Return to King of the Crayfish

In the Barcelonetta, a small seaside peninsula part of city, there is a very old restaurant called ‘El Rey de las Gambas.´ Dan was here 40 years ago, and Jim first ate at the same haunt about 30 years ago, also the first time he visited this amazing Mediterranean city. The restaurant specializes in seafood, as its name indicates. We started out with a bottle of vino tinto or red wine, and then launched into a prawn and avocado salad, accompanied by a plate of berberozos, or cockleshell clams. These have a unique taste, and like some of the other shellfish in Spain, are seldom encountered in other parts of the world. They are simply prepared with butter, parsley and a touch of garlic. They are plumper and juicier than long-neck steamed clams or mussels, but not as tough as ordinary clams. After those starters, I had a seafood paella, rich with crayfish, mussels, clams and a calamari-infused rice. Jim enjoyed monk fish, served on a huge platter straight from the oven, with mussels and crayfish, all swimming in a rich marinara sauce. The meal was a return to a past experience, which was a very philosophical adventure for Jim, who has long been influenced and intrigued by the connections between the past and the future.-Dan