Sephardic Spain: Update on My Search for Jewish Historical Sites in Spain Part II of III The Call, Barcelona's Former Jewish Quarter with Barcelona Expert George Semler

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Barcelona: The Call, Former Jewish Quarter

George Semler in front of the Synagoga Mayor in the Call, the old Jewish Quarter, of Barcelona. 

 The ancient Synagoga Mayor in El Call de Barcelona is open everyday, but Saturday, the day we were there.

At the end of the first ten days of the trip, I said adios to my traveling companions, Gil Avital and David Spell of Elevation Wine Partners, when we finished our wine mission in Montsant.  Then my long-time friend Catalan wine maestro Agustí Torelló, producer (with his son Agustí Torelló Roca) of AT Roca wines, drove me to the Barrio de Sarrià, in northern Barcelona, where I spent two delightful days and nights with my very old excelentisima friends, writer George Semler and his wife, Lucie Hayes Semler, both of whom I have know for some fifty years.  

 George Semler with a bottle of AT Roca Rosat Reserva Brut sparkling wine from my long-time friend Catalan wine maestro Agustí Torelló Sibil, producer (with his son Agustí Torelló Roca) of AT Roca.

 

My long-time friend Catalan wine maestro Agustí Torelló Sibil, producer (with his son Agustí Torelló Roca) of AT Roca tasting red wines in Montsant, Cornudella de Montsant.

I first met the hiking, hunting and fishing enthusiast George in Pamplona during the Fiestas de San Fermín on the outdoor terrace of the famous Bar Txoko on the Plaza del Castillo.   George, who had been fishing for trout  in the cold streams of the Pyrenees above Pamplona, the streams Ernest Hemingway fished and wrote about in The Sun Also Rises, had caught some trout and was cooking them for breakfast under a table on the Bar Txoko terrace.  This is no fish story, I have a photo of George cooking the trout.  I just have to find it and the negatives, which are buried in fifty years of personal detritus somewhere in the depths of our basement in Putnam County, New York. 

 Trout fishing in the Pyrenees in Navarra, Spain.

Now, George Semler is a bonafide expert on a lot of stuff.  He a graduate of Yale and a Vietnam veteran, who has lived with Lucie  in Spain for more than fifty years.  Lucie taught school in Barcelona and George coached hockey, then made his way as a writer.   He has written several books on Spain (and contributed to multiple guidebooks) that I know of, Madridwalks and Barcelonawalks (HENRY HOLT WALKS SERIES) and has published articles in Saveur, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times and many others.  

 

Barcelonawalks by George Semler.

When I say that George knows Madrid and Barcelona, stone-by-stone, I am not exaggerating.  Walking through Barcelona with him is like being with a walking encyclopedia.  He knows EVERYTHING and in-depth.   Which, brings us to George giving me (and Lucie) a marvelous tour of Barcelona’s relatively small Call, or former Jewish quarter.  He even pointed out a stone door frame with a niche where a mezzuzah might have been placed (except the niche was vertical, not slanted with the top inclined towards the interior).   (George also took me inside a jewelry shop that a glass interior panes covering a stretch of the old walls of the city.)  

 George Semler showing his wife Lucie and me el Call, the old Jewish Quarter of Barcelona.

 George even pointed out a stone door frame with a niche where a mezzuzah might have been placed (except the niche was vertical, not slanted with the top inclined towards the interior).

We tried to visit the Synagoga Mayor, thought to be the oldest synagogue in Europe and found that Saturday is the only day that it is closed.  But, we were able to visit part of MUHBA El Call (the Museum of the History of Barcelona - Jewish Quarter), which via glass floors allows visitors to see the foundations of the 13th-14th Century Jewish home belonging to veil weaver Jucef Bonhiac and has displays with other Jewish memorabilia found in the old quarter.  Compared to other Jewish quarters that I have known in Spain, this one in Barcelona is relatively small, but nonetheless it was important, up until 1391, when the Jews in the Call were either massacred or forced to convert to Christianity, a century before Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand issued the expulsion order. 

 George Semler pointing out something on the map of Barcelona's Jewish Call to his wife Lucie Hayes Semler at MUHBA El Call (the Museum of the History of Barcelona - Jewish Quarter) in Barcelona.

Hebrew inscription of Proverbs 11.25 at MUHBA El Call (the Museum of the History of Barcelona - Jewish Quarter) in Barcelona.

 English translation (enlarged).

Painting of Jews in the Middle Ages at MUHBA El Call (the Museum of the History of Barcelona - Jewish Quarter) in Barcelona.

 
I have been to Barcelona dozens of times, but this is the first time that I visited the Call with any purpose, but with George Semler as my guide, I made some discoveries to add to my knowledge of Jewish Spain. 

More on Sephardic Spain:
  
4/01/2019 Sephardic Spain: Update on My Search for Jewish Historical Sites in Spain Part I of III Return to Ribadavia (Galicia) & La Tafona de Herminia's Sephardic Recipe Pastries 
 

3/10/2019 Jewish Spain: Ribadavia (Ourense), Galicia, Restored Jewish Quarter (Active from the XII-XVI Centuries) with La Tafona de Herminia, A Bakery with Pastries from Recovered Sephardic Recipes Plus Galician Octopus Cookers

  

2/05/2019 Jewish Spain: Iglesia de Santa María de las Nieves, Popularly Known as Santa María la Blanca, at the Edge of The Barrio de Santa Cruz, The Ancient Jewish Quarter of Sevilla 

  

2/04/2019 Susona: The Legend of the Beautiful Jewish Girl in Sevilla Whose Betrayal Led to Implementation of The Spanish Inquisition in the 15th Century (My article In Madrid's Guidepost Magazine, May 25, 1974)

  

9/09/2018 Jewish Spain: The Incredible Remnants of Jewish Culture in the Old Jewish Quarters of Spain: Segovia, Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla, Ribadavia (Galicia), Tudela (Navarra), Girona (Catalunya), Hervás (Cáceres)

 

5/21/2018 Jewish Spain: Toledo Santa Maria La Blanca 12th-Century Ibn Shushan Synagogue

  

 * * * * *

  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

 

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________

 

About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com

La Bombeta in La Barceloneta of Barcelona: An Iconic Place for Bombas (Deep-fried mashed potatoes and pork “bombs”), a Barcelona Tapas Specialty & Another of Those Joints Whose Awful Waiters Make a Place Unforgettable, Which Is Probably the Reason The Waiters Are So Antipático

  
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Bombas, which are like deep-friend Italian arancini rice balls, except these “bombs,” balls (read croquettes), are done with mashed potatoes and pork and served topped with the same lightly picante sauce used on patatas bravas and a thin version of all-i-oli, actually garlic mayonnaise.

I first went to La Bombeta, a la Barceloneta bar highly regarded in the neighborhood, three weeks ago for the first time, after having been in la Barceloneta many, many times.  

Writer George Semler, who has lived in Barcelona for fifty years took me.  After enduring the most inefficient and antipático waiters of this trip (one month across the country) and one of the most antipathetic of my 50 years of traveling and following the gastronomy of Spain for more than 50 years, the waiter finally got around to our table some 20 minutes after we were seated.  

 Writer George Semler, who has lived in Barcelona for fifty years, knows the city exceptionally well.  He led me to la Bombeta. 

We ordered bombas, which are like deep-friend Italian arancini rice balls, except these “bombs,” balls (read croquettes), are done with mashed potatoes and pork and served topped with the same lightly picante sauce used on patatas bravas and a thin version of all-i-oli, actually garlic mayonnaise.  I had first eaten a bomba a month at Mercado Little Spain in New York, where star chef Albert Adrià had put this Barcelona origin-claimed dish on the menu.  La Bombeta’s version was good.  At least it stood out as good, since a well-made dish was the last thing I was expecting after dealing with our waiter.   We also ordered rabas (friend calamares) and vermut rojo with ice and a lemon slice.  And, for dessert, we chose crema catalana to see how this típico neighborhood joint, la Bombeta, did with Barcelona’s riff on crème brûlée (or is crème brûlée a riff on crema catalana?) and this classic dessert was good. 

 Rabas (friend calamares) at la Bombeta in la Barceloneta.

So, why with decent to good food, at least what we tried (I have heard that patatas bravas at la Bombeta should be avoided) does ownership/management feel that they should allow waiters that seem bent on making customers unwelcome–at least foreigners anyway (George and I both speak fluent Spanish)?   A couple of clues may be found on the menu, which is superimposed over the image of a hot-air balloon with an (ironically) friendly looking, smiling guy waved what looks like the check, and, written on the bottom of the menu “no aceptamos tarjetas de credito” with a graphic of Visa card crossed out.  Since, most of the tourist in Barcelona are toters of credit cards, this can deter foreigners, as can an inscription on the walls, the friendly enough sounding, “no hablamos inglés pero hacemos unas bombas cojonudas,” (“we don’t speak English, but we have freaking great bombas). 

Menu at la Bombeta, "we do not accept credit cards."

An inscription on the walls reads “no hablamos inglés pero hacemos unas bombas cojonudas,” (“we don’t speak English, but we have freaking great bombas). 

George and I finally got our sour waiter, who had stepped outside for a smoke, to bring us our check and left.  Later I would read on the Barcelona food blog, Bares Auténticos, written and photographed by Goretti "Go" Pérez and her collaborator Alex "Ales" de Mena:  Creo que los camareros, para entrar a trabajar ahí, pasan algún tipo de examen psicotécnico para valorar el grado de incompetencia y borderío; si no llegan a unos niveles extremadamente altos, no son contratados (“I think that the waiters, to begin working there, pass some type of psycho technical examination to assess the degree of incompetence and bad attitude; if they do not reach extremely high levels, they are not hired.”)   The writers continued, “You  freak out when they attend to customers without even looking them in the face, that they can pass your table 300 times (ignoring you) when you call them and they leave without warning while you are ordering. Do we really have to put up with that?”

Had I not seen the Bares Auténticos review and realized that this waiter attitude has been going on for at least a decade, I would not have written this report.  (It did occur to me that our waiter might have sick? overworked? underpaid? harrassed by bad management?)  So, I decided to write my own report, although this is what those who direct this fiasco undoubtedly want, because a bad reputation is fame and fame is better than no fame, plus, who knows? maybe they think that this reputation enhances their standing with the locals who frequent La Bombeta (there are often lines outside and the place is usually filled).  

This management attitude is not original. There are and have been these types of restaurants that have achieved fame for having antipático waiters and since, the World has no lack of masochists, they thrive.  In New York, Peter Luger in Brooklyn, comes to mind.  I have known others, in Sevilla, in Madrid and in Barcelona (Els Quatre Gats, the famous café where Picasso had his first exhibition, comes to mind).  Grown men with padded wallets actually grovel to get on the good side of this miscreant waiters, to be accepted at a favored joint.  One suspects that some of them then move on to a professional sado-masochism parlor.

 Painting of Ramón Casas y Pere Romeu en un tándem (Two Men on a Bicycle Built For Two), a painting at Els Quatre Gats,  the famous café in Barcelona where Picasso had his first exhibition.

Thankfully, there are relatively few of these joints. In the case of La Bombeta, taking into account the antipathy of our waiter, one tends to give more importance to the food if it is decent to good. The bombas were okay, but no miracle, nor were the bravas sauce, nor all-i-oli topping them.  The Vermouth is better in many places in Barcelona. The rabas fried squid were okay, but I would not to make a five-minute detour for them, and the crema Catalana was fine, but far from the best. In places like La Bombeta, the tendency is to contrast the quality of the dishes with the lack of quality from the waiters, so, contrasted with the service, the dishes tend to shine like diamonds in goat’s ass.

 For dessert, we chose crema catalana to see how this típico neighborhood joint, la Bombeta, did with Barcelona’s riff on crème brûlée (or is crème brûlée a riff on crema catalana?) and this classic dessert was good.

For those of you who like to be mis-treated while spending money on food:

La Bombeta
Maquinista 3, La Barceloneta, Barcelona
Mondays - Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to midnight
Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. & from 7:30 p.m. to midnight
  

* * * * *

  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

 

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________

 

About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com

Calçotada: Cooking Calçots for a Festival in a Plaza in the Barrio of Sarría in Barcelona / Dishes with Romesco.

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One late February 2009, I was staying at George and Lucy Semler's apartment in the Barrio of Sarría in Barcelona.  Just outside his apartment in a plaza, a group of volunteers was cooking a slew of calçots to benefit a charity (for Palestinians, I believe).    

Calçots for a festival in a plaza in the barrio of Sarría in Barcelona.  

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009 / gerrydawes@aol.com.  Canon 50D Mark III / Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8.

Calçots are green onions that are about twice the size of scallions and milder, without the toughness of leeks.  They are grown, like leeks and white asparagus, but covering much of the plant with earth so that the edible portions will remain white.  The season for calçots usually runs from November through March.  

 
Calçots for a festival in a plaza in the barrio of Sarría in Barcelona.  

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009 / gerrydawes@aol.com.  Canon 50D Mark III / Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8.

Typically, hundreds of calçots are placed over an open flame, ideally grape vine cuttings, and grilled, dirt and all, until the outsides are charred and the calçots cooked through.  

  
Cooking calçots for a festival in a plaza in the barrio of Sarría in Barcelona.  

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009 / gerrydawes@aol.com.  Canon 50D Mark III / Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8.

The calçots are wrapped, usually a dozen at a time, in newspapers, which allows to keep steaming.  They are often served at the table in an inverted terra cotta roofing tile, which doubles as a serving dish and keep them warm.

 
Wrapping cooked calçots in newspapers at a festival in a plaza in the barrio of Sarría in Barcelona.  

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009 / gerrydawes@aol.com.  Canon 50D Mark III / Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8.

Each diner, armed with a roll of paper towels and a bib, strips off the charred outer layers, dips the calçot in a bowl of thick salbitxada sauce, then throw his or her head back and lowers it into the mouth, biting off pieces until the calçot is gone.  Thats where the bib comes in.  Usually the juices and drops of sauce fall onto the diner's chest. 

Salbitxada is essentially romesco sauce, which is composed of ñora peppers (anchos can be used), tomatoes, lots of garlic, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, ground almonds and/or hazelnuts and salt).  Romesco / salbitxada sauce is addicting.  

 
Variation on the calçots-romesco theme.   
Gerry's dishes:  Seared, sliced sea scallops served on a bed of sauteed leeks with romesco sauce (Inspired by a dish at Bravas restaurant in Healdsburg, California.  See below.)  Nov. 2, 2013

Sea scallops with romesco and leeks from the fire pit, accompanied by three white wines from The Spanish Artisan Wine & Spirits Group--Manuel Formigo Finca Teira Ribeiro, D. Berna Godello Valdeorras and O Barreiro A Silveira Godello Valdeorras-- at Bravas Bar de Tapas, a really good new Spanish cuisine restaurant in Healdsburg, California, Sept. 16, 2013.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2013 / gerrydawes@aol.com. Canon 5D Mark III / Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

This dish is a specialty of Valls in Tarragona province and bus loads of Catalans make pilgrimages to restaurants in this area specializing in La Calçotada.  Nearly twenty years ago, I went to one of this places near Valls with a group of American journalists, many of whom eagerly devoured a dozen or two of calçots with romesco / salbitxada sauce, washed down with red wine from porrones (a porrón is a typical needle-nosed spout Catalan communal drinking vessel that typically large enough to hold a bottle of wine). 

 
American chef Michael Chiarello drinking wine from a  porrón at a Mas Gourmets de L'Embotit stand at la Boqueria market in Barcelona.  Oct. 11, 2011.  Photo by Gerry Dawes©2010 /  gerrydawes@aol.com.

 
Gerry drinking from a way-too-small porrón at Can Majó provided by his long-time friend, Enrique Suárez, owner of Can Majó and the man responsible for selecting the highest quality ingredients for his restaurant. 
Photo by Lisbeth Suyehira.

  
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For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities. 
  

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“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . .the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” – The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. Chef Chiarello toured northern Spain with me in October 2011 and was just in Barcelona again in January 2013.  He is preparing to open his new Spanish inspired restaurant, Coqueta, at San Francisco's Pier 5 in April.

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"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

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 _________________________________________________________________________________________________  
About Gerry Dawes  

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel  

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

 In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. ". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television series  
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com.