Back From Barcelona – The Paella Cooking Class

Believe it or not, I only have a few more posts from Spain, and then this wonderful trip will officially be on the books, and it will time to move on to the next chapter. But hold tight. I’m not done yet.

One of the things we did was take a cooking class, learning how to make seafood paella the traditional way. Of course I already know how to and make it quite often, but it is always fun to learn something new. 🙂

We met Chef Andrea at the Traveler’s Nest once again, Back From Barcelona – The Tapas Tour and he walked us over to the kitchens, where we got to play with our food. Once again, we had a fairly large group, mostly Americans, and Californians, but some really fun people from Holland too, who sat with us.

Chef Andrea was so much fun and so full of personality. I asked him if he needed a sous chef for the evening, and told him I am a chef as well. At first I don’t think he believed me, but once he found out that I really am a chef, he kept giving me things to cut up to put into the paella. It only took a minute or two for him to realize I was actually telling the truth. He knew as soon as I picked up the knife and started cutting the vegetables.

I accidentally left my good camera in the restaurant, so I apologize for the grainy pictures. Larry took them from his cell phone. I did get my camera back once we went back to the restaurant for dessert.

When we first got to the classroom kitchen, the first thing Chef Andrea taught us was how to make a “real” Spanish sangria. We were drinking these all night during our cooking lesson.

I love this picture of the bull fight.

Once the drinks were poured, Chef Andrea led us back to the kitchen area, where his “mis en place” was all set and ready for us to start cooking. Chef Andrea is explaining what we need to do and how to do it. These ladies were our new Dutch friends. We were taking it all in in.

Other than Chef Andrea, Larry and I, no one else knew I was a chef. One gentleman was funny. He was taking pictures of his girlfriend, who I guess was standing next to me, and said he was shocked at how fast I was cutting, especially compared to how slow she was. Surprise!!!! I actually know my way around quite well in ANY kitchen, anywhere around the world. 🙂

We started with the squid in the giant paellaria. That took about 20 minutes.

The collection of paellaria pans. As it turns out, one size does NOT fit all.

Next came all the vegetables and some spices, and lots of fun and laughs.

Everyone got a turn to play chef.

We let everything simmer for awhile, while we were cutting up the monkfish and of course, sampling more sangria.

We added the rice and the fish stock, and let it all cook again, for about another 20 or so minutes. More fun and more sangria while we waited. 🙂

Next came the shrimp that had already been cooked before adding it to the pan.

Once the paella was ready, it was time for pictures of the finished product before we all got to dig in and enjoy the fruits of the sea, and the fruits of our labors. 🙂

Time to eat!!!!! !Desfruitas!

It was such a fun evening, and we laughed so hard all night. We really enjoyed our new Dutch friends too. After the paella was eaten, we headed back to the Traveler’s Nest for either a dessert or more to drink. Larry and I both opted for dessert. We had enough libations for one evening. 🙂

Larry chose the Spanish cheesecake and I went for the chocolate tart.

We met up with our new friends again for one last picture for the memory book. Larry and his bevy of beauties.

Again, if you love to cook, and have fun meeting and playing well with others, I highly recommend this fun Spanish cooking adventure. We all had a great time, as well as delicious food.

Larry booked a lot of our tours before we left home, online. I couldn’t tell you what website he used, but if you are interested, just shoot me a line, and I will find out from Larry and will pass it on. 🙂

Again, quoting Wolfgang Puck, “Live, Love, Eat”! Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.