Since we want to age well, we have assumed by osmosis that we must take supplements: magnesium in the morning, creatine and vitamin D in the afternoon, and melatonin at night to sleep better. And we take them because we have heard that they are good for aging healthily. Maybe our friends have told us, or we have read it on social media, but what we have forgotten is that if you eat healthily, which means vegetables and fruits, legumes, fish, meat, and nuts, you don't need any of them at all. "We know that 75% of the country's population has taken one during the last year," says the dietitian-nutritionist at the Alícia Foundation, Alba Coll, who gave a lecture at Món Sant Benet, organized by the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition. The figure is significant: 75%. It is clear, then, that supplementation is the latest trend in food, promoted and bombarded by a thousand and one channels that impact the population over fifty years old. And why is all this happening? Because the population aged 60 and over represents 15% of the global population, and therefore, 27% of global spending. The industry knows that this sector of the population represents a silver economy, as it is popularly called. And it will be even more so, because in 2050, the population over 60 will be even more numerous, according to data from the World Economic Forum.

Freixenet will sponsor this year's TV3 New Year's Eve broadcast. This has been learned by ARA from sources in the wine sector and confirmed by the director of the public television station, Sigfrid Gras, who explained that the decision has been approved by the board of directors for days. Since the Catalan company Estrella Damm was the sponsor last December 31st, sparkling wine producers had shown their discontent because such a special toast was made with beer and, moreover, with the presenters, Miki Núñez and Laura Escanes, drinking directly from the bottle and not from a glass. Following the controversy that arose the very next day after the broadcast, TV3 made it known that it had been an exceptional case because Estrella Damm had turned 150 years old and, therefore, cava had been sidelined. The Catalan brewery, for its part, declared that the New Year's Eve toast was exciting for them in a year like 2026 and that they considered it the first of many commemorative events throughout the year. All of this led TV3 to insist that toasting with beer had been an exception and that it was committed to continuing to show glasses full of bubbles.

It is midday, three o'clock, when Raimon Braun (Arenys de Mar, 1968) and Marta Aulestia (Barcelona, 1972) sit down at the kitchen table of Hispània for lunch. I join them, and between the two of them they decide on the menu: to drink, Jean Leon's Gigi; for lunch, fritters, Russian salad, brains salad; Arenys prawns with salt; jig-caught squid; sea bass, and for dessert, small caramel custard and sponge cake cubes. Raimon and Marta are happier than ever: for a little over a year they have had a passionate partner for Hispània, with whom they have allied to undertake new projects: before the end of the year they will start serving fork breakfasts; they will build an outdoor terrace; they will host evening gatherings and will create rooms above the restaurant to recover the essence of the restaurant, the inn. And all this has come to them at a time when they knew they had no successor because their two children had told them they did not want to dedicate themselves to it: "We saw that we had no one behind us, that we were alone." So they emphasize it clearly: "Hispània is not for sale; we have joined forces with a passionate partner and we will make many more dishes."

I interview Jordi Pascual at the headquarters of Torclum, his olive oil production mill, during a break in the olive harvest, which began days ago. The first oil, the filtered green one, is already bottled and ready for sale. It is a bottle that is green on the outside and inside, half a liter, which they sell for twenty euros. They will be able to save this year's olive harvest because of the rains that fell in the area at the end of August, but there are other regions, also dryland, that have suffered more. We talk about prices, the harvest, and above all about the oil that enters the Spanish state from other places, especially from Turkey and Tunisia, and which, according to Jordi Pascual, is sold without indicating that it is made outside the European Union.

One in three food items ends up in the trash. The figure is staggering, and it should make us think about what we buy, how much we buy, and how we cook it. Chef Ada Parellada explains that she has seen a person throwing dry bread into the trash and, immediately after, buying a package of breadcrumbs (or cracker meal, as we can correctly call it both ways). “It is neither ethical nor moral, because bread should not be thrown away,” she says, adding that she entered the fight against food waste out of indignation and anger at seeing acts like the one we have just recounted.

Ernestina Torelló (Barcelona, 83 years old), co-owner together with her children of the Torelló winery (Corpinnat), has just written a page of history: the Cercle del Liceu, the social club located wall-to-wall with the Liceu de Barcelona and inaugurated in 1847, has chosen her as its first female president. New times for an institution that is changing little by little: the black and white balls, the ones that were drawn to accept new members, like those in the film La bola negra by directors The Javis, are still stored in one of the lounges. They are no longer used; now, to get in, four members must vouch for you and you must pay an annual fee of one thousand three hundred euros.

The Can Cabrisas pastry shop in Cadaqués will close forever on October 31st. “We didn't want to tell anyone, but Helena Garcia Melero found out and published the photo with me on her Instagram account, and it has already spread,” explained Mercè Cabrissas. Her tone is one of melancholy, not sadness, because she is looking forward to retiring. The reason they are closing is because they want to retire, to rest. Behind them remain five cousins, three children from Mercè's side, and two from her brother's side, who are the ones who could continue in the future. “The recipe for the taps de Cadaqués is well kept in the family, and it will not be lost,” says Mercè.

The confrontation between chefs Santi Santamaria and Ferran Adrià has been one of the narrative threads of the series Gènesi, which TV3 finished broadcasting on Monday, October 5th. “I have received many calls and questions from people who wanted to stir up trouble about what happened, but I consider it all closed, and I have told everyone that it is fiction,” states Pau Santamaria, son of Santi Santamaria. He considers it finished, as does chef Ferran Adrià, who at the public premiere of the series thanked Pau Santamaria and his family for being there. For this reason, “after watching Gènesi, I feel like having an escudella and some wine with Ferran to talk about it all.”

White varieties are the most widespread in cultivation. It is an arduous task to distinguish them from one another, but if we have managed to identify them with olives, why not with grapes. The more knowledge, the more appreciation for one of the most traditional fruits of our country.

I interview the farmer Jaume Torras (Sant Climent de Llobregat, 1974) one afternoon to talk about his company, Soulblim,, which is a spin-off of the stall his parents had at the Barceloneta market, where they sold vegetables. Everything started in 2007, when Jaume opened a website called L’Hortet del Baix to help his parents sell the vegetables they grew. For one hundred years in a row, someone from his family had always been at the Barceloneta market, but that year improvement works began, and his parents could not afford the cost, which was three hundred thousand euros. In 2004, they closed the stall. Jaume worked in software sales, he was a salesperson, and he helped his parents with L'Hortet del Baix. Nineteen years ago, the fact of selling vegetables through a website was exotic and strange, but it worked for him. He started getting visits from all over the country and the world. Later, something happened to him that helped him reach today, where he sells local, organic fruit and vegetables throughout the country. His fields, dedicated to organic farming, are in Sant Boi, Gavà, Viladecans, and Sant Climent de Llobregat.

The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) changes its name depending on how we cook it. If it is fresh, and we flour and fry it at home, it will be a 'seitó'. There are fishermen who claim that there is no need to even flour it, just fry it directly with extra virgin olive oil and that is enough. When eating it, use your hands, because that crunch of the fish is good to eat without the use of a fork and knife. If we salt it, so that it is preserved for a long time, the 'seitó' transforms into an anchovy. There are fishermen who claim that there is no need to even flour it, fried directly with extra virgin olive oil and that is enough. When eating it, use your hands, because that crunch of the fish is good to eat without the use of a fork and knife. If we salt it, so that it is preserved for a long time, the 'seitó' transforms into an anchovy. One of the most prized recipes is that of Cadaqués, like that of the chef Albert Raurich, who explains it and details the differences with respect to what the author Josep Pla left written. And if we were now clear that there are two names for the same fish depending on how we prepare it, in Llançà, chef Lluís Fernández cooks one of the most desired fish stews, the anchovy one. He cooks it just as the fishermen of Llançà used to do: without potatoes, with cloves of garlic. It is a stew with fresh fish, but in Llançà they call it an anchovy. So the theory that the 'seitó' and the anchovy are different depending on whether it is fresh or salted disappears in Llançà, because when it is fresh, they already call it anchovy. And when it is salted, too.

I am interviewing the owner of the Vinyes Domènech winery (DO Montsant), Joan Ignasi Domènech (el Masnou, 1951), on a harvest day in the early morning hours. In addition to being immersed in work, these are also the September days in which he has organized the first Garnatxa Week, which has led him to contact nearly two hundred restaurants and wine shops throughout the country so that customers who drink a glass of garnatxa wine can participate in a contest whose prize is to visit the winery, enjoy tastings, and take part in contemplative activities. It is an activity that the Domènech family has invented, and they want it to last every year around September 18th. The winery produces a volume of 70,000 to 110,000 bottles depending on the vintage, and they export 20% to 30% of them to about fourteen countries. In 2024, Vinyes Domènech celebrated the twenty years of its first wine.

Pastry chef Matthieu Atzenhoffer, from the Morreig bakery in Barcelona, at 25 Verdi Street, is euphoric: he has just been crowned winner of the award for the best croissant in the country, organized by the Barcelona Pastry Guild. "I didn't expect it at all," he confesses.

“We are very happy”. This is how the married couple Fèlix Massana and Cristina Castillo, from the Fèlix Massana Ràfols winery, expressed themselves to explain what it means for them to be part of the collective brand Corpinnat. They began producing sparkling wines sixteen years ago, using vines and wines made at their own winery, located in Sant Pau d’Ordal, to which they have given long aging periods. The winery had been part of Covides, the Penedès wine cooperative, which includes the DO Cava and the DO Penedès, but left in 2012, when Fèlix Massana Ràfols opted for organic production. Now they have taken another step and have left the DO Cava to join Corpinnat, which brings together a total of 24 wineries and a total volume of six million bottles. “We do not want to be gardeners who look after the environment nor civil servants, but rather we want to live from our work, from making sparkling wines and wines”, affirms Fèlix Massana, who also says that this summer the grapes he sold as a winegrower to wineries that belong to the DO Cava have been “well below the cost price”.

Arrop exists. It is the literary offering that the shepherds propose to bring to the newborn Baby Jesus along with fresh bread, cheese, honey, and cottage cheese. When the writer Josep Maria Folch i Torres wrote the play Els Pastorets he must have turned to the most precious and beloved foods, among which was arrop. Today it is still a good food, and we can prepare it at home, right now, with the fruits that still linger from the summer.

The best red wine is made with the Syrah variety in the Costers del Segre DO: it is the Tros del Tossal 2023, made by the Cérvoles winery, which has just won the Grand Gold award for Aged Reds, granted by the Vinari Awards, which were held in Vilafranca del Penedès. The best aged white wine is the Coca i Fitó d'Or 2024, from the Coca i Fitó winery, in the Terra Alta DO. Meanwhile, a sparkling wine made in the Penedès twenty-one years ago, the Guilera Centenari 2005, from the Cava Guilera winery (DO Cava), has taken the Grand Gold for long-aged white sparkling wines. The Guilera winery has a long history in the Penedès, and the father, Pere Guilera, was one of the promoters of the Sant Pau d'Ordal peach market, which is well-rooted in the territory.

Olive harvest forecasts are optimistic. It is expected that this year one million six hundred thousand tons of olives could be harvested, three hundred thousand more than last year. The abundant rains in the months of January and February have been good for the tree's flowering, which could still be loaded with more fruit if it rains this autumn. This point is precisely very important: it must rain in October. "We are now in the key time of the year, because the olive tree needs moisture in the ground; if it does not rain this month of October it will be difficult to reach the forecast we have made of one million six hundred thousand tons of olives", states producer Paco González, from one of the large production companies in Jaén, Aceites Guadalimar, the world's leading producer of olive oil, which sells to Catalan companies. This is also confirmed by Catalan producers such as Olis Macià, from Artesa de Segre, where they explain that this year the difference between dry land and irrigated land will be significant due to the lack of rain throughout the summer. "In the irrigated fields, on the other hand, we have many olives, very good production, and that is why we are forecasting a large and good quantity of oil", says Jordi Macià. For his part, the president of the DOP Siurana, Pere Albà, states that it is too early to make forecasts, but that in mid-October the mills will begin to be open to produce the first olive oil, the raw oil, which is always at a higher price than the rest.

I interview chef Francesc Rovira (Gombrèn, 1964) on the day that his Fonda Xesc hosts the conference organized by Field Lab by Radicea, of which Fonda Xesc is the partner and host. Radicea is a platform that works to ensure that cooking begins again from the land: it documents the producers, chefs, and landscapes of a territory and puts them to work together. The conference was attended by Thieu Besselink, who directs the Akademie van Plaats, a Dutch institute and network for regenerative development. And also Ar van Rossum, who founded The Brothel, a bone broth workshop: he slowly cooks grass-fed beef bones and free-range chicken bones of local origin. Francesc has acted as host with meals paired with Recaredo, which has been a sponsor along with RGN architects, and the initiative is directed by Clara Boada. With Francesc, we talk about the dishes he cooks, the inn, and also about a novelty: starting September 29, he will participate, for the second year, in the initiative promoted by chef Ada Parellada, the Gastrorecup. Fonda Xesc has held a Michelin star since 2009.

Reading and understanding the labels of the food we want to buy is basic to knowing what we are eating. I have seen elderly people using a large magnifying glass to read them by enlarging the small print. Let's do it however we want, but let's do it. The other day, a friend told me that he had bought a Cadí cheese, DOP Urgèlia, which is semi-cured and with a washed rind, very good, and he sent me the image of the labeling. It indicated the origin of the milk, which is from the State. The ingredients: pasteurized cow's milk, salt, lactic ferments, stabilizer (calcium chloride) and rennet. On the rind there is a preservative, E-235 (an antifungal). And, attention, in the list of allergens, the labeling indicated that it could contain gluten, egg, sulfites, soy, nuts, celery, mustard, fish and crustaceans. And my friend asked me: "Why can a cheese from the Pyrenees contain traces of fish and crustaceans?"

The PicNic restaurant in Sitges, located on the seafront promenade, will close forever this Sunday. The State Ministry for Ecological Transition informed them of this days ago via email, and also through lawyers. "If we don't do it, they threaten to send security forces, who they say would change the locks and bolts," states Joan Anton Matas, of the Matas Arnalot Group family, who is in charge. Matas explains that they will comply with the ruling, so Sunday will be the last day one can go there for lunch and dinner. They will even serve one last glass of cava on Sunday, from 6 pm to 9 pm, but despite all this, they do not agree with the ruling, because they believe they have a point. What is this point?