Category: Economía Local

In the Vall de Llémena (“Llémena Valley”), located in La Garrotxa, Pablo Garcia makes high-quality cheese from raw cows’ milk. He collaborates with livestock farmers who are near him to ensure the use of organic, freshly milked milk in his cheeses, and therefore, keep all its infinite good properties. The fact of working with raw milk gives the cheeses a more enhanced flavour, because it has bacterial flora from the environment where the cows are bred. And the most important thing is that the cows are calm, they let the farmers milk them, because animal welfare is basic and principal to get good cheeses.

For Pablo, making cheese has always been his passion. First, it was a hobby for him, and then finally it became his profession, and he has been fully committed to his business. Initially trained in his country, he was able to put into practice all his knowledge acquired at Torre Marimon in an intensive course, in Ardèche, and later in the Abondance valley, in France (in the French Alps). 

He is making three kinds of cheese at the moment: the Fermió, the Golany (both soft paste cheeses) and the Baldat (which is a mature cheese). The first cheese comes in a small format, with a mouldy rind and a lactic character, and it is presented in the shape of a plain cylinder with rounded corners. The rind, which is natural, is homogeneously covered with a white-ivory mould layer which is completely edible, and which also provides an important part of the cheese organoleptic richness. 

The Golany has a mixed rind (mouldy-clean) which is edible. Made with vegetable rennet, it is a square-shaped piece with a creamy texture which, as it matures, it can melt. It has a complex flavour between the aromatic strength of the rind and the elegant and balanced notes of the paste. 

And the Baldat, inspired by the large format maturing cheeses which are typical in the Alps, where they have plenty of milk. A Gruyere cheese made in big pieces of 12 or 20 kg which matures slowly in a drying room, and which is matured on a weekly basis with water saturated with salt. The rind is created with this erosion effect. The elastic paste gets brittle, and its colour may change depending on the feeding of the livestock. 

The cheese factory La Balda makes part of the traditional cheese producers that we can find in Catalonia, a market which is in full expansion. In his workroom they follow the cheese traditions from here and there, increasing the diversity of traditional cheeses made with raw milk. 

Thank you very much, Pablo, for receiving us and welcoming us so warmly.

In Priorat, olive growing has been present for many years, along with vine and nuts growing, which are the Mediterranean cultivations par excellence. Olive oil production has become one of the main cultivations, with a clear trend towards integrated and eco-friendly cultivation methods and systems.

Olive oil is considered to be the golden elixir, because of all its nutritional properties. It is the basis of the Mediterranean diet, and an authentic delicacy for our palate and our health. It contains mainly oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid which lowers bad cholesterol and raises good cholesterol levels in your body. Besides, it is rich in vitamins E and K; the first one is an antioxidant par excellence, and the second one, a natural protector of the brain neurons. Olive oil also contains carotenoids (precursors of vitamin A, and antioxidant too), phytosterols (structures similar to cholesterol which help to lower its content in blood) and polyphenols (with a great antioxidant capacity).

In Mas Martinet, we have always used olive oil, basically for family consumption. But, for four years now, we have bottled some olive oil to invite our visits to try it. The main olive variety is the arbequina, which is the most common variety in the region too, and which also produces an oil which is really appreciated for its excellent organoleptic properties of a delicate, smooth, and slightly sweet aroma. Our olive trees live together with the vines, being taken care of and treated with minimal intervention, following the same philosophy which characterises us.

The olive harvest is carried out during the winter months, usually soon after finishing the grape harvest. In our case, it usually takes place in November. It is a manual harvest, as could not be otherwise. We carry the harvested olives, in boxes of approximately 12 kg. each one, to an oil mil in Bellmunt that works with small productions to ensure the highest quality and respect to the fruit that is being processed.

The olive oil that we manually bottle in the winery is an oil made from the juice which has been let to stand so that the remaining volatile microparticles of the olive settle to the bottom in the shape of dregs. In other words, it is an olive oil obtained exclusively through mechanical processes, from the first cold pressing (under 27º) on the same day of the harvest, so we keep all its properties. Then, we keep the oil in a tank which is always full, at a controlled temperature, to achieve a good decantation that removes to the greatest extent possible the impurities and the solid matter that it may contain. Olive oils produced this way have a more intense flavour, and they keep their nutritional properties intact. After letting the olive oil stand, we bottle it depending on the needs in order to ensure its quality.

You won’t find this olive oil in stores, but you can taste it during our wine tourism experience

Gemma Llorca lives in Poboleda, and she has replaced her father-in-law, Lluis Porqueres, in the adventure of baking bread. The business is physically located in Escaladei, where he worked, and she uses the same bakery and, most importantly, the same wood-fired oven.

From him, from Lluis, she has learnt the trade, and she has also inherited, besides the enthusiasm and excitement about baking bread in the way people used to bake it before, the sourdough starters that he used. Now, she shows them to us when she has just activated them, they will not be ready until the next day. First, she starts feeding them 24h before mixing them with water, flour, and salt: “This is the white bread sourdough starter and the wholemeal bread sourdough starter, all our breads come from here”, she shows them to us. It is what is known as the pre-ferment. When it is ready, it is time to mix. “The white bread sourdough starter must be about 10/15 years old, and the wholemeal bread sourdough starter, a baker that he visited gave it to him, and I think it must be over 300 years old”. We talk based on the fact that it has been kept active since then, because, over time, the sourdough starter is modified. The same sourdough starter, from one place to another, changes over time, and it can become a completely different sourdough starter, because environmental bacteria influence the sourdough starter and modify it. “That is why they are unique!” she tells us.

To make bread from these sourdough starters, besides flour, water, and salt, you need to add a bit of fresh yeast. It is a way of keeping the speed and give a boost to the process, because, otherwise, it would depend too much on the temperature and the environmental humidity.

Another treasure which Gemma uses is the flour. In this case, she trusts Can Mestre, an agricultural family business from Sta. Coloma de Queralt which has recovered ancient wheat varieties. They grow them in an environmentally friendly way, and they mill them in a stone mill to treat them in the best possible way and respect as much as possible all their properties and special flavours.

White and wholemeal bread made with spelt and kamut, only with kamut, multigrain bread with sunflower, pumpkin, and oats seeds; gluten-free buckwheat bread, which is not suitable for those with celiac disease because, as it is made in the same bakery, there may be cross-contamination. Olive bread, nuts and raisins bread, milk bread, hamburger buns and frankfurt rolls… The list increases as time goes by.

Usually, the first thing she does is build a fire to light the wood-fired oven and heat it at 300º. She spends two hours kneading the different breads, which is enough time for the oven temperature to drop at the ideal temperature to bake. She can bake 20 breads in a batch, and with a load of firewood she can bake two batches. When she finishes: she takes the ashes out, she sweeps, and she cleans. Then, she also must deliver the breads. “A long working day, but it is worth it” she tells us. Because, at the moment, she does not have a shop, she only works to order, but she is thinking of setting up a stall at the weekly market in Falset more or less in the immediate future.

Thank you, Gemma, for wanting to take over the business and keep working on this art of baking bread, and let us enjoy the taste of your bread, which is so authentic.

Young, spontaneous, natural, active, kind, and very hard-working, Elena, Mercè and Marina, 3 sisters who returned to the village, to Bellmunt del Priorat, and began to produce cheese. They chose a rural life over the city life, and far from regretting it, they are happier than ever. They open to us the door of the Formatgeria Linens (“Linens cheese Factory”), and they show us their workspace. It is one of the floors of the family house which they have turned into a shop, workroom, and ripening chamber, at the moment, because they have thousands of ideas!

The shop is cosy and welcoming. Behind the counter, there is the entrance to the workroom. Crowning the entrance, there is a sign which says: FORMATGERIA LINENS. It seems made of wood, with a retro style… but it turns out that it is made of cardboard, and it has been hand cut by them. In fact, they tell us, amused: “the letters were expected to be smaller, but we did not choose the right size, so we used it anyway and we put it here”. This says it all.

They tell us that they had just established the cooperative and signed a microcredit when the pandemic began. “Luckily, we had saved some money!!” they honestly add. Because all their savings enabled them to resist over a year… until they ran out of money, and they had to get their act together to open their business no matter how. They needed to recover themselves and continue with all the projects that they had in mind.

Close the circle by making cheese with their own milk would be one of them. Now, they have a herd of around 30 goats, which obviously isn’t enough to provide them with milk and ensure a regular production. But they take care of them with great love and dedication. They show us the pen, with excitement, and a bit proud of it. The goats are very docile (they don’t need a sheepdog to take them out to graze because they follow them wherever they go). They are gorgeous too! We stress them a bit with our visit, which means a change in their meals time, but they come close to us, they eat from our hands, they let us walk very close to them, they let us hold them, and they even let us milk them.

When we ask them where this idea of the goats came from, they tell us their story. An unfortunate excursion to the mountain range of La Mola de Colldejou (wrong path, 4 hours walking…) and an unusual discovery: a goat which had just given birth to a kid and was being attacked by a dog. A lot of blood, its trachea open, one of its ears hanging (a bit “gore” image), but they took it to the shepherd of the village, who thought it was more dead than alive, and she, Elena, didn’t want to believe him (at least, she thought that, if the goat was going to die, she preferred it “to die warm at home”, she tells us). So, after 9 months struggling between life and death, the goat survived, its name is Irati, and she is the queen of the pen. It is responsible for leading Elena to attend the Shepherds School of the Pyrenees (Escola de Pastors del Pirineu) and learn the trade. She asked herself: “what can we do with a goat? Meat or cheese… and we chose cheese. And, little by little, we have learnt how to make cheese, although we have carried out many tests and, little by little, still…”

She was the one who influenced the other two sisters, who quickly joined the project because they had always wanted to do something together. And here they are… taking care of the goats, making cheese, and learning every day.

At the moment, you can find them at the shop, in Bellmunt, and at the village market in Falset on Tuesdays too. Don’t forget to try their mató fresh cheese, their yogurt, or the Linens cheese (a semi-mature cheese). They also make pâtés, cheese with oil (formatge amb oli), and they let us try one of their latest products, a cheese with walnuts (formatge amb nous), which was delicious. They produce their own fermenting agents, and they are constantly trying new flavours and textures. They can’t stop, so, we want to encourage you to follow them closely on their Instagram account @formatgeria.linens

Thank you for opening the doors of your house, of the cheese factory, and specially for having shown us your goats.