After 20 years in the specialty food business, Spain was my white whale. Ever since spending a few days in Barcelona 25 years ago, I knew I wanted to return to Spain to explore the food culture and visit some of our producers.
And so it was a lucky day when our friends at Rogers Collection emailed to invite Peter and I on a tour of three of their producers—one cheesemaker and two olive oil makers. Look, I’m not going to sugar coat this, we have the best work travel assignments here at France 44. Vineyards, farms, dairies, olive groves, cheese festivals and so on. Sometimes I pinch myself.
Do you want to come to my house and view my slideshow? That might bore you to tears or send you spiraling into a jealous rage. In lieu of that, here are the highlights, in listicle format, so that we keep this snappy.
1. Top of the list is eating the most incredible paella (prepared by a 91 year old of course) in the garden of producer of Blevis de Navas olive oil. To say the view was spectacular is underselling it a little bit. The 360 view included a national park, a glimpse of Morocco, and of course the olive groves.
Lunch with a view
Look at those crustaceans!
2. A farmhouse stay at Finca Pasculeta was one of a kind. This 1000-year-old farmhouse in Extremadura is steeped in a history that our American brains can’t comprehend. Our affable host Juan Figueroa takes such incredible pride in his family’s history and in their remarkable cheesemaking accomplishments. If you haven’t checked out their retorta cheese you are missing out on one of the best cheeses in the world.
Sunset from a 1000 year old Spanish farmhouse
3. During our stroll through the sprawling olive groves of Marques de Valdueza our host insisted that we climb up the transmission towers for the power lines. From there we were able to take in the full breadth of the Extremadura countryside. Don’t sleep on the heather honey that they produce in addition to their olive oil. It’s one of the most delicious honeys we stock in the shop.
Peter climbing up for the view
After our producer trip Peter and I spent a day together at the Salon Gourmet food show in Madrid. Did we need to try to 20 different kinds of jamon iberico? It’s a tough job but someone had to do it. If you dream of tinned fish and piquillo peppers like I do then this is the food show for you.
Need more inspiration? Holler at us and we’ll be happy to talk your ear off.