Spanish Cooking Course Taught By An Expert (BONUS: tomato contest!)

Me? Cooking? I know, quite unbelievable. But, I guess pigs really do fly, because this little piggy flew all the way to Tagamanent, Spain.
My parents and I were fairly apprehensive when we first arrived at El Follo. We drove up a narrow, windy path and when we finally arrived at the gates of the chambre d'hote, it was deserted. After questioning whether we had arrived at the right place, we suddenly realised our fatal mistake: we had arrived during siesta time. Therefore, whilst Father explored our to-be-home for the next week, I made friends with this little beauty named Micha.



It was not long until our host discovered that a stranger was poking around her pots (umm..Father?!), and came to greet us. Mercè Brunés is a Catalan chef who has a passion for food and a great understanding of gastronomy. She gave us a warm welcome and ushered us into the covered terrace for some drinks. Unfortunately, I am unable to recall the ingredients Mercè used to make this beverage, which is a shame since it was healthy as well as delicious.



I feel that I am very fortunate to have had the experience of seeing a great chef at work. My Mother and I often helped and overlooked Mercè in her kitchen and she opened our minds to some wonderful combinations which we would have never thought of! I was also able to try some foods which I had never tried before, such as grilled octopus and courgette fritters in a batter of rice flour and sparking water. As well as modifying dishes to accommodate our allergies, she kindly made her renowned peer and duck dish for us to try, photos don't do her justice.


On the third night, Mercè casually suggested that we should come with her the next day toa Tomato Tasting Evening with all the (FAMOUS) restaurateurs of the area. It was a annual event where each of the chefs presented a disk that they had made using a variety of tomatoes. We readily accepted this invitation and were very honoured and many other "foodie" guests had wanted to attend.
That evening, Mercè drove my parents and me down to the Vinomic restaurant where the presentation was going to take place. In some ways, I regret not taking more photos as I didn't want to show that I was a tourist (more that I already did, of course). We were shown to our allocated seats and given small booklets about a number of different tomatoes that we were about to taste, along with a scoring sheet where we had to rate their flavours, textures, acidities, etc.



Each chef gave an introduction before presenting the judges (eek, I was one of those!) their new dish. Their concoctions contained tomatoes (nah, you don't say) in a different form. We were given all sorts of combinations to try out, from bloody mary's to tomato coolies. The event lasted for a couple of hours and I managed to speak to several chefs and other judges about the dishes and how they were made. It was also very interesting to note that these people primarily considered themselves Catalan rather than Spanish, and made a point of correcting me each time I called something of theirs "Spanish". The evening came to an end around 10pm and we returned to our chambre d'hote.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time learning about cooking and having been given the opportunity to attend a local tasting event. Again, a big thank you to Mercè for the incredible memoires and such an inspiring adventure.