End of Summer Costa Brava and Barcelona Festival Tour. September 2015.

The Spanish Touch is offering a great chance to combine the end of summer with one of Barcelona's biggest festivals: The Diada, or Catalan National Day, which is celebrated every September 11 in commemoration of the fall of the city to the invading French army in 1714. As a regional holiday packed with folklore and over 300 years of history, the celebration offers visitors a unique glimpse into the complex character of the Catalan people and their culture.

Join us on this tour and you will discover some of the most beautiful aspects of this region, including the rocky Costa Brava, the Volcanic region of La Garrotxa and the wine region of the Penedes. We will help you have an unforgettable experience as you get in touch with the culture, people and traditions of the region.

Contact us for more information:

The Spanish Touch

1580 E. Butler Pike
Ambler, PA 19002

Toll free: 1-888-480-0013
E-mail: info@thespanishtouch.com

Spanish deserts for the San Juan Festival

San Juan Pastries.
On the left: coca de llardons.
On the right: coca de crema. 

On the 23rd Spain celebrates the San Juan night and during that night and the following day it is very traditional to eat those pastries. In Catalonia we have different type of 'coques', but today we want to share with you one of the most common in every house: 'coca de llardons'.  

You only need 20 minutes to make this pastry and it is the easiest one to make. 

Ingredients:

500 gr. puff pastry crust

250 gr. pork rinds

1 egg

Pine nuts

Sugar

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to about 425º F (220ºC). 
• Start with a thick layer of puff pastry pie crust like they sell in the supermarkets. Remove it from the fridge to bring it up to closer to room temperature. 
• chop up the pork rinds in the blender. How finely you chop the pork rinds is a question of personal taste.  
• Next pour out a healthy portion of the chopped pork rinds over the pie crust. Don't worry about whether or not it's evenly distributed, as later we are going to flatten it all with the rolling pin. 
• Now add a second layer of puff pastry crust and more pork rinds on top. 
• Fold the pastry crust and pork rinds in half. repeat as many times as necessary until you've got a good mix of puff pastry crust and pork rinds. Then using the rolling pin and a little bit of flour, roll the crust until it's about 2cm (about 1") thick. 
• Beat the egg and the paste the coca with the beaten egg. Don't be shy with the egg! 
• Add a generous portion of pine nuts on top. 
• And to add the finishing touch, pour a healthy measure of sugar on top of the coca (remember, up to this point the coca has no sweet flavors, and it is, after all, a dessert). So it's better to err on the side of too much rather than too little when it comes to adding the sugar, at least for the first few times. 
• Put the coca on the bottom rack of the oven at 425º for 3 minutes, then immediately drop the temperature to 350 and let it cook for 12 to 15 minutes more. 

Buen provecho!

Check out our food tours in Spain and our Cooking Classes!

The Spanish Touch

Toll free (US): 1-888-480-0013
Spanish office phone: (+34) 616-103-536

E-mail: info@thespanishtouch.com

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Simple and delicious: bread with garlic, tomato and olive oil (pà amb tomàquet)

This is super easy to prepare. It's perfect for one of those dinners where you don't feel like cooking or don't have enough time. Pà amb tomàquet (literally translated as bread with tomato) is a common dinner for many people in Catalunya, Spain. And they eat it with cheese, ham and other cold cuts or even a Spanish omelette (tortilla de patatas). 

Buy some good bread. 

We bught the traditional 'pà de pagès' 

(a rustic bread from Catalunya). 

Toast it!

Spread some garlic on it. 

Spread some tomato. We pureed some tomatos but

you can just spread the tomato on the bread. 

Now the olive oil. 

Add some salt and the bread is ready to be enjoyed!

Check out our food tours in Spain and our Cooking Classes!

The Spanish Touch

Toll free (US): 1-888-480-0013
Spanish office phone: (+34) 616-103-536

E-mail: info@thespanishtouch.com

Follow us on Facebook!

San Juan Festival 2015

Yesterday Spain celebrated the San Juan Festival, a fiesta where people welcome summer by eating fish and traditional pastries (next to the beach if possible), fireworks, bonfires, friends and music all night long!

We took some pictures you can see on our Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSpanishTouch

And Estrella Damm, one of the beer brands of Barcelona, made this cute video and we wanted to share it with you:

Rituals, màgia, llum, color, amics i Estrella. La nit més curta és també la més intensa. Viu-la #mediterràniament! https://t.co/Smdci0ERDI

— Estrella Damm Cat (@EstrellaDammCat) June 23, 2015