A taste of Barcelona. Meet writers H. Rosi Song and Anna Riera
Widely associated with avant-garde gastronomy and lavish food
markets, Barcelona has become a top destination for gourmands and chefs around
the world, especially after the spectacular rise of chef Ferran Adrià of the
famed elBulli. Barcelona is a city that attracts millions of
visitors in search of art and culinary experiences while cookery apprentices
from around the world arrive looking to perfect their skills and expand their
gastronomic horizon. The city offers an unequaled combination of restaurants, chefs,
restauranteurs, media and local government initiatives to help those who arrive
seeking an extraordinary culinary experience. But how has the city established
itself as a global culinary referent while becoming synonymous with
cutting-edge cuisine? In this presentation we trace
Barcelona’s urban and culinary development from the Middle Ages to the present,
revealing the origins and the growth of its culinary prestige. Rosi Song holds a Chair in Hispanic Studies at Durham University. A specialist in 20th and 21st century Spanish culture and literature, she is the author of Lost in Transition: Constructing Memory in Contemporary Spain (Liverpool UP, 2016) and the co-editor of Traces of Contamination: Unearthing Francoist Legacy in Contemporary Spanish Discourse (Bucknell UP, 2005) and Towards a Cultural Archive of la Movida: Back to the Future (Farleigh Dickinson UP, 2013). She is one of the Series Editors for Culinaria, a new book series from the University of Toronto Press on Food Studies and serves on the editorial board for Toronto Iberic Series as well.