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Inspiration: Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Pan con Tomate

It's fitting that Barcelona is mentioned in the title of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" – the art, architecture, music, food and wine of the city play as much of a role in the movie as Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson). It is a Woody Allen film after all, so the characters spend a great deal of time analyzing their relationships, and they do so while sipping Spanish wine and nibbling on tapas.

One dish that caught our eye in a couple of scenes is a favorite: pan con tomate.

 
 

This classic Spanish dish is incredibly simple, and it's a great way to use up some of those late season tomatoes. Toast or grill slices of bread and rub with a half clove of garlic. Then rub the bread again with a halved tomato, basically crushing the tomato into the bread. Finish by drizzling with olive oil.

For a variation, try topping it with cheese, chorizo or ham. Either way, enjoy with a glass of Spanish wine and good conversation.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is in theaters now.

Related: Been to Spain Lately?

(Images: yosoynuts, licensed under Creative Commons and Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

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Inspiration, Food on Film, Spain, tapas, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, pan con tomate

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Comments (5)

As a proud ex-pat living in Madrid... just want to say that Barcelona is a lovely, wonderful, international and cosmopolitan city, but it is NOT the capital of Spain.

posted by saf80 on September 2nd 2008 at 6:07am
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Wow - should have read that Wiki entry more carefully. Thanks, saf80.

posted by Joanna on September 2nd 2008 at 6:23am
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No problem! But I can assure you and readers that pan con tomate is indeed DELICIOUS.

posted by saf80 on September 2nd 2008 at 6:26am
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One of my favorite summer snacks.

posted by JudiAU on September 2nd 2008 at 9:24am
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Not to be pedantic, but pan con tomate should be called "pa amb tomàquet", as it is a Catalan dish, not a Spanish one.

posted by Johnathan on September 30th 2008 at 1:51pm
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