Editor’s note: Possessing a sweet tooth that knows no international borders I have made friends [as a tourist] with some of the finest bakeries, cafes, ice cream/gelato parlors in the world. That’s why it was such a pleasure to come across an article in Culinary Backstreets tasty blog about Rocambolesc, an ice cream parlor I visited on my favorite street in the world: Las Ramblas in Barcelona.
GUEST BLOG / By Paula Mourenza, food correspondent, Barcelona via CulinaryBackstreets.com
Rocambolesc
This ice cream parlor belongs to Catalan Michelin-starred pastry chef Jordi Roca and his multicultural team of artisans. It’s a project intended to be fun and delightful, as well as to bring some of their restaurant creations into the streets. A portmanteau of Roca and bolesc (an unexact iteration of “ball,” like balls of ice cream), the word rocambolesc means bizarre or fanciful.
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| Jordi Roca's playful ice cream creations. Yes, that's a strawberry-flavored version of his nose |
And this is the ethos behind Jordi Roca’s playful creations. The best example: a strawberry popsicle in the shape of his nose – a much tastier take on Frigo Pies, we might add. Rocambolesc uses organic milk from the sustainable farm La Selvatana, crafting gelatos and sorbets with toppings like violet marshmallow, sablé butter cookie chips, pop rocks or fantastical clouds of cotton candy.
Some of our favorite creations are the oven-baked apple with chunks of shortbread, or the panet, a warm brioche with ice cream inside. The conceptual popsicles are as much fun to behold as to eat: Helado Oscuro is a deep shade of blueberry in the shape of Darth Vader’s helmet (El Lado Oscuro means The Dark Side); a mango and blood-orange pop is molded to look like the gold hand of Jaime Lannister from Game of Thrones, and aptly named The Golden Hand.
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| Photo: Paula Mourenza, Barcelona Bureau Chief, CulinaryBackstreets.com |
Roca has opened a couple of parlors in Madrid, another in Girona and Barcelona’s is located in the Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house, in the middle of Las Ramblas, the cultural center of the city.
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| Chef Jordi Roca, a Michelin-honored culinary star in Spain poses here with inmates at a cooking class inside CET Talita Kum prison in Santiago, Chile |
For the complete article: CLICK HERE.
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| Writer Paula Mourenza |
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