Cooking in Catalonia

Sue had this great idea………let’s sign up for a cooking class and learn to cook Catalonian.  I thought it was a terrific idea and Trip Advisor told which one was the perfect one to sign up for.  So on Saturday we found ourselves at the Espai Boisa Cooking School in the L’Eixample district of Barcelona.

The school was located on the smallest one block passage way in all of Barcelona so it took a little creativity to get there but once we did we were welcomed by Claudia into an absolutely charming converted home and seated in the ‘sunroom’ with the other students until the class started.  My biggest concern was that we would be in class with all tourists from the States but fortunately we were a class of nine made up of a young girl from Ireland, a young fellow from Singapore, a couple from Norway and a family of three from San Diego. 

When it was time we were each issued an official apron and moved into the cooking area.  Alexandra was our cooking instructor, a delightful Catalonian woman who was proud of her heritage and her food.  The prep work had already been done and bowls of fruits, vegetables, seafood and spices lined the middle of the table.   We were each given an assignment and put to work.  We prepared dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with bacon, tomato bread (yuck……I don’t get this one and they love it!!), potato omelet, paella, and Catalan cream for dessert. 

What did we learn………..that a tortilla in Spain is not made with flour or corn  but instead with a gallon of olive oil, a pound of potatoes, and bunch of onions and turns out to be two inches thick!!  This however, was our favorite dish of the class………………..

In Spain they believe in drinking their local wines with their meals and while they are cooking.  We had been served our choice of either red or white wine the minute we had entered the cooking area along with the tiniest olives I had ever seen, but tasty ones no less.  It was Pep’s sole job to tell us interesting stories and keep our wine glasses filled while we cooked.  And he was extremely good at both!

Somehow Alexandra pulled off the miracle and the meal was ready just proving a lot of chefs don’t spoil the broth as long as there is one chief.  We sat down at this amazingly large table and enjoyed the results of our efforts. 

By now we had all bonded over our cooking experience and the wine and the conversation was lively and interesting.  Since we were all tourists (although they gave me an honorary title of ‘local’) we exchanged our experiences at the various restaurants we had each experienced.    Everyone left with at least one new recommendation they intended to try.  Ours came from the couple from Norway who suggested the rooftop restaurant at the Hotel 1898 on La Rambla……..it will be our destination tomorrow night.

Before we said good-bye to everyone I received a wonderful surprise, an invitation to join the family from San Diego on Wednesday for dinner at 41 Degrees………….a very difficult reservation or invitation to receive!!  Sue is leaving on Tuesday so of course I said YES!