The casseroles from bar Cortijo that feed a working-class neighborhood in Tarragona

TarragonaWhat a great discovery. A bar for everyone: recognizable cuisine, popular prices, and a good atmosphere among regular patrons and newcomers alike. Take note because if you go to Tarragona, it's a must-stop for a hearty breakfast or lunch. Welcome to Bar Cortijo.

We are in the Port neighborhood. In an alley, we discreetly find the bar. It has been operating for 48 years, and we find the Masegosa family behind it. You walk in, and your eyes are drawn directly to the back of the establishment. There are the casseroles with everything they have prepared. It will be difficult to choose, you think. But it doesn't end up being that way, because Santos will make it very easy for you. His parents opened the bar in 1978. The father renovated it, the mother, who was a very good cook, was behind the stoves, and he and his siblings did everything. It was – and is – a bar to serve workers. Artisans, stevedores, shipping companies, those who had worked the night shift and came for breakfast. The neighborhood, in general. And so they continue, and it's added that thanks to social media and Santos's love for natural wine, more people have found this gem.

At El Cortijo, they strive to make everything possible in-house. “We defend the authenticity of traditional cuisine. Now you can eat the same thing in Madrid, New York, or Barcelona. We have a globalized palate,” explains Santos, who describes how he started presenting everything directly in casseroles. The display case broke, and he decided to serve it directly from its containers. It was a success. Santos has a gift for simplifying life. He makes direct cuisine, without artifice. He presents it as it comes out, and believe me: everything together is very enjoyable. And then, to make it easy, he has two plate sizes. The small ones are 8 euros and the large ones, 12. Do you want a plate with a bit of everything? No problem, they serve it as a combination plate and it will still be 12 euros. What they call a medley.

You will find some dishes that are always available and others that will depend on what arrives from the Serrallo or the slaughterhouse. “When a friend brings you mushrooms, you make pig's trotters with mushrooms. Or the other day a fisherman came with three kilos of anchovies, so I made them with garlic,” he explains, while assuring that “this is very nice for a cook.” You will find offal, but it can be pork, veal, or lamb. Also, the omelet, which can be made with anything. “Anything that can be made into an omelet,” says Santos. And we will also find peas with cuttlefish, sausage with beans, or the migas. Regarding this last dish, one day Santos's mother, originally from Granada, told him “Are you rich that you don't make it?”. And Santos saw that his mother was right and that all the leftover bread from the Andreu bakery should be used. Furthermore, he assures that with migas everything goes well: fish, meat, fruit, fried peppers, sausage... “We cannot lose the tradition of the entire peninsula of using up food. Of the poor. When foreigners come, I explain it to them too,” he assures. You can also find coastal sardines with tomato or fried egg. And, if you go to Santa Tecla, tuna bone spaghetti with snails. A very characteristic dish made from tuna bones that have been salted for a year and snails.

I saw how it was done before

Santos handles himself well in the kitchen and outdoors, where he gracefully attends to a gentleman who comes from the Basque Country. Poor man wanted to come to El Cortijo, thinking the train stopped at Tarragona station, but instead, it stopped at Camp de Tarragona. It hasn't been a problem for this gentleman, who arranged it with a taxi and is now enjoying a champion's lunch. He washes it down with a garnacha recommended by Santos, a great defender of natural wines. “I maintain that in the hospitality world, you must know where all products come from and where they are made. Twenty years ago, we met a gentleman who they said made natural wine. And I saw that they were wines with less intervention. Our homemade food pairs very well with these wines. AsMediterraneans, we have it in our DNA from thousands of years. I want this for us. If I want it for myself, I want it for my clientele,” says Santos, who assures that his father summarized it with “wine as it used to be made”. From what's leftover, they make vinegar, just as they also make limoncello, walnut wine, or a dessert called Charlotte, to use up the lemons from the limoncello. Behind the bar, his son, the third generation, is already lending a hand. Until recently, Santos's brother, Lluís, was also here. But unfortunately, he passed away a few months ago. “He was like a Mick Jagger of the dining room,” he explains. One of those who walked in the door and he already had you pegged. They miss him a lot, but despite everything, El Cortijo's casseroles continue to simmer and feed everyone, no matter where they come from.