In honor of its 20th anniversary, Spanish restaurant Barcino invited two-Michelin star chef, Paco Pérez, for a three-day, 12-course seafood dinner feast.
Spanish restaurant Barcino turns 20 this year. “Barcino” is the Latin name for Barcelona, the capital of the Catalan community in Spain, where their story began. The founders of this restaurant originated from Barcelona and aspired to bring the authentic taste of their homeland to the Philippines, and their vision continues to thrive today. At Barcino, their Spanish chefs use traditional techniques to offer every guest a genuine Spanish dining experience. Their kitchen marries Spain’s rich culinary history with the Philippines’ love for festive celebrations and flavors by serving Spanish cuisine using the finest ingredients directly sourced from Spain.
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Tradition Reimagined: La MAR d’AMUNT
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Barcino collaborated with Spanish chef Paco Pérez of Miramar, a restaurant with two Michelin stars. The three-day dinner took place at Barcino’s branch in S Maison. The event featured a 12-course tasting menu that focused on seafood.
Paco presented the haute cuisine of the Mar d’Amunt, a border territory of sea and mountains. Together with Montse Serra, his wife and Maître of the restaurant, he runs what was once a restaurant with rooms that Montse’s grandparents built in this small fishing town on the Costa Brava in 1939. The Michelin-starred chef crafted the 12-course menu himself and brought several ingredients with him from Spain.
This partnership blended tradition and innovation, reflecting the essence of both Barcino and Chef Paco’s Miramar. Together, the partnership crafted an unforgettable dining experience that celebrates the harmonious connection between land and sea.
Three appetizers were served which started with Abalone (Abalón). They start by sous vide cooking the mollusk for 12 hours to achieve tenderness and enhance its flavor. It is then frozen and made into shavings and served with the juices from five different seaweeds: codium, mother of pearl, salicornia (or glassworts), kombu, and sorrel. This was followed by Blue Crab, Brown Crab (Cangrejo Azúl, Buey de Mar). Slowly cooked crab meat is placed on a crispy tempura like surface. Mayonnaise made from crab corals is added and finished with kombu, nitrogenated mushrooms, and olive oil. The third starter was Capuccina Scallop (Vieira Capuccina), Paco’s idea of a sea taco. The scallop is cured in koji (a substance with cultivated mold used to make fermented food) and then codium seaweed oil and made into a sashimi, placed on a nasturtium leaf, and finished with a garum (fermented fish sauce) of scallop corals.
Several main courses were served starting with Emptiness Caviar (Vacío Caviar). Paco wanted to create a feeling of emptiness in the mouth. A dome of lyophilized almonds was the base for an almost butter caviar with caviar. The Oscietra caviar used was from Poland. The empty dome breaks in one’s mouth releasing all the flavor and creaminess of the caviar. Then there was the Tuna Loin and Belly (Lomo y Ventresca de Atún) — tuna nigiri made from the loin and belly on a creamy sea of caviar and almonds. Inside is crunchy rice cured in koji and caramelized with butter and garum from the tuna roe to enhance the flavor. Two shellfish followed — King Prawn Curry (Langostina Curry) — grilled King Prawn curry with coconut water jelly, textured coconut milk, the essence of shrimp heads, and hints of coriander and Lobster Bolognese (Langosta Boloñesa) — Paco’s take on a classic Marine Bolognese made with lobster. Octopus over Rice (Sobre Arroz, Pulpo) follows. This is creamy rice covered with a blanket made from octopus. It comes with squid ink oil, ñora (a type of Spanish pepper) oil, and powdered laurencia seaweed. The Sea Cucumber (Espardenya) was very unique — grilled sea cucumber served with pil pil sauce, hazelnut, and truffle miso. The hazelnuts were fermented with meat juice. Last main dish was Portobello — mushroom mille feuille filled with truffle yolk, green pinecone syrup sap, laurencia, and codium powders.
Desserts included Coco — coconut foam with coconut ice cream and coconut toffee and All Cacao (Todo Cacao) — chocolate ice cream bloated rock with chocolate ganache topped with fake meringue made with cocoa bean skin.
It was truly a meal to remember and Barcino intends to have more future collaborations with Spanish chefs. This is something Manila will be forward to.
Check out https://barcino.com.ph/.
Photos courtesy of Barcino.
