05/09/18
Sticky Rice with Smoked Duck at Hofmann in Barcelona, SP. As an Asian guy with a bottomless pit who has probably eaten more rice than 90% of the people on Earth, there aren’t many rice dishes that get me too excited. This dish, however, got my juices flowing Bigtime, enough to make it just my 12th Hall of Fame dish. The rice itself was sticky, as the name implies - definitely more sticky than a typical Spanish paella dish, but not as sticky as the sticky rice you see on a dim sum cart - somewhere in between. I loved the taste and aroma of the smoked duck. Tender pieces of foie gras along with bits of morel mushrooms were the other main parts of this terrific dish. Cooked perfectly, the consistency of all the components in the dish worked well together - the delicacy of the foie gras, the stickiness of the rice, the thin layers of the smoked duck, and the contrast in texture of the mushrooms, the lone vegetable in the dish. The beauty of the dish was that each component was proportioned just right, allowing you to fully experience the different flavors without any ingredient overpowering the rest of the dish. Hofmann is a highly acclaimed restaurant with a wide variety of dishes and outstanding service. They also have a second location (Taverna Hofmann) that serves primarily tapas, a culinary school, and a bakery. The General Manager, Juan, was as nice as can be and even gave me a personal tour of the kitchen. If you’re in Barcelona, don’t leave without trying this dish at Hofmann! I also loved their National Lobster dish and their Banoffee dessert.