Spicy Orange Cow at Tapas Bar in Barcelona

Some bars and shops in Barcelona feature these well known cows that originally were meant as public art as part of the cowparade and that as everything popular in this life ended up getting into the advertising business to reinvent themselves and get some extra cash to invest in public art. Who knows? 

I leave you with this poor cow that has to sell spicy sauces in a tapas bar at Rambla Catalunya in Barcelona. There were better examples published here in Barcelona Photoblog in the past: Ms. Moolevard on the Boulevard and Emdea by Pavel Lagner

CowParade Barcelona: Emdea by Pavel Lagner

More than a year ago I posted Cow Parade Barcelona: Ms. Moolevard on the Boulevard by Amber Felts as captured at Illa Diagonal. Today I feature another great cowparade design this time found at a small shop on the corner of Plaça Sant Jaume and Carrer de la Llibreteria

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CowParade: Ms. Moolevard on the Boulevard at Illa Diagonal, Barcelona

I swear I don't get any commission for showing this cow, it is just that I like the beautiful design and colors on this Ms. Moolevard on the Boulevard by Amber Felts, part of the CowParade scale model collection being sold at one of the stores in Illa Diagonal Shopping Center, Barcelona. I should say that CowParade organizes exhibitions in different countries which some of you have probably seen. Remember those lifesize cows painted in flashy colors scattered somewhere in your city? According to what they state at the website, CowParade "fosters art education through its Cows in Schools(TM) program and benefits charitable causes through its one-of-a-kind cow auctions". What's more if you are a real artist, not my case, you can apply for designing new cows.

Opuntia ficus indica: Cactus Figs - Higos Chumbos

Here are some Cactus Figs, Indian Figs, Tunas or as we know them in Spanish, Higos Chumbos. A lot of names to designate a delicious fruit that oddly enough comes out of Opuntia ficus-indica, a cactus. This is one good example of specialization, of survival in extreme conditions, one of those wonders of mother nature.

Would you expect to get food out a cactus!? I mean, imagine you are a primitive man, you are starving and you get lost in the Sonoran desert. You know that you should not try any odd beautiful fruit or plant cause previous experience tells you that it could be dangerous. You probably get to smell it, lick it but finally the spines make you change your mind. I have always wondered who was the first to try so and so, say, eating an octopus or a snail or a swallow's nest or a shark's fin!? They say cattle have a knack for this plant once farmers burn it to get rid of the sharp points.

I suppose no one got rid of the spines for us in the past, or was it a lightning perhaps, maybe a suicidal cow who dared to chew on it or why not, the blasting jet of a mysterious alien mothership? I have read that in Mexico you do not only eat the fruit but also the young pads called nopales before they grow the spines of course and have them with eggs and jalapeños for example.

In southern Spain higos chumbos grow in the wild as they have this incredible ability to multiply out of any small fragment but there are also extensive crops. Take for example the case of Murcia where almost 200 tons of tunas are harvested every year. The plant has some medicinal properties too as it contains a mucilaginous substance good to treat nausea, headaches, fever, arthritis, constipation, asthma, burns, stomach-ache and a long etc, it even served as a remedy to fight scurvy during long sea journeys. Besides, there are lots of recipes for both sweet and savory dishes.

I just wanted to show you how they looked at La Boqueria market and to let you know that it is quite common to find them when you travel around Spain. Care for a bite?

Wish List: Valdeon Blue Cheese

From the region of Castilla y Leon we have today this excellent Spanish blue cheese called Valdeon after the name of the valley where is it is elaborated in Picos de Europa national park. Made out of cow or goat milk or a combination of both, Valdeon is a creamy, intense flavored cheese not as biting as Cabrales. Did I tell you that I love Cabrales? The wheel of Valdeon is wrapped in sycamore leaves, as the ones you see in the image, that add a peculiar taste to it (learn here about other cheese wrappings). Valdeon was named best blue cheese back in 2003 in a national contest. Here is a tasty recipe Smoked Paprika-Rubbed Steaks With Valdeon Butter. This particular cheese I found at a food market in Monistrol de Monserrat.