with Xano Saguer
The 'new' building, very smart and modern.
All the kitchen gadgets you could think of including 'MyCook'.
Jordi Puigvert (left), Jordi Butron (middle).
A beautiful summer dish at the restaurant Espai Sucre.
We enjoyed four courses of dessert for dinner. Fantastic!Our friend Jordi Puigvert, met us in Barcelona and promised to introduce us to Jordi Butron and Xano Saguer the pastry chefs behind famed restaurant/school Espai Sucre. During the day Jordi took us to the school which has just had a new wing added. The old one looked pretty good and efficient but the new one was stunning! Very modern and minimalist, it is home to students from all over the world interested in learning patisserie from one of the most accomplished pastry chefs in the world. Jordi Butron has worked for and with so many great chefs. He has headed up pastry sections in Bras and Pierre Gagniare and El Bulli to name a few, Jordi Puigvert used to work at Espai Sucre and introduced us. It was fascinating taking a look into such a professional operation and while we were there a class was being held on taste and senses. The students were given blindfolds and put through a series of tests and sensory experiences, all part of the course they had enrolled in. We met Xano Saguer as well who was working on dish development for the Espai Sucre restaurant down the road, everyone was very friendly and hospitable and a table was booked for us at the restaurant later in the week. The dinner was special as we were treated to two savoury courses and four dessert courses all of which were stunning and culminating in a fantastic brioche, chocolate and fresh truffle dessert which lingered in the mouth long after it was devoured. In all a special experience and new friends made whom we will look after when they come to Australia. Special thanks to Jordi Puigvert for spending the day with us and showing us around Espai Sucre and virtually every pastry shop in Barcelona. http://www.espaisucre.com/index.php?page=intro.language

Interesting Omelette Dishes

During our dinners at El Cellar de Can Roca and El Bulli in Spain last month we noticed two similar dishes on both of the menus. The top photo shows the 'Omelette Surprise' at El Bulli and the next two photos show El Cellar's 'Herring Smoked Caviar Omelette', both of these dishes were very interesting. On first inspection these both looked like a classic omelette, but bot were not as they seemed. An outer membrane held a liquid substance which burst upon piercing. Both dishes were amazing in presentation, technique and were most importantly delicious in flavour. We are always interested in techniques and new applications on classic dishes and wanted to share these with you.

A Day At Sosa Products - Castelltercol, Catalonia

In a small village around one hour from Barcelona Darren and his wife Cath, visited the factory of Sosa Products. Sosa is a company servicing the savoury and patisserie sides of the kitchen and their products are being used worldwide. A former biscuit manufacturer, Sosa has extended their product range in recent years and focused their attention on flavour compounds, chemicals, equipment and freeze dried products. Led by Francesc (Quico) Sosa, an enthusiastic and talented professional, a character seemingly styled from an Patrick Suskind novel, Sosa delivers cutting edge technologies to the industry.

We were met by Quico himself, who warmly welcomed us into his world of flavours. Quico explained to us the process of freeze drying and showed us his new products and the machine they are dried in. Off then on a tour of the factory, first through the biscuit and wafer production centre started by his father before him. Sosa still produce these products for the food service industry but have evolved with Quico's visionary ethos. Next we were taken to the new wing of the factory and Quico's world of flavours. We were first shown Sosa's chemical mixes available for retail, Quico made demonstrations to us on these and explained their uses and told us of some of his prestigious clients. Agar and gelatine mixes, algae gelification products and egg powders were all explained with enthusiasm. Quico then showed us his flavour alphabet, a new range of flavour profiles of virtually every ingredient you could think of. He demonstrated uses for these and we were impressed by the possibilities, Quico stresses though that these products should only be used to enhance a natural ingredient and not replace them. Cool mini demonstrations followed including and egg free alioli, and a chocolate free Macadamia ganache. In all Quico was very generous with his time and knowledge and we left the factory with an enthusiasm for his products and the new techniques now available to the chef. Certainly exciting times and a great help to the time strapped chef, look out for Sosa products which are going to be huge in Australia as soon as more top end chefs come to know about them. Thank you to Quico for his hospitality and Sosa products are now available in Australia through Imports Of France. http://www.sosa.cat/index.php

Visit To I.C.C. - International Cooking Concepts Spain

During my time in Barcelona, a trip was planned to the head offices of International Cooking Concepts (I.C.C.). A nondescript building on Gran Via Corts Catalanes houses this specialist cookware supplier/developer and I.C.C. is the world leader in cutting edge kitchen technology. Owner Marc Calabuig was kind enough to spend some of his valuable time showing me all of the new technologies up close. Rotoval, Clarimax, Pac-O-Jet and Roner were on display alongside smaller pieces of equipment such as Superbag, atomizers, ThermoXPresswhips and Ezi-Dri. Marc explained in detail the ethos of the company and his elite customer base which includes most of the worlds leading chefs. It seemed like every imaginable device was on show and the sight of all of these machines and their capabilities were mind blowing. What Escoffier or Careme would have thought, we don't know but I am sure that they like the guys at I.C.C. would see the value in all of these machines, which don't provide shortcuts but allow the chef to concentrate on creativity and productivity. We will be working closely with Rely Services and I.C.C. in the future as ambassadors of MyCook which we mentioned earlier this month and of which we will keep you updated. Thanks to Marc for his time and to Linda & Robert Erskine from Rely Services Australia (official supplier of I.C.C. Australia) for the hook up. http://www.cookingconcepts.com/ENG/index.html