It makes those who have never seen it stop in their tracks, while Catalans who have grown up with it find their chests swelling with pride. Building castells, the centuries-old Catalan tradition of creating human towers up to 10 levels high, is a cross-cultural snapshot of a region in the political spotlight amid moves to give it great autonomy from Madrid.
With a mix of flair, an eye for things of beauty and, er, dried bugs, four men are turning food-crazed Barcelona into a candy lovers’ paradise on earth. First up is Christian Escriba, a fourth-generation pastry chef who often seems closer to an artist than the baker down the street. His Candy-Glam rings look like something made by a glass blower.
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/ 23 December 2005
In another life, he would have been a cocktail wizard or a mad scientist. Instead, he’s Barcelona’s culinary king of canned food. At Quimet and Quimet, one of Barcelona’s best tapas bars, Quim Perez not only turned the idea of tapas — Spanish finger food — on its ear, but he did it by using nothing but high-quality goods preserved in metal.