On this particular culinary journey, I am taking you back to Barcelona. To the streets of the gothic quartier to be more detailed, and to Saboc to be very precise.
Saboc prides themselves for having a menu that is based on four temperatures: raw, low temperature, cooked on stove top and griddles. Saboc believes that the flavor and texture of food radically changes depending on the cooking temperature and experiencing the different flavors with Saboc is an absolute delight.We started our experience with the raw menu.We began with the melon with Spanish ham with a touch of pomegranate vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.
A true delight on your taste buds. The combination of the sweetness of the watermelon and the strong flavor of the spanish ham surprisingly go so well together!
The melon with ham was followed by another surprising combination: tuna sashimi with vanilla flavoured tomato.Wait, what? That was my response when I first saw it on the menu. However, my curiosity got the best of me and so I boldly dared to go where I had not yet gone.Normally, vanilla, to me, is for sweet things only. However I found out that the vanilla nicely balanced the acidity in the tomatoes and gave the tuna sashimi just enough spice without overbearing the fish’s natural flavor.
After the raw dishes were all cleaned up, we got our low temperature dishes. The low temperature dishes are cooked at a maximum of 80ºC. From the low temperature menu, we got the lamb medallion caramelized at 80ºC with carrots and anise.
The medallion was so tenderly cooked that the meat was just falling off the bone with a simple touch. The carrots and anise provided it with just enough sweet caramelisation, so that the meat would literally melt in your mouth.Stove-top cooked dishes were cooked at a maximum of 100ºC. It was decided that we would go with the tofu meatballs and arrabbiata sauce casserole.
Hands down one of my favourite. A few years back, I attempted to be a vegetarian for several months and I was shocked and surprised at how bad the quality of some of the tofu that was available was. Tofu is supposed to be the vegetarian’s meat replacement, but if it doesn’t taste like meat or doesn’t taste good, then I don’t want to eat it.Not this tofu however. This tofu was delicious and creamy and went perfect with the spicy tomato arrabiata sauce. I lathered up each tofuball with the sauce until it was all gone.
The last temperature on the menu was 200ºC or cooked with a griddle.
This allows the foods to be toasted on the outside and juicy on the inside, enclosing the flavors inside the dish.On this option, we opted for the petit burger with foie shavings.
Boy those foie shavings… I am not much for foie gras, but with this tiny burger it was the perfect combination. The flavor of the foie was so slight and creamy that it just mixed so well with everything else.The second option we opted for was the grilled octopus with toasted potato and green olive. Oh my gosh, this was delicious too, just thinking about it is making my tummy rumble! Maybe I take back that comment about the tofu meatballs being my favourite and switch it to this. Can I have two favourites? Or three…?
The octopus meat was almost crispy on the outside, a bit charred but juicy and tender on the inside. The quality of this octopus meat was so much better than any octopus I’ve tasted in the past and the olives give it just the right amount of saltiness and bitterness and I wiped the dish out clean in no time.Then… we waited.
I send Julie all the delicious snaps I took and told her on all the things she’s missing out on.And giggled at her response of her cursing me that I didnt pack her up in my suitcase.
And then… I heard angels sing. My heart leaped in my cage and I became euphoric. All because dessert was served. after twenty three years, I still get so excited when I see my true love. I think I’m finally allowed to say it’s getting quite serious. Check out this baby:
The chocolate monster. Chocolates in all sorts of temperatures and textures.I had dark chocolate ice cream, followed by light fluffy airy chocolate sponge cake, followed by chocolate stones, followed by crackling chocolate nibs (OMG!).
So, so amazing. By far this has been one of the best desserts and (food experiences) I have had in a long time… and believe me when I say that, since I have a lot of dessert!
If you’re in Barcelona, please, please, please make sure you stop by at Saboc and have the chocolate textures dessert.
I promise you, you will not regret it!
Love, Rosalina x