Olive Me

Everybody knows about the Napolitanos’ pizzas and the Provençals’ pissaladières.  The Catalans, however, seem to prefer to keep their cocas on the DL.  (Below, a pastry shop owner puts his sweet coca under wraps.)

Coca is a flatbread made in sweet and savory versions depending on the occasion and strewn with different toppings depending on the season or on where you are in Catalonia.  I love a savory coca de recapte, a Tarragona-leaning combination of roasted and peeled eggplant, red peppers, and onions found in bakeries all over Catalonia. “Recapte” means provisions, and in that spirit, a savory coca can be topped with whatever is on hand, but it is never slathered with tomato sauce nor draped with cheese.

It’s hard to find a bakery coca that’s as good as a homemade one.  Fortunately, they’re a cinch to throw together.  (more…)

Continental Airlines just sent me a letter containing a $200 travel voucher to be used on future trips.  They say they have God on their side in not sending the 600 Euro cash compensation  that European Union consumer protection laws require when an airline orchestrates a 24-hour mechanical-failure-induced fiasco as ridiculous as the one in question here.  They’ve excused themselves by declaring the snafu “force majeur.”

Unless Continental can do something to improve customer service on this most skimpily-equipped and poorly-staffed route, my advice is don’t fly Continental Newark to Barcelona.  Right now, the Delta flight from JFK is a better choice. (more…)