Tripology

An Exciting Interview with Arthur Frommer

Cooking in Catalonia

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Detailed Trip Description

The program combines hands-on cooking lessons with visits to markets, artisans’ workshops, and a few truly great restaurants. We share with our guests an interest in authenticity and sustainability, and we always find seasonal delicacies, festivals, or customs to learn about. You’ll stay in a luxurious villa in the Catalan countryside, dating to the 14th C and stylishly restored as a boutique inn. Each day explores a different aspect of this food-loving region, including hidden places that are still a bit off the beaten path. Depending on the time of year, you’ll find yourself gathering mushrooms, or sailing the Mediterranean, visiting a biodynamic winery, a cheese festival, or an olive mill. Our instructor here is chef Viçens Fajardo, a member of Joves Cuiners, one of Catalonia’s most innovative culinary groups. His kitchen and cooking combine tradition with modern elegance. Wine tastings with sommelier Monica Ferré are a treat, as she loves to show off Catalonia’s range of styles from sparkling cavas to the rich reds of the Priorat. The program is limited to 14 participants. The course begins with dinner at the villa on Monday evening and ends after breakfast the following Saturday. The course fee of $3,250 includes accommodations throughout in a luxurious country villa hotel. It covers daily classes and tastings, visits to markets and with local artisans, three lunches and three dinners, always paired with wines. It does not include transportation – you will need a rental car, or we can help you arrange for a driver. We think you’ll appreciate having your own transportation for exploring the region during your free time.

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Trip Itinerary

Day 1 - Spain

 
Monday – Farmhouse Dinner at a Masía in the Pyrenees Foothills.
Relaxation

Participants arrive at our rural farmhouse inn during the afternoon – it is a lovely place for walks or just relaxing in the country setting.

Food and Dining

Gather for a welcome dinner on the porticoed terrace of the masía, open some wine from deep Catalonia, a Raimat from Costers del Segre, perhaps, and savor a rustic meal. Our farmhouse host, Inés Puigdevall, shows you your way around pa amb tomaquet: country bread toasted over a wood fire and rubbed with garlic, tomato, and oil, in the traditional way. The meal also features pesols de Santa Pau (a beloved local bean with d.o. status) and grilled lamb with romesco sauce, and, for dessert, Garrotxa cheeses from nearby and baked Girona apples.


Day 2 - Spain

 
Tuesday –Country Market, Cured Meats, and an Avant-Garde Star.
Shopping

After breakfast, we all drive to a nearby market – the one in Vic attracts city chefs, depending on the time of year, for wild herbs or mushrooms and truffles, and always for the town’s excellent llonganissa and fuet – cured sausages, which we’ll learn about here.

Food and Dining

We return via the unusual volcanic terrain of the Garrotxa in time for lunch at the Michelin-starred Les Cols – a place where avant-garde ideas and local traditions meet very happily.

Cooking Classes

Tonight, back at the farmhouse, we sip the wines of Pla de Bages (another small inland d.o. making some good reds that blend tempranillo with syrah and other grapes) and make a simple, light supper, perhaps Inés’s soothing rosemary soup, and a lesson in making Ratafia – the walnut liqueur.


Day 3 - Spain

 
Wednesday – Cuisine of the Empordà.
Sightseeing

After breakfast, we check out and drive through the countryside to our villa hotel. Lounge by the pool, check out the kitchen garden, walk to a Romanesque church, or explore the region (Girona, with its gorgeous medieval quarter, is nearby, as is Cadaqués, the arts and fishing town).

Food and Dining

We meet this evening for a tasting with sommelier Monica Ferré, who will introduce us to the cavas of Catalonia, including the excellent ones from Castillo Perelada, nearby.

Cooking Classes

Then, a cooking class with Chef Viçens Fajardo, who shows us how to put a modern spin on traditional small plates like Spanish tortilla, Catalan-style spinach, escabetx (an agridolç marinade, great with game) – all wonderful additions to your tapas repertoire.


Day 4 - Spain

 
Thursday –Cuisine of the Empordà.
Cooking Classes

After a leisurely breakfast (and perhaps a walk or dip in the pool) we have another class with chef Viçens, this one focused on key techniques of the Catalan kitchen – you’ll learn to make sofregit and picada, which flavor so many Catalan sauces.

Food and Dining

Our lunch might feature a crispy artichoke or grilled vegetables with romesco, a mar i muntanya dish such as rabbit and langoustines, and crema catalana, lightened into a mousse. Monica will have us sample a flight of the region’s most elegant reds.

Sightseeing

Free time after lunch for exploration or relaxation, with suggestions on good places for dinner.


Day 5 - Spain

 
Friday –Costa Brava Traditions.
Shopping

After breakfast we head for the coast, making a stop to shop for pottery in La Bisbal, the region’s ceramics capital.

Food and Dining

We’ll also stop to taste recuit – a fresh cheese made in a small village nearby.

Sailing

Our destination is the port of Palamós, where we’ll sail on a restored Catalan fishing sailboat with captain Joan Santolaria, to get a real sense of the coast from the sea.

Food and Dining

Lunch on board is a suquet, the traditional fishermen’s stew of this region, and delicious white wines from nearby Alella.

Sightseeing

This afternoon, free time to relax or we’ll provide suggestions on places to explore (medieval villages, Greek and Roman ruins, more ceramics, art).


Day 6 - Spain

 
Saturday – Departures.
Hotel

Breakfast in the hotel, and check out. Participants may have different departure schedules today, and we’ll be on hand through the morning to provide advice for anyone staying on in the region.


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