Mediterranean Day Fourteen (Cinq Sentits)

When Tom and I decided to take this trip we began researching restaurants for Barcelona for our final night. After some consideration we chose Cinq Sentits for our final vacation dinner. Cinq Sentits is Spanish for five senses. The meal was an extraordinary ending to an extraordinary trip. I have somehow misplaced the list of the dishes I wrote -- probably in this mountain of paperwork but here we go.

We had the following dishes which were all Catalonyan in style and flavor and ingredients. First up is a shot glass full of maple syrup, sabayon cream and special Spanish salt. On a menu I would NEVER have ordered that but it was delicious. Then we had clam in sea water jelly with asparagus cream. It was so yummy I wanted to lick the dish. Foie gras with glazed balsamic leeks, carmelized onions, burnt sugar shell and chives. I HATE foie gras but this dish was so good I would have eaten another one given the option. Spring peas from Llavernas with five herb ice cream and mint powder. Wild Mediterranean red mullet with spring vegetables and lemon thyme which came in a huge bag made of clear paper. The presentation was spectacular and they had to cut the bag open with scissors. Incredible.

For the main entree I had Iberian suckling pig which had been cooked for 14 hours and then grilled served with a baked apple and applesauce -- that description does not even begin to do it justice. Tom had the filet which he said was really one of the best steaks he ever had. Then perhaps the most amazing part of the meal. They served us some citrus snow which was incredible. I don't know how they made it but it was like those dots ice cream except that they were much smaller and every single bite was a burst of citrus flavor and had a white chocolate powder. It was incredible. Then on to dessert.

We had cheeses which were extraordinary. It was a blue cheese made from goat's milk with a orange rind marmalade crisp. The cheese had an incredible bite to it but was softened by the crisp. Then the final dish was so good I want to go back to Barcelona just to have it -- it was chocolate foam with smashed bread macadamia nuts and olive oil ice cream. Outstanding. Sadly Tom and I were both so tired by the end of dinner that we were literally falling asleep at the table. It was one of the most unusual and amazing meals we've ever had.