There are business lunches, power lunches, liquid lunches and Ladies who Lunch, but none of them compare to the six-hour lunch I just had in Spain. El Celler De Can Roca, recently featured on the Netflix show, Chef’s Table Pastry, was the location of this lunch. My husband, sister and her new fiance were the attendees. What does one do at a six-hour lunch? You eat 10 appetizers before the “official” appetizers even begin. You drink two bottles of Cava prior to diving into your actual wine. You go to the loo four times. And most of all you enjoy a touching and nostalgic journey through the minds and experiences of the three chef-brothers who run the restaurant.
So save your airline miles, I’ll take you on the six-minute tour of El Celler De Can Roca.
Stop #1: El Celler De Can Roca’s Most Instagrammed Offering --The World
Jicama taco from Mexico, Chili Crab from Singapore, Giza Pyramid (my favorite as it was composed entirely of the smoothest hummus held together by magic) from Egypt, Lamb from Turkey, and Causa Limena from Peru
Stop #2: Memories of a Bar in the Suburbs of Girona
Squids, Kidneys with Sherry, Gentian and Orange bonbon (watch out for that liquor-filled center), Montse’s Meat Cannelloni, Cod Brandade all set in a paper diorama of their parent’s restaurant.
Stop #3: The Olive Tree
Green Olive Ice Cream and Black Olive Tempura secured to the tree by tiny silver hooks.
Stop #4: Pork Rind
Pork Rind with Prawn (so fresh and sweet it must have been swimming in the sea that morning) and Grapefruit
Stop #5: Pastrami
Veal Pastrami with Puree of Celeriac and Pickled Vegetables. What you can’t quite see is the incredibly dark pool of demi-glace next to the pastrami. Veal pastrami is great and all, but it was really just a vehicle for that divine liquid meat essence.
Stop #6: Dessert
Chocolate, Blackberry, Jelly, White Flower (the White Flower Pearl holds a secret inside, but I’m not going to spoil it!)
Here at The Chopping Block, we use food to tell the stories that are important to us. Stories about family, favorite places, adventures and experiences are memorialized in our recipes and our classes just as they are in the recipes of three Michelin-starred chefs! Create some Spanish stories of your own with our Spanish Tapas Class, Tapas on the Grill, A Night in Spain, and The Winelands of Spain.
