Made in Catalonia, Barcelona with Culinary Backstreets

As foodies, I always research new places we visit with a view to sampling the authentic food of the area. I kept coming across Culinary Backstreets and was impressed by the reviews, so we booked their afternoon/evening private Made in Catalonia – Barcelona tour. Having now experienced it, I have to add my own praise for the company, and in particular our tour guide, Senem. She took us around the Gràcia area, which was a great contrast to the Gothic Quarter where we were staying. Senem had an amazing knowledge of the area, its culture, history and, of course, its food, and she made the five-plus-hour tour pass in no time. Her excellent communication skills, friendly demeanour and outstanding knowledge of every shop, café, market and restaurant owner we visited were an added bonus and made the whole experience feel very personal. Our tour included market tastings of dried fruits, cheese tasting accompanied by cava, appetisers, cafés serving sweet and savoury pastries, and a wonderful dried nuts and seeds shop. Who knew that if you squeezed a fresh pine nut, oil would come out? We do now! There was also an olive oil tasting, a visit to an historic cake shop, Catalan-style vermouth with nibbles in a local bar, and then, incredibly, a full Catalan-style dinner in a local restaurant, finishing with a street-food dessert. Now this is what I call a food tour — an experience that makes you feel like a local. Just book it and enjoy!

Senam was wonderful, full of knowledge and passion for the foods she shared with us.

Had a fabulous day. Senem our guide was so informative and fun. We spent 7 hours in Gracia in Barcelona going to the markets and lots of small stores and restaurants trying wonderful delicacies. Learning all about less common Spanish food and culture. Extremely small group. Extremely personal. Would highly recommend

A food blogger I met swore that Culinary Backstreets was the best food tour company so even though it cost about 1.5 times what other tours offered, I took this tour. While the other tours suggested theirs was a 3 hour tour, this tour was over 5 hours long. We went to a total of 7 places to sample cheese, appetizers, olive oil, dried fruits and nuts, Catalan style Vermouth, pastries and candies, and then a full Catalan style dinner and dessert. We were also given insight into Barcelona history and its affect on their culture and a wonderful explanation of the Art Nouveau architecture. It was FANTASTIC!

My wife and I had a wonderful experience with Made in Catalonia (Barcelona with Culinary Backstreets) food tour. Pam was a delight as our guide. She exudes genuine warmth, bringing people together on the tour so it was truly a shared experience. Her exceptional knowledge of Barcelona, its culture, food, and history, greatly enhanced our appreciation. And her fluency in Italian, Catalan, and Spanish was a real asset. We loved the sampling of sweet and savory food, olive oil, and the best vermouth we ever tasted! The hours raced by, and we are grateful to have been in Pam's company. It's a memory of Barcelona we'll carry with us for years to come thanks to her expert commentary and generous spirit.

Senem is our favorite tour guide ever. She knew so much about history and culture! Most food tours nowadays are very basic and guides are just hired for the tour and they don’t necessarily have a breath of knowledge, Senem was different. She made the tour so exciting!

We had a delicious day out exploring the Gracia neighbourhood. Our lovely guide, Senem, was very knowledgeable and so much fun! We did this on our 2nd day in Barcelona and got a real vibe of the city. Her restaurant recommendations made the rest of our stay even better. This was my 2nd Culinary Backstreets tour and I just love them.

Ivan was a spectacular guide. He had so much incredible knowledge and was generous in sharing what he knew and in answering our many questions! He also conveyed so much authentic enthusiasm for Barcelona, Catalonia and all of the special food experiences we had. We were blown away by this tour and would love to do another one in the future!

Fantastic tour!! Didn’t want it to end. We went to markets and restaurants/ food stands we wouldn’t have known about. The history lessons/culture were great. Whole family enjoyed it

I went on the Made in Catalonia tour with the very affable Pam and it was amazing! Winding our way through the narrow streets of Gracia, we visited a wonderful variety of shops and restaurants. The pace was perfect, the food was excellent and we learned a lot from Pam's extensive knowledge of the local cuisine and history. She also gave me some great recommendations for restaurants in other areas of the city. Take the tour!