"galetes" galore

La Bisbal d' Empordà is one of those towns we got to drive through during our trip around the province of Girona. It looked like a busy place, perhaps even more at the beginning of the 20th century.  

We went for a walk when I saw this old window, which reminded me of my very early days, when I used to enjoy considerable amounts of non industrial cookies. Even the sign kept that old flavour, hard to find anymore around the Spanish urban or semi-urban geographies.

Unfortunately we didn't have the room to bring home a few boxes, but let me tell you that was a possibility I dreamed about for a couple of minutes while inspecting up and down this old little store.

In Castilian language I always called them "barquillos", but in good Catalan they are known as  "neules", one of my always favourites. They are perfect with a good tea or any other mid-afternoon drink like, for example, cava.

We happened to be carrying a bottle from our previous visit to the Recaredo headquarters in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, home to most cavas. This was a 2003 Brut de Brut, which worked perfectly by the Aigua Blava beach, once we reached a little Mediterranean town called Begur.

A bag of "palmilles" was another basic delicacy we also picked up at the Galetes Graupera shop. These ones are ideal to dip into a hot cup of tea, coffee or chocolate. However, just by themselves, or with a glass of cava, they are still worth any effort. 

Our trio of acquisitions was completed by what they call "bescuit", basically what we usually know as biscotti: another brilliant example of simple perfection.