TakeMeowt Tuesday: Cadaques Spain

Cadaques, Spain        

 Salvador Dalí, master of the surreal, adored Cadaqués, about which nothing much is surreal, with a “fantastical fidelity.” His father was born here, and as a boy, the artist revelled in its natural wonders. Eventually he bought a fisherman’s cottage in nearby Port Lligat that became his refuge and studio. By the time Dalí died in 1989 at the age of 84, he had bought several cottages there, stringing them together in what is a now a fascinating web of ephemera and art history.

To eat and drink: Tapas, tapas, tapas. The Spanish eat their main meal at about 1 or 2 p.m. and then lighter fare after 9 p.m. Make sure you sample the sangria, which is less sweet than what we get in the States. In Cadaqués, we liked the paellas at El Pescador on the harbor, a place that Dalí occasionally frequented, and the late-night tapas at Nord-Est, where we had excellent gazpacho. The decor has a Far East flavor, but the food is all Spain. On our last night, the wind pushed us into Casa Nun, one of the village’s most well-regarded restaurants, and I had pork tenderloin like I’ve never tasted. Unlike the relatively bland pork we eat in the United States, this Iberian specialty exploded with flavor. For dessert, check out Catalan cream, similar to creme brulee but with an orange leaning. Lots of restaurants make it.