The village of three hundred inhabitants where you can taste all the oils of Empordà

FountainIt is Saturday morning, and l’Abricoc (c. de l’1 d’Octubre, 6, Fonteta) has organized a tasting of Empordà oils with cheeses, liver pâté, and sweet sausage. The town is pleasant to look at: stone houses, the Romanesque church of Santa Maria, two restaurants that everyone in the town recommends (el Magatzem and el Saó) and a cheesemaker that I will also visit (and about which I will write) with renown throughout the country. The Abricoc display, made of wood and glass, shows a summary of what is inside: chocolates, oils, wines, Pallarès knives, uniquely designed linen bags. Even the constant cyclists who pass by look at it. If you walk by, calmly, you enter without thinking after observing the good taste with which the products are displayed.

Inside, Alba Plana has set up the central table, which is striking. She built it with wooden beams from her grandparents' house, joining them with wrought iron legs, so they would form a table with history. On top, there are three extra virgin olive oils, coca bread, seed bread, and also cheeses, liver pâté, and sausage. "50% of what I sell is from Empordà, the remaining 25% from the Girona regions, and the final percentage, Catalan product," she explains, detailing why she decided to open a shop dedicated to highlighting local food. "I used to promote our products worldwide, I worked for institutions, and a moment came when I asked myself if the people from our own country also knew what I was spreading around the world," she says. Alba assures that the question she asked herself was: "What am I doing here talking about Girona's food, when I could be doing it right here?" Her father is a farmer, her mother had the village grocery store, where she also sold what her father grew. She grew up there and also worked there as a child. She knew that her new life plan had a solid foundation. And she went ahead with it. It was 2019. "I started with tastings, which were led by the same producers who sold in the shop, and the activity would go on for hours," she recalls. Essential Empordà Packages

Then the pandemic arrived, and she had to create a website. "On March 28, 2020, fifteen days after we were confined, we already had the website ready, and we started selling products". The alliance with the actor Carles Xuriguera, who vinified his wines in the town of Fonteta, helped the website become known. Alba had always considered doing only tastings, but the pandemic led her to become a point of sale as well. And that's how it has come to this day, but with more additions: in addition to tastings at the shop itself in Fonteta, where she believed no one would go to do them, she also organizes, on weekends, evenings in the fields of Empordà; private events, for which she takes care of the catering and gift boxes, in which she packs the essence of Empordà among flowers: oil, wine, cheese, chocolate, jam.

And now we go to the tasting. He has prepared three extra virgin olive oils: Fontclara oil (arbequina), Pedrigolet oil (argudell) and Mas Fuertes oil (picual). He has chosen these three, but for sale, from Empordà, he has many more, such as Llàgrimes del Canigó. Each one made with different oil varieties: arbequina, argudell and picual. Arbequina, well-known, we recognize it quickly. Argudell is the surprise. Forceful, greedy, it is difficult to forget because it coats the mouth for minutes. We drink the extra virgin olive oil with the characteristic small blue glasses, which we have warmed with our hands so that the oil would express itself better in the mouth. Everyone at the tasting is unanimous: argudell has more personality than arbequina; argudell is silky in the mouth; argudell, on top of coca bread with a piece of liver pâté, is a celebration. And with sweet sausage, a success. And we test argudell even further. What would it be like to mix it with chocolate? L'Abricoc sells La Victorie chocolates, from Empordà, of course, with olive oil and also with flowers. Chocolate with flowers is an idea from the cook Iolanda Bustos, who collaborates with the brand, and who has shown that her floral passion combines with everything. After the cured meats and chocolates, it's time for cheeses. Alba Plana specializes in Catalan artisans. She prepares platters, tastings, and take-away packages, always aiming for the producer to shine. "The premise I work with is that I know the producer, because that way I can explain it, I can vouch for it, I have the certainty that what I'm selling is very good," she comments. And alongside the cheeses, the wines, always from the region. Initially, she sold wines from other designations of origin, but one day she thought she should reduce them, so she could focus more on the region, which is very productive viniculturally. So, the tasting ends with wine, which is the culmination of the tasting held at the shop that, from its name, is a declaration of principles: abricoc is what they call apricot in Empordà. apricot is what they call apricot in Empordà.