Culinary Explorer
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Bikini Barceloní
Created by Chef Isabel
The Barcelona bikini is Catalan bar food at its plainest: white bread, jamón dulce, melting cheese, butter, and gentle heat until the crust crisps and the middle runs.
The bikini is Barcelona's ham-and-cheese toastie, Catalan in its everyday habit and not the same thing as a bocadillo. It uses soft square bread, jamón dulce, a mild melting cheese, and butter on the outside, then it is pressed on the griddle until the bread goes crisp and the cheese softens all the way through.
The method that decides it is the heat. Too high and the bread burns before the cheese has moved an inch. Keep the pan moderate, press it gently, and give it time. You want a thin, even crust and a molten centre, not a toasted roof over cold cheese. It is a small thing, so there is nowhere to hide.
If you are far from Barcelona, use good cooked ham and a mild cheese that melts cleanly, like Havarti, young Gouda, or Edam. It will not taste exactly like a bikini from a Barcelona cafe, but it will behave properly in the pan. No hace falta haber pisado España. Butter both outside faces, weigh the filling, and cook it slowly. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Ingredients
soft white sandwich bread
Quantity
4 slices, about 120g total
jamón dulce or good cooked ham
Quantity
80g
thinly sliced
mild melting cheese, such as Havarti, young Gouda, Edam, or queso de barra
Quantity
80g
thinly sliced
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| soft white sandwich bread | 4 slices, about 120g total |
| jamón dulce or good cooked hamthinly sliced | 80g |
| mild melting cheese, such as Havarti, young Gouda, Edam, or queso de barrathinly sliced | 80g |
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