We’ll be making:

Ham Croquettes – North of Spain

Coca De Recapte (Flatbread with Roasted Peppers and Aubergine) – Valencia

Gazpacho – Andalucia

Aragon Style Roast Lamb

Salpicon (Seafood Salad) – Cantabria

There is . . . → Read More: Tour of Spain at Divertimenti 13th June]]> I am teaching a class at Divertimenti in Marleybone and I’ll be doing a tour of various regions of Spain.

We’ll be making:

Ham Croquettes – North of Spain

Coca De Recapte (Flatbread with Roasted Peppers and Aubergine) – Valencia

Gazpacho – Andalucia

Aragon Style Roast Lamb

Salpicon (Seafood Salad) – Cantabria

There is a maximum of 12 people in the class and you can buy a ticket here

If you are tired of internet dating and find singles events too formal or intimidating, then the relaxed atmosphere of a class where you make some good food, drink some good wine . . . → Read More: Singles Mixer Cooking Class 31st May]]> Catalan Cooking classes are all about good food, good wine and good company so what better place to have a singles night?

If you are tired of internet dating and find singles events too formal or intimidating, then the relaxed atmosphere of a class where you make some good food, drink some good wine and beer and have some good conversations is what you’re looking for.

There are 16 places 8 women and 8 men.

Menu:
Asparagus with vinagrette
Asparagus soup with a poached egg
Lamb chops with potato trinxat and pear allioli
Strawberries with orange oil and balsamic vinegar

Book Here

Paella, along with tortilla and sangria, is one of the best known and biggest clichés of Spanish gastronomy. It is also badly misunderstood, as any cursory check of google will show the various things that come under the name of paella in English.

This post by Borja Ventura is my translation from . . . → Read More: The Paella Taliban]]>

Paella, along with tortilla and sangria, is one of the best known and biggest clichés of Spanish gastronomy. It is also badly misunderstood, as any cursory check of google will show the various things that come under the name of paella in English.

This post by Borja Ventura is my translation from his post in Spanish He’s a Valencian, who lives in Madrid, and writes for the Yorokubo site and magazine.

Paella Taliban

Today is Sunday and it’s paella day. This is not an advertising slogan, it just is if you are Valencian. Yes my friends,  paella is eaten on Sundays. It’s one of the ten rules of paella. They exist. They are these then, no more and no less. I say this as a Valencian.  We Valencians are very inflexible when it comes to paella so I am going to make use of this space to clear up some confusion that you, Castilians, tend to have.

I’ve not become crazy or completely radical. Let’s just say that paella is one of the few things that will bring out the nationalist fervour that runs through  Valencian veins. It even happens to me, and I’m not normally a nationalist at all.  Please don’t get offended by the term ‘Castilian’ – in small villages in Valencia it’s used to call everyone Spanish who isn’t Valencian. Is it not in any way derogatory, it’s just a definition.

Our problem with paella goes beyond the so called paella valenciana because with paella we Valencians have an enemy within. In each of the 34 counties of Valencia we all cook differently and all call it paella.  Even worse, outside of Valencia, they also call paella any dish that has rice in it and is sold to the poor tourist by soulless restaurateurs.

No my friends, paella is unique. Totally unique. Here are 10 rules to help us understand what is paella and what isn’t.

1. Paella is made on Sundays. In exceptional circumstances, when the family meeting or meal with friends can only be arranged then, Saturdays are allowed. And it’s eaten during the day, for lunch. It’s only acceptable to eat it at night if your skin is red like a tomato and you wear shorts and sandals with socks, even in winter.

2. Paella was historically made by men who, on finishing their work in the fields, killed a chicken and a rabbit, brought vegetables from the fields, chopped some orange tree branches and ate the meal as a leisurely lunch. Nowadays it’s made by both women and men, but paella is one of those dishes that even in the most conservative of villages, is made more by men.

3. As a seasoning you use saffron, sweet Spanish paprika and nyora pepper, rosemary and of course rice, preferably the bomba variety (Tranlsators note: use Bomba, Calasparra, Bahia or even so called paella rice. NEVER EVER use canaroli or rissotti rice – it has the wrong type of starch and won’t work).

4. Paella is so called because of the recipient it’s cooked in. Surprisingly it’s called a paella. Not a ‘paellera,’ ‘frying pan’ or ‘pot’ or any other name. Confusing the name means you deserve to be treated with a touch of contempt.

5. Paella is made with rabbit and chicken; not pork, ribs or any other meat. Making it with these things means you deserve a touch more contempt.

6. I insist, paella is made with rabbit and chicken and the meat is never mixed with shellfish. Never, ever.  Making this means that you deserve some digestions problems and quite a lot of (culinary) contempt.

7. To make a paella you use olive oil, garlic, tomato, string (or French) beans and baby broad beans. That’s all the vegetables. Using cauliflower, artichokes, onions or any other vegetable can be fantastic to make something else. It’s not paella.

8. Paella is made in a paella pan, preferably cooked on charcoal made from orange tree branches, or failing that a gas flame. You don’t boil, fry or roast paella. It NEVER goes in the oven. Not following this means you deserve a great deal of contempt.

9. There are other acceptable ingredients such as snails. In other areas basic ingredients vary from meatballs to peppers but they are not paella. There is also black rice (cooked with squid ink) Senyoret Rice (with fish and peeled shellfish) Banda rice (made with fish stock with fish served separately) and various paellas with artichokes, cod and other delicacies.  They are fantastic, I promise you, but they are not paella valenciana. They are something else.

10. It is possible that at some point in your existence you have the bad luck to see paella with asparagus, peas or even hard boiled eggs. Sometimes all three. It may be that the taste of the rice is acceptable, possibly even good. But repeat after me, that is not paella, it’s something else. It’s what I call ‘rice with bits’ which I think is a clear and concise description.

Now you must be thinking I’m crazy. But speak to any true Valencian and you will see that even the quietest of us has an inner Paella Taliban once you scratch the surface. I’m sure you’ve seen the really quiet one you know with a big jerry can of water in his or her car to use for paella as “the rice just doesn’t taste the same using the water from Madrid.”  It might be the lime, I don’t know, but your friend is right. It’s just that we are like Talibans when it comes to paella but only about paella, nothing else.

To end, here are two videos that I am sure you will love. One of them is courtesy of a friend, also from Valencia, who has set up a Paella Club in Madrid to find the best paella in the capital. He too is a Paella Taliban – well he’s Valencian.

It’s a big deal in Tossa de Mar, they even . . . → Read More: Asparagus, Iberico and Tossa de Mar fish Tues 8th May]]> The May class at Catalan cooking will be a post pig day celebration of iberico pork, seasonal asparagus, and a traditional recipe from Tossa de Mar which I learned from a 75 year old lady doing the recipe on Catalan Television, Cim i Tomba.

It’s a big deal in Tossa de Mar, they even have an annual Cim i Tomba festival that various restaurants in the town participate in.

We will make:

asparagus with romesco

cim i tomba (fish stew with potatoes and allioli from Tossa de Mar)

Iberico ham croquetas

Iberico pork presa cooked with amontillado sherry

nectarine sabayona

Catalans don’t produce iberico pork – they don’t have a dehasa where ibericos feed – but they do eat more iberico products than anyone else in the rest of Spain. Amontillado sherry is from Andalucia but is the closest thing to the type of vi ranci I could use that is widely available here in the UK.

We will end the class with a nectarine sabayona.

The cooking class is limited to a maximum of 8 students and is a real hands on class where you learn by doing (it has been called the stealth approach to learning ) enabling you to make the food you have learned with confidence and ease for family and friends.

The cost is £65 inclusive of wine, containers to take any leftovers home, all the recipes and aprons. Get your ticket here

For any more info please contact info@catalancooking.co.uk

The class will take advantage of the arrival . . . → Read More: Spring at Catalan Cooking Weds 18th April]]> The biggest PR cliche for any press release is that Spring had sprung so let;s just say it will be bouncing around, sprouting out the ground, raining on us (hopefully before there’s a drought in SE England) and making us all smile more on the Tube.

The class will take advantage of the arrival of Spring and we are going to  make:

El hort de Joan Roca.

Joan Roca is the head chef of Cellar de Can Roca, which , according to the 50 Best Restaurants, is the 2nd best restaurant in the world. His  hort or vegetable patch, is a crudite dish with salmorejo and steamed vegetables. He made this specially for a Catalan television programme designed for the domestic cook.

We will also make romesco and three types of allioli as an alternative to salmorejo.

Mondaguilles de porc iberic amb sepia y pesols

Iberico pork meatballs with cuttlefish and peas

bunyols de baccalla

cod doughnuts

Gaspatxo de remolacha

Beetroot gazpacho

coca de fruita amb gelat de safrà

Fruit coca with saffron ice-cream

The cooking class is limited to a maximum of 8 students and is a real hands on class where you learn by doing (it has been called the stealth approach to learning ) enabling you to make the food you have learned with confidence and ease for family and friends.

The cost is £65 inclusive of wine, containers to take any leftovers home, all the recipes and aprons. Get your ticket here

For any more info please contact info@catalancooking.co.uk

You’ll be eating calçots from Jordi Blanch’s farm

The calçots are roasted on a fire

Photo by Andrew Crowley

You peel the calçot like this

Photo by Andrew Crowley

Then you dip them in romesco and eat them like this

Squid is one of the most sustainable seafood around and woefully neglected by domestic cooks. We seem to think we have to go to a fancy restaurant to eat it as it is too complicated for home. This class has been designed to prove you wrong. We will make: Squid donughts Calamars a . . . → Read More: Sustainable Squid Weds 7th March]]>

Squid is one of the most sustainable seafood around and woefully neglected by domestic cooks. We seem to think we have to go to a fancy restaurant to eat it as it is too complicated for home.
This class has been designed to prove you wrong. We will make:
Squid donughts
Calamars a la romana with Joan Roca’s recipe
Squid stuffed with haggis (my contribution to fusion cooking)
Squid stuffed with onions
Fiduea with squid sofregit
Black rice (cooked with squid ink)
If anyone has any dietry requirements – no meat, no wheat etc we can adjust what they do but if you don’t like squid, this may not be the class for you.

The cooking class is limited to a maximum of 8 students and is a real hands on class where you learn by doing (it has been called the stealth approach to learning ) enabling you to make the food you have learned with confidence and ease for family and friends.

The cost is £65 inclusive of wine, containers to take any leftovers home, all the recipes and aprons. Book here.

For any more info please contact info@catalancooking.co.uk

*Please note that this class is at Arch 76 Druid Street*

Until recently raw iberico pork hasn’t been widely available in the UK but DeRaza, now exports directly from . . . → Read More: DeRaza Iberico Pig Day Sunday 25th March]]> Join Catalan Cooking for a day of DeRaza Iberico Pig. The black iberico pig is the reason that Spain makes the best ham in the world and is quite simply the best pork possible to eat.

Until recently raw iberico pork hasn’t been widely available in the UK but DeRaza, now exports directly from Guijelo so we can all enjoy their products.

We will start the day with coffee, tea, pork belly rolls and a (brief) explanation from me about iberico pork and the day’s events.

Chef Franz Schinagl will then give us a butchery demo and a chance for you to cut your own pork up yourself.

Ben Mulock, sous chef at the Opera Tavern, will then show you how to make your own iberico hamburger as well as iberico pork tartare. He will also cook the same cuts of iberico and white pork so you can taste the difference between the two meats.

After lunch we will split into groups and make morcilla, sobrasada, chorizo and head cheese.

We’ll then make some other dishes together such as pig trotters paella, iberico pork cheeks in chocolate and eat them altogether accompanied by some matching Spanish wine.

You can take home any leftovers and the morcilla. We will send you the chorizo and the sobrasada once it has cured.

The cost for the entire day is £85 and you can get your ticket here.

It starts at 10.30 am and will be held at Arch 76, Druid Street, SE1

Please wear comfortable clothing and shoes and tie your hair back if it is long.