Bocadillo de hígado con picada (livers with green sauce sandwich)

Bocadillo de hígado con picada

This is the home-cooked version of a classic tapa or bar food. Normally you either snack from the livers drenched in this brutal green garlicky sauce, or have them on a ‘sandwich’ which has also been generously drenched in the sauce.

I’d warn that this is not something you want to bring to your office, unless you really hate your coworkers, because the garlic is STRONG in here.

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Roasted pumpkin (or butternut squash) seeds

Butternut squash seeds on a pan, golden and cooked

Raw pumpkin and butternut squash seeds are quite unpleasant to eat without cooking. They are too chewy and hard to break down when biting on them, and you end up trying to swallow them whole. Not a good idea when they have a bit of a hard edge if they’re half chewed.

But once you cook them, it makes them nicely brittle and crispy, and it also brings out their deliciousness ?

Butternut squash seeds in a dish, with pulp on a small pot
Seeds, just scooped out of the squash
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The cutest flat white I’ve ever had, and Valencian mussels, finally!

I had the chance to visit La Manera, which I eyed on a former trip to Valencia but didn’t have time to stop at, and it just didn’t disappoint! First I got the cutest flat white I’ve ever been served, then a really yummy granola (I really liked the mint leaves-it was a surprisingly good flavour pairing) ?

Granola (with mint leaves)

I will say the tablespoon they brought was way too big to eat without spilling everything out though, so I ended up using the coffee spoon.

Later we visited La Pilareta. We had been there almost a year ago, but Valencian mussels weren’t available as it wasn’t the right season. This time we were lucky and we could FINALLY have our Valencian mussels! (Plus other delicacies)

Valencian mussels, at least!

Valencian mussels are called clotxines in Valencian, and that’s why the bar is called La casa de les clotxines, ie “the house of Valencian mussels”.

Bravas (of course!)
Calamares

The batter in these calamari was nicely thin, yum!