Say Cheese Barcelona 2020

Covid will mark 2020. This disease, caused by a coronavirus that has made famous the entire "corona" family, has caused a worldwide headache. Everything has been affected, even public events that, even if they were held outdoors, must be subject to a whole series of restrictions, varying according to the impact of the disease.

That's why the people of Expogestió (experts in event management) put on the batteries and use all their creativity on their job, from which has produced "Say Cheese", a fair dedicated to the world of artisanal cheese, where there will be a lot of producers with carefully made cheeses, with all the senses.

There will be: 

Làctics Portella

Formatgeria del Miracle

Murgó Formatges

Formatge Bauma

Làctics Ubach

Formatges Montbrú

Formatges Sant Gil d’Albió

Peralada Mas Marcè

Formatges Muntanyola

Formatges Serra del Tormo

Formatgeria Mas Rovira

Tros de Sort

Formatges Riudavets

Formatges Camps

Formatges Reixagó

Formatgeria de Clua

Formatgeria La Frasera

Molí de Ger

Cal Quitèria – Formatges de Ponent

Formatges Montllobe

Formatgeria Roura Soler

Formatges Veciana

Mas Claperol

Mató d’Ullastrell

And must not be forgotten Cellers Maset and La Minera who will be in charge of the wines, cavas and beers that will accompany the cheeses.

All of them will be the exhibitors at the Estació del Nord in Barcelona, ​​on the weekend of 19th and 20th September, 2020.

And where is all the creativity? Well, from 15th to 19th September the fair will be running virtually: www.firesvirtuals.cat . So, if you are afraid of Covid, you can enjoy the fair without any problem. Even if you can't be in Barcelona on September 19th and 20th, it will be a good way to keep up to date on Catalan cheeses.

"El xef convidat": Romain Fornell

The strong "personality" of La Boqueria is clear this year, which celebrates its 180th anniversary. Not 175 or 200, no ... 180.

Among the different events that will serve to celebrate this peculiar aanniversary it is "El xef convidat", a space where renowned chefs go to the market for making a master class.

And the first was by Romain Fornell, a Michelin-starred chef (Caelis in Barcelona, ​​for example) who manages different culinary projects (such as the renaissance of Casa Leopoldo or Caelis's younger brothers at the Ohla Hotel).

His masterclass was a tribute to vegetables. All of the dishes he cooked spinned around vegetal elements. And with truffle perfume, as truffle was well present in every dish.
First, an onion soup homage to Paul Bocuse, as it was a version of the one that the culinary myth cooked for Valéry Giscard D'Estaign.

Then came an artichoke with a truffled white butter sauce. A marvel that absolutely respected the taste of the vegetable, not hidden by the fat of the butter.

The leek with green sauce that we ate later was delicious. Remembering the "calçots", because it was roasted, the leek had a soft texture and the sweetness was balanced by the sour point of the sauce.

Personally, the surprise came with the fake celery risotto. Fake risotto because there was no rice: the small cut celery was the base of the dish. Romain Fornell showed that it was possible to make a risotto (with a trick: to cut the vegetables before), in a short time, since the celery does not take as much as the rice for being cooked.

Mixing raw beets with cooked ones, he presented us with a very nice beet tartar. And, well, a way I can eat beets without much trouble.

Finally, the wonderful "llàgrima" peas of the Maresme took center stage, with a plate where they were lightly cooked in a vegetable stock and covered with a vegetable veil that gave it a special look.

As we finished the dishes, Romain Fornell defended the local products, the season products and the importance of the market as an agent to get good material.

Gastronomy is Commitment

On Saturday October 19th, , I post this at Instagram and Twitter:

Translation: I see many gastrobloggers and gastroinfluencers keep on doing at their profiles without conciousness of what happens outside. Plese, unfollow me. I will apreciate it very much. Gastronomy is commitment.

I felt outraged, yes, because of the way how gastrobloggers, gastroinfluencers... were facing the situation in Catalonia. Someone with serious shortcomings in reading competence might think that I asked for or demanded support for independence... But it was not true. I criticize the lack of positioning for serious situations we are experiencing. One is the problem of independence or not of Catalonia, but others have emerged as a sentence that penalizes any protest (the great perversion of the text condemned by Catalan political prisoners); the impunity of fascism (the comfort with which the concentrates at Pl. Artós moved trhough the city); the disproportionate actions of the police with demonstrators and journalists... Too many...

And in the gastronomic sector there has been an alarming silence. As far as chefs are concerned, must talk the colleagues, but for my part, I have to criticize the omission of people from the sector to which I belong.

Do not mix cuisine and politics? A mistake. Gastronomy is a commitment. And this implies having a political position. If you defend Slow Food, you are defending proximity, a specific landscape, specific flavors, an specific way to make everything... It is to defend the approach to a socio-economic model based on the human measure of it, where people matter: the producing projects are known, the prices must contemplate the work done, the food cycles must be taken into account ... This has an ideological burden that is very different from that of wanting to find a food regardless of its seasonality, wanting the piece as cheap as possible... Politics... Cristal clear! The predominant ideology will determine our reality.
And if reality demands critical voices, these must be there.
All those with whom I am critical do not stop being part of the social alienation gear: "Hey! Look that good food... See what a good place to go to have lunch... See what fair where go to buy... You see, this allows you to free yourself from problems, because with all this there is no space for problems. Do you see? I have a good time and my social networks so there is no enough space for problem". Those who show a reality of perpetual gastronomic hedonism do not let them see the misery of society in which their reality is contextualized. They are part of the system described in "A happy world" by Aldous Huxley.

Forgetting the political side of a social fact is a mistake, as it will prevent them from explaining gastronomic facts correctly. Is not it about communicating?
How can these communicators explain what is a co-ops? A co-ops!!! The political dimension is essential in this case, since it is a business figure that allows to realize an economic activity with a high degree of social sustainability. An expansion of the social economy (where the co-ops is placed) would allow a change in the economic-productive paradigm from one where labor exploitation and social inequality are generated to another where social sustainability (of people who is in the company and the environment where it develops its activity) and the distribution of wealth are present. Pure political positioning and hard.

The one who refuses the presence of politics in the social aspects of the person is contributing to leave the power in the wrong hands, because politicians do not have the power, but they are the momentary representatives of who has the true power: people. Now, it depends on us.

Gastronomy is a commitment. The memories and feelings associated with eating and drinking are related to someone who cared of us, with someone who loved us, with someone who made us happy... Not with someone who cheated us or made us believe we lived in an unreal world... Think about it.
Do not want to show your positioning because you do not want to lose followers? Are you afraid of losing some sponsor? Do you think people will stop inviting you at places? That's fine ... But do not count on me. Your trip is different from mine.

FESC 2019

Today, at 14:30, the VIII Fira d'Economia Solidària de Catalunya (FESC),organized by  Xarxa d'Economia Solidària (XES) has been completed..

It is a special occasion for those who believe that there is an alternative to the current economic-productive system, because there are a lot of exhibitors from different productive sectors that show the seriousness with which they work from an option that aims to promote a economy at the service of people, with human dimension.

You could get information on ethical banks, energy distributors, fabric sector... And, of course, food and drinks were present.

The luck of frequenting fairs like the FESC is that you end up knowing what there is and, immediately, you are already interested in novelties.

This year, I stopped, in a special way, at the table of  La Sobirana and Tres Cadires... Two co-ops that share work space and make some extraordinary liquors. This year, knowing that they would have "ratafia", I went with the idea to buy it. I did it, I left the FESC with a bottle of La Penjada ... But I doubted much, because I made a tasting of the four liquors they presented and... what products!

I am already a consumer of Vi de Nous by Tres Cadires, and I was about to take on their noveltie for this year: Nyons, a "pacharán" of blueberries so aromatic and amazingly fresh and aromatic.

But, because I had a fixed idea, I bought La Penjada, a delicious "ratafia" that is based on "tronjó", which was also present alongside the name of El Penjat. This "tronjó" is soft, delicate, with pure scents of orange, but without appearing to be a perfume, a sin that is usually present in this type of preparation...

All Those - September 2019

In recent years, the role of the All Those Food Market in the gastronomic events of Barcelona has been consolidated. September editions have become the beginning of the course of activities related to gastronomi in the city.

And the TNC is already linked to the All Those at seasons of good weather, hosting a very interesting group of food and drink artisans ...

... and embracing in their gardens offers to eat and drink at the moment.

From the interior, on this occasion, I would like to highlight the oils of Can Català, oils that remind us of how this product should be and its richness of nuances, attending to the different varieties of olive.

Regarding food, the cochinita pibil bikini from Cloudsteet Bakery (with the participation of Mònica Escudero in its creation), was a great proposal (with taste, marked flavors and no heavy at all), reminding us that traditional bread is a good option for sandwiches.