Barcelona Cooking Class

While in Barcelona on my mom's and my "Eat" adventure, we took a cooking class to further learn about the local cuisine and be able to bring it home with us!

We signed up online for a class at Barcelona Cooking which promptly assured us everything would be good for special requests, i.e. gluten and dairy free.  Before arriving for our 6pm class, we spent a busy day in Barcelona seeing the sights.  The highlights were walking throughout town down Las Ramblas all the way to Barcelonetta Beach, where crowds were taking advantage of the sunny day.  From the beach, we took the cable car (or the swinging bucket as my mom called it) all the way across the harbor to Montjuic.  It was a beautiful view of the city! After more walking, we arrived back at the touristy Las Ramblas and decided we needed a snack before our evening of cooking.  We grabbed a couple of tapas and a large mug of sangria.

Kids playing with some big bubbles

                                     

Then, we turned the corner and arrived at our class! We got to know our group (a couple from New York) and our chef for the evening (a local girl from Barcelona with a family originally from Oregon I believe).  Our wine was poured and we were introduced to our dishes for the evening.

Starter 1: Crema de Calabaza (Butternut Squash and Pear Cream Soup)
Starter 2: Calcots con Salsa Romesco (Calcots with Romesco Sauce)
Main: Chicken Paella
Dessert 1: Crema Catalana (Catalan Cream)
Dessert 2: Wine-Poached Pears

Hungry?! Yep, me too.  Let's walk through it.

Our chef showed us what we would be chopping up and where it would go.  The New York couple got to work chopping all the ingredients for our Butternut Squash and Pear Cream Soup.  Those ingredients went into a pan with some homemade vegetable stock to cook a little before being blended and topped with a Gorgonzola cheese, candied hazelnuts, and decorative flowers.  Very cute!

Mom got to work preparing the Calcots.  They're a special, local type of onion that is long and looks a bit like a leek.  The outer layer was peeled, they were washed and topped with a little olive oil, then they went into the oven to roast.  Everyone helped with chopping up the ingredients for the romesco sauce made of tomatoes, onions, and peppers, which was quickly blended together.

The finished calcots.  Sorry mom, it was the only picture I had, and it does well demonstrate how messy they are to eat!

I was in charge of starting the Crema Catalana.  I separated the eggs, which I combined with sugar and cornstarch and whipped up.  That I combined with a milk that was warmed with cinnamon and lemon zest.  The mixture was put into little ramekins, cooled on the counter a little, and put into the fridge.  Then I also started the wine-poached pears, our extra special treat since mom couldn't do the Crema Catalana.  That was super simple.  I peeled and cut a pear which was put in a pot with a cinnamon stick and sugar, then covered with wine, and set to boil on the stove.

I look like I should have my own cooking show. Don't you think?

From there, our starters and desserts were mostly finished, so we all came together for the star of the evening: PAELLA. Yummm!  As it was a Monday, the local Boqueria Market's fish section was not open, so our chef showed us the chicken version rather than seafood version of paella.  It's all about taking locally-sourced, fresh ingredients.  All of our ingredients were prepared and put in order.  We started with browning our chicken pieces and then taking them away.  In the same pan (that's the key-always the same pan to keep all those delicious flavors), we caramelized our onion, added our tomatoes, garlic, and vegetables (peppers, peas, and asparagus tonight).  After the vegetables were ready, we pushed them to the sides of the pan to give our rice some room to be toasted.  Chicken stock was added a couple times, and eventually everything was mixed back together.  Our paella was left to rest for a couple minutes under a tea towel to finish its magic.

So everything was cooked and ready to go! Time to eat!
Our butternut squash concoction was quite tasty and smooth.
The calcots were messy as we picked them up whole to dangle into our mouths with a dip of sauce.
The paella was delightful with a variation of vegetables and that distinct paella/ saffron/ magic flavor.
I volunteered to get up and blast our creamy dessert with a flame for a delicious crunchy sugar topping, much like a creme brulee, but not quite the same.
And finally, the wine-poached pears were divine and easy enough to make that I can't wait to try them again!

Our night finished there, stuffed to the brimmed with delicious food, house wine, some new recipes in our arsenal, and magical memories.  It was a night of fun, learning, and discussion.  Definitely a highlight of our trip.

Our kitchen. P.S. Contact me if you'd like any of these recipes!