Spanish cooking class in Barcelona
Spain is famous for its hot weather, beautiful beaches, unique architecture, rugged landscape, and of course it’s incredible food! Whilst tapas is probably the most commonly known cuisine there are dishes such as paella which are now served all over the world. But where better to sample this than in the country from where it originated! Of course sometimes it is not enough to simply have a delicious meal at a restaurant on holiday and then never have it again! You want to know how to cook such delights in your kitchen when you get home! And where better to be taught how to make such meals than in the country that spawned them?
Cooking classes in Barcelona are very popular and is a wonderful and enjoyable way to while away a few hours on your trip. The best of the bunch can be found at www.barcelonacooking.net Here they a few different classes. In the morning they host a tour of La Boqueria food market where you get the food followed by the cooking class nearby.
La Boqueria was the first of Barcelona’s local markets and was opened on Saint Joseph’s day, on the 19th of March 1840, after four years of work on the land that was up until then occupied by Saint Joseph’s convent. However, the history goes back a good few years before, because on the site on Rambla where the market is today, there were already peddlers selling meat in the thirteenth century!
Marquis Campo Sagrado, Catalonia’s general captain, started to establish the rules for this travelling market in an area that became a large square after the convent was gone. With time the Boqueria Market of Barcelona transformed itself in a modern market. It incorporated the gas illumination and the metal cover was finished in 1914. This metal cover as well as protecting food, sellers and buyers, gives character to the market. Nowadays, the third and fourth generation of sellers proudly show the oldest and most complete food market of Barcelona. They offer us vegetables, meat, fish and thousands of other products in stalls with great charm and imaginative presentation. Boqueria Market is a space full of life, history and unquestionable architectural value and is located right on La Rambla and just around the corner from the cooking school.
La Boqueria market tour and Spanish Cooking Class is themost popular class on offer and they run in the morning from 10am to 2pm. The tour starts with accompanying the chefs to the La Boqueria market. The chef’s will take you around the market introducing you to their favourite stall owners and purchasing food from them which you will cook later at the school. You will learn about locally grown products and participate in the selection of ingredients that will be used later in the cooking class. Upon returning to the kitchen, you will begin preparing the four course menu consisting of classic paella (on Mondays and Bank Holidays Chicken paella will be cooked), starter soup, appetizer and dessert, all of which you will of course have the pleasure of eating once you are done! All the classes are taught by professionally trained bilingual Spanish chefs. The classes are great fun, very social and hands-on. You will be participating in the preparation of the various dishes under the thoughtful guidance of the chefs. If you are not a very accomplished chef then don’t worry as the classes cater for all ages and skill levels. In the school they offer private label premium Rioja red and Galician white wines are served while you enjoy the meal you just prepared. For all you veggies out there the menus can be adapted to accommodate any food restriction you may have.
These classes run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am – 2pm and cost 78€ per person. Child prices are 39€ per person.
Every Wednesday morning the school offers a special class which is their newest addition. It includes La Boqueria market tour, followed by Wine and Tapas Pairing in the kitchen. If the wine you drink is as important to you as the food you eat, then this four-hour class is for you! As with the other classes when you go with the school to La Boqueria you will meet many vendors, some of whom have been there for generations, and learn about locally grown products. Upon returning to the kitchen, you will sample several of the best wines the Catalonia region has to offer, paired with our Spanish and Catalan creative and innovative tapas – which you will help prepare. It is surely a true wine and gastronomical feast and one not to be missed it tapas and vino is your thing!
The prices are the same as the normal classes, 78€ for adults and 39€ for children. These classes only run on Tuesday from 10am-2pm.
Classes also run here in the evenings from 6-9pm and are slightly cheaper at 65€ for an adult and 32.50€ for children. They are cheaper because you do not do La Boqueria tour before hand you simply go straight into the cooking at the school. On Fridays and Saturdays there is an optional addition on going to La Boqueria at 5pm before the class to partake in the tour if you want to.
If you want to save a little money then you can go to La Boqueria any day and have a look for yourself. It is a fantastic food market with a huge variety of stands. It is not only food that you take home and cook the are lots of stands where you can buy little nibbles to keep you going whilst doing.
So while you are in the city do take advantage of this specialised cooking school so when you get back to your home country you can wow your friends and family with your new found skills in the kitchen!