This weekend I was lucky enough to visit the mediaeval town of Montblanc, for the annual Catalan festival of Sant Jordi (St. George's day).
Yes, St. George is the patron saint of Catalunya, as well as England.
However, it is more celebrated here and the tradition is that men give women roses, and in return receive a book. A day where love and literacy are combined;
"a rose for love and a book forever".
Both Mònica and Ana, whom I teach English with at the secondary school IES Martí i Franques, were kind enough to take myself and some other students there for the day.
It was a great way to sample another aspect of Catalan culture, have a bite to eat and something to drink.
The town itself reminded me of York, a city in the north east of England, with the mediaeval stone city walls, old decrepit alleys and cobbled streets.
The main street (Carrer Major) and several of the plazas were lined with stalls selling different types of wines, cheeses, sausages and cakes, as well as roses and books.
The smells, sights and sounds were an assault of the senses!
I ended up buying some cheese from this stall, which I thought was absolutely amazing (in comparison to some blue cheese which I ate earlier from a different stall, which was far too salty for my liking).
It was a little expensive at €14.00 but, it was a large block, it tastes great and it's supporting local traders, so money well spent I think!
This old man cooking was one of my favourite photos of the day...
Toward noon and with the wine tasting session just around the corner, we decided to go and have something to eat.
We all chose to have a glass of vino tinto and a piece of coca de ceba, a thin based dough with a cheese and onion topping.
I wanted to try something else, and decided on escudella catalana.
Escudella catalana is a traditional soup normally made around the Christmas period, which consists of stock, vegetables, rice, chickpeas and a meatball.
After eating, we made our way through the busy streets down towards the wine and cava market at the Plaza dels Àngels, which was very busy (surprise, surprise).
The idea was to taste a few local wines or cavas from the region, then buy them if you liked them.
For €2.00 you had to buy a wine glass and holding pouch (complete with the Sant Jordi festival logo), then, a further €1.00-3.00 per glass after that.
I had two local red criança wines which were very nice, but, I didn't end up buying a bottle to take away with me!
If you're ever in the area for the next Sant Jordi celebrations, make sure you spare some time for a visit!
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