SPAIN: TO GO FOR A VERMOUTH

In Barcelona, my husband and I were sipping Vermouth and eating habitas con jamon iberico y huevo poche (basically fava beans, Spanish ham, and poached egg) in a small bodega (a traditional Spanish wine cellar) in the neighborhood of Gracia. We were sitting at a table for two, I was facing a wall of kitsch: statuettes of Mick Jagger and Woody Allen and old wine bottles, and my husband was facing the front door. At the table behind us was a couple making out, overtly, like no one else was in the room. My husband and I were amused and shrugged, thinking it added to the scene. But strangely, when we went back a week or so later, we sat at the same table, in our same chairs, ordered the vermouth and the same dish as before, and that table behind us had a different couple sitting at it, and they were making out. We wondered if that was the designated makeout table. 

                                                                               Spanish vermouth (or vermut)

Vermouth (pronounced in Barcelona as Bear-moot, and in Catalan spelled vermut), is a fortified wine with herbs and other botanicals, and considered a strong drink, though for me it went down easy, and had a full bittersweet flavor. Many of the bodegas make their own vermouth, and often served in small glasses with a slice of orange and/or olives, many times with ice. You can ask for a sifón, which is an old fashion seltzer dispenser that they bring to your table so you can top off your drink yourself as you sip it down. It's a drink that is back in fashion, enjoyed by hipsters, and the older generation. In Barcelona to say, “to go for a vermouth” or "vamos a tomar un vermut" means to meet with friends, and is often something you drink in the afternoon. 

Vermouth and habitas con jamon iberico y huevo pouche

  

                                                                                                                            - Jennifer Artley

A BOOK BY A SPANISH AUTHOR TO GO WITH VERMOUTH 

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

“Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of six novels. His work has been published in more than forty different languages and honored with numerous international awards, including the Edebé Award, Spain's most prestigious prize for young adult fiction. He divides his time between Barcelona, Spain, and Los Angeles, California.”

Description:

“Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.”