FRIDAY IN FOTOS / iPHONE PHOTO AWARDS

BEST TRAVEL. Results are in and winners are announced in the recent annual iPhone Photography Awards. “Last Night before Xmas,” by Long Nguyen (France) won first place in travel category. 

GUEST BLOG / By Christy Choi, CNN--Organizers announced the winners of the 2023 iPhone Photography Awards on Monday. From Mexico to Sweden, from the macro to the micro, these images show us the scenes, senses and emotions of our world this past year, as seen by iPhone and iPad users. The 16th edition of the annual contest is not only a testament to the skill of the photographers but showcases just how far the camera phone has come since the iPhone first came onto the market in 2007. Winners were chosen from thousands of entries across 14 categories, including travel, lifestyle, architecture, nature and animals.

PORTRAIT. "Diesel Mechanic," Kissy Town, Sierra Leone, by Barry Mayes (United Kingdom) won 3rd place in Portrait. 

ARCHITECTURE. "Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana,"Rome, Italy, by Leon Wang (United States) won 3rd place in Architecture. 

CHILDREN. Sofia Ershova, United States, 1st Place --"Girl", Shot on iPhone 13 Pro, Orange County, California  

BEST PHOTOG. “Soy Sauce Village,” Hanoi, Vietnam,
by Thea Mihu (Germany), who won first place
in the Photographer of the Year competition. 

GRAND PRIZE. "Heroe," Arandas, Mexico, by Ivan Silva (Mexico) won the Grand Prize in Photographer of the Year. Image was shot on an iPhone 12 Pro. 

THE FOODIST / JORDI ROCA'S MAGICAL ICE CREAM PARLOR IN BARCELONA

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Writer Paula Mourenza