Kirei: sublime japanese art brought to Barcelona

Creativity has got lots of forms. One of them could be this one:

 And no, these aren't real flowers.

Nope, once gain, these are not real pastries.

With the help of special playdoh-like porcelain that needs no firing at their Kirei workshop Elena and Monica  manage to create most delicate flowers and most delicious-looking pastries, each single tiny detail 100% handmade. The painstaking process of manual molding produces unbelievably realistic results:

Not so known in Europe, this material is pretty widely used in all sorts of decoration in Japan. Check out Kirei’s Facebook page to see some more great and inspiring examples or see the workshops they have to offer. Really worth trying.

Ways To Make You See

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Ways to Make You See

... a photo shoot dedicated to evident things that stay unnoticed in the fast-moving life flow.
Zulema, thanks for making it happen ;)

Maria Coma

Several days passed since the exquisite concert of a Catalan singer songwriter, Maria Coma, at Heliogàbal. Her magical voice and fascinating piano play still stay etched in my audio-memory, humming to my inner ear. One of those rare cases when the music is so powerful, it's not perceived by the brain, but through each pore.

lazy summer days

Surprise on a Spike or a Mouthwatering Trip to the Basque Country

I'm sure no one would be able to object if I say the Basque Country is the motherland of Spanish culinary gurus. This unique creative community is situated on the Northern coast of Spain, sharing a frontier with France. The Basques are known for their own (completely incomprehensible) language, stone-throwing sport, delicious white Txacoli wine and extraordinary culinary skills, particularly expressed in a mind-blowing variety of "pintxos".
"Pintxo" (can be translated as a "spike" from Spanish) is a typical small snack served in bars, an immense variety of ingredients, normally served on top of a piece of baguette (and fastened all together with a spike). Nowadays one can try the typical ones almost everywhere in Spain, but it will be nothing compared to Euskadi*, where in no bar you will be able to find the same ‘set’ of pintxos, where they come in all (un)imaginable forms and ingredient combinations. Here is just a tiny bit of the "reportage" on the symbol of Basque culinary creativity:

some pintxos found exploring Bilbao old town, among them, smoked tuna with cherry&mango sauce

3 in 1: 2 small pintxos mounted on top of the bigger one. Neat! 

 ‘Irrintzi’ bar with great pintxos and a bit of Japanese flare in Bilbao 

However, the first prize, undoubtedly goes to a Donosti** bar ”Zeruko”, whose chefs managed to bring the creation of pintxos up to a level of art.

Each pintxo is an eye-candy, each of them a surprise, being it the ham-flavoured jelly balls with the egg gently exploding in your mouth, gold-plated artichokes with warm foie gras, or freshly smoked codfish with some effervescent salad… in a flask.

Each single one is promised to be a discovery. 

The star of the menu – “Bob Limón”, chef’s desert looking quite like a fried egg with bread (thus should be eaten the same way: dipping the bread in the ‘yolk’!), while it’s in fact a delicious mixture of cream, jelly-like jam, berry toffee, cold spongy sweet ‘bread’ and, to top it all, special Chinese flowers, that provoke mild tingling and refresh your mouth. Exceptional indeed.

 * Basque Country in the Basque language
** Basque name for San Sebastian