Coques de Llardons

The first thing I do when I arrive in a new city is walk around and eat. Barcelona was no different. I went to a small, beautiful bakery in El Raval called Patisseria Bonastre, its display cases filled with a wide selection of rustic, yet elegant desserts and pastries. Just as I was about to settle on a butter croissant, a long, flat pastry caught my eye. I asked what it was in my broken Spanish. I gathered it was made with chicharrons, but it certainly didn’t look like it. The layers of dough were generously covered with pine nuts and sugar. My first bite contained everything that could possibly make a pastry great – it was crispy, rich, fatty, salty, and sweet. The ample sugar remains intact, offering both crunch and sweetness. The pine nuts mirror the pastry as a whole: initially crunchy, then yielding to a velvety softness that carries a delicate fattiness with buttery, nutty flavors. The chicharrons are ground so fine, they’re almost invisible – for a moment I thought I had completely misunderstood what she said – maybe she meant the dish was made with lard? But each bite was evidence they’re there, adding deep flavors and a gentle crunchy texture, before dissolving on your tongue. The pastry’s layers, delicate and flaky, hold their structure well enough that you could sneak one in without leaving any telltale crumbs on your shirt. 

I wasn’t sure what to call what I had just eaten; all I knew was it had awakened something in me. Later, I found it was a Coca de Llardons, a traditional Catalan pastry, found widely along the eastern border of Spain. While the dish has its origins as a pre-Lenten snack, today many Catalan bakeries make them year-round. A Coca de Llardons is exactly the type of reward that comes from exploring a new place and letting your curiosity choose the unfamiliar.