I have been wanting to take a professional, real-life (as opposed to fake) cooking class for a while and I am so excited to say that I went to my first one yesterday!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this kitchen in the back of the Triana market that offered cooking classes. Turns out, the company, Taller Andaluz de Cocina, had only started two months ago! The space is small but so beautiful with great light and equipment (not to mention, squeaky clean!). The co-owner is in food marketing and the other co-owner helps with daily tasks/sou chef responsibilities. The chef is from Madrid and has worked in a Michelin Star rated restaurant/other cities in Europe. The three of them were so cool and relaxed. I had to sign up for a class.

It ended up just being me and a young French couple on a Saturday afternoon. I totally lucked out... the smaller, the better! We made a very traditional meal: gazpacho (a cold tomato/cucumber/pepper soup), huevos de la flamenca (vegetable medley with a poached egg on top) and paella (normally cooked with chicken and rabbit meat; we left out the latter).

Everything was fantastic. Gazpacho is much easier to make than I thought. I am so excited to put it together when I go back to school. To my future roomie, Madison: watch out. Huevos de la flamenca tasted more familiar than the other two only because I normally cook with those ingredients (tomatoes, peas, eggs, garlic). The paella was the best I've eaten so far. It wasn't too dry but just dry enough to be considered "traditional". The chicken was so tender and filled with a ton of flavor. I think the homemade chicken stock made a huge difference.

I also watched the chef dismantle an entire chicken. This, I have never seen before. I felt a bit squeamish each time I heard him break apart the bones but finally he looked at me and said, "you have to know where your food comes from!". I completely agreed and so I watched him rip apart the chicken, limb by limb. At least I knew for sure that it wouldn't get any fresher than that.

I spoke with the young owners for a bit and they have such innovative ideas for how to set themselves apart. Because they're located right beside a fresh market with local vendors, they have a lot of opportunities for fun, interactive classes. I won't say what their ideas are because I don't think that's allowed :/ but it got me thinking about what I want to do with my life. I'm still not quite sure but I like what they are doing and maybe I could do something like it one day.

That's it for now! Besos xo