The Jornades Gastronmiques del Pallars Juss, Gastronomy Days, is an annual culinary festival
held during the autumn in the Pallars Juss region of Lleida province. The
menus combine traditional dishes often with a new slant or twist a very
typical feature of modern Catalan cooking as well as happily importing some
classics from other regions. The Jornades
have been going since 1993 and each year dishes and restaurants vary.
Furthermore, the timing varies as well having been held from mid-September to
well on into late November. The Jornades
are held each weekend for a four-week period. Each of the restaurants offers
their menus on the Saturday and Sunday of one weekend only. The five or six course
menus are all-inclusive and vary slightly in price. There is some sponsorship,
mainly the wines and coffee, which are in effect free. Although one well known
local charcuterie, Badia, has also sponsored the event over the past coupe of
years.
Weve been to several of the Jornades over the years. Here are a few of our favourite
dishes (NB Ive chopped and changed dishes from different years!):
El Salasse
is located in the historic village of Sals de Pallars. The restaurant is part
of a restored fonda, or inn, and offers local and imported specialities
with a difference:
Pasts
fred denciam de lhorta sobre fons descalivada i seitons (cold bake of garden salads served with anchovies
and escalivada; aubergine and peppers cooked and preserved in olive oil)
Salm
marinat amb salsa bernesa (marinated
salmon with Barnais sauce)
Filet
destru a la crema de gerds (ostrich
steak with raspberry cream sauce)
Pasts
Tatin de prssec (peach tart)
The Llac Negre
is a small business lunch restaurant in Tremp. Its fixed price men del di
is well above average in quality and value and, unusually, is also served in
the evenings and weekends:
Amanida
de pernil ibric amb gelat de rocafort
(salad of Iberian ham with ice cream made from Roquefort)
Bacalla
gratinat amb all i oli de pera
(gratin of salt cod with garlicky alioli sauce sweetened with pears)
Magret
danec amb salsa de ram (preserved
duck with grape sauce)
Pasta
de full amb salsa de crema i fruites del bosc (flaky pastry tart with cream and wild hedgerow fruits)
Casa Roca
at Sant Miguel de Barcedana provides very traditional farmhouse fare. The house
is a Casa de Pages, which roughly equates to a British farmhouse B&B. As
well a super-traditional dishes, often roasted in the bread oven, the cooking
uses home produced ingredients like walnut oil and honey, which are also on
sale as gifts:
Arrs
a la cassola amb conill (home style
baked rice with rabbit)
Truita
de riu amb picada davellanes (trout
with hazelnuts)
Cabrit
al forn de llenya (kid roasted in the
wood oven)
Postre
de music amb vi de nous (mixed nuts
and dried fruits accompanied by
sweet walnut wine)
LEra del Marxant in La Pobleta de Belvei specialises in Carns a la Brasa, i.e.
meats grilled over a wood fire. Barbecue isnt really the right word as the
food is then served in a formal restaurant. An era is the traditional stone
enclosure where livestock used to be kept and LEra del Marxant has been
tastefully converted. La Pobleta de Belvei is in the Val Fosca, an area which
specialises in rearing horses for meat, so naturally carn dequ is a
speciality, but theres plenty more to chose from:
Amanida
tbia de mongetes i orella acompanyada amb salsa vinegreta (warm haricot bean and oyster mushroom salad with a
vinaigrette dressing)
Conil
amb samfaina i cargols (rabbit baked
in a vegetable medley with snails)
Bacalla
fresc macerat amb a loli amb trinxat de verdures (fresh cod macerated in olive oil with vegetable
bubble and squeak)
Formatge
fresc amb codonyat (fresh curd cheese
with quince jelly)
LEramont
at Aramunt makes the most of its location close to the historic ruined town on
a hill adjacent to the modern village. The elegant upstairs dining room is
decorated with examples of local handicrafts and the restaurant specialises in
innovative uses of locally produced specialities:
Amanida
de cua de bou amb llangostina (ox
tail salad with prawns)
Farcellets
de salm marinat amb mousse daubergnies
(marinated salmon nests with aubergine mouse)
Magret
danect fresc, a la salsa doporto amb poma cramelitzada (fresh duck with a port wine sauce and caramelised
apples)
Pastis
de figues i castanyes (fig and
chestnut tart)
Hotel Val Fosca
at Los Molinos is an elegant modern building set high up in this remote valley.
It is very popular with visitors from Barcelona and has a cosmopolitan air, the
cooking is traditional, however, but of the very best quality:
Amanida
semicalantada descarola i arengada amb una vinagreta de ram moscatell (warm salted herring and escarole salad with a
vinaigrette based on sweet muscatel wine)
Canelons
crocantes de truita de riu i ametlles amb una salsa cremosa de tomata confitada (crunchy trout and almond cannelloni with a creamy
sauce based on preserved tomatoes)
Bacalla
amb morro i orella (salt cod with
morel and oyster mushrooms)
Pera
amb el seu almvar i coulis de xocolata i nata (pear in its own syrup and coulis with chocolate and
cream)
The Terradets
at Cellers is part of the Llac Negre hotel complex (NB. theres no connection
to the Llac Negre restaurant in Tremp) and ones gastronomic instinct would say
to ignore it. This is a mistake, however, as the family run hotel has evolved
over the past forty-odd years from a humble fonda to being the swanky-est place
for miles! As well as providing separate facilities for lavish wedding banquets
its Terradets restaurant, with stunning views directly over the lake of the
same name and to the north slopes of the Serra de Montsec beyond, offers
sophisticated cuisine for amazing value, given the near silver service
experience:
Amanida
tbia de formatge amb compote de tomquet
(warmed cheese salad with tomato compote)
Milfulles
de peu de porc i ceps
(mille-feuille of pigs trotters and wild cep mushrooms)
Filet
Ibric amb salsa de vinagre de gerds
(filet of Iberian pork with sauce based on raspberry vinegar)
Casa Lola
at Talarn deserves a very special mention. As well as serving Kings and
Presidents it is a great favourite with guests at Casa Rafela and has the distinction,
dubious perhaps, of being featured in the Rough Guide series. The most notable
visitor, however, is yours truly; I lived there for a couple of months whilst
Casa Rafela was en obras, back in the days when Casa Lola was still a humble
fonda I put on a couple of stone as one may imagine! The family are farmers
locally and lots of the home-made specialities used in the cooking such as
herbed dressings, sugared almonds, codonyat (a special quince jelly used in
sauces) and preserves such as tomato jam come from the farmstead, and are also
on sale as gifts. Although she speaks reasonable English, quite a rareity
hereabouts, Florita (Lola is her mum), a gifted cook and a wonderful host, is
always willing to haul mystified diners into the kitchen to explain a
particular dish!
Amanida
darengada amb tomata perfumada dalfbrega i nous (salt herring salad with basil flavoured tomato
preserve and walnuts)
Mitja
perdiu amb cols i bolets (partridge
stuffed with cabbage and wild mushrooms)
Trinxat
de bistec de vedella amb cargols farcit de foie (veal steak with snails stuffed with pat de foie trinxat is a Catalan version of bubble and
squeak!)
Crep
de mermelada de tomquet i amatlles torrades amb xocolata (crpes with tomato jam, toasted almonds and
chocolate)