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We often live in hectic cities, we shop in large supermarkets and we eat quickly. We are so used to running that stopping, stepping on the grass and eating a 100% natural tomato become true luxuries. Connecting with nature is a must, but it can also be a refined and unusual experience. Directions, products, resources y tracks to experience the eco in the most exclusive way.
Picniquette
Un romantic encounter in a park, a country mini dress in a Catalan farmhouse, a family gathering in a Mallorcan orchard or vineyard. A picnic has always been a privileged occasion to enjoy nature. If later someone organizes it down to the last detail, from the food –always at kilometer 0–, to the decoration –strictly plastic-free–, a cookout becomes a top experience. Organizing private events in the most sophisticated country settings is one of the faces of Picniquette, a project of the Italian Iaia Cocoi. Its services are tailored to the wishes of each client. The only rule that must be respected is that the place of the banquet is a secret until the last moment.
Kiki Market
In the Madrid stores of Kiki Market, one in La Latina and another in Chueca with an attached “food house”, several things can happen. That they honor you with an apple if you spend more than 10 euros and you bring your bag from home, that you come across Ouka Lele doing the shopping and that you can buy fresh organic products and almost always at kilometer 0 every day of the week. Some imported foods include delicacies as hard to find as turmeric roots or organic açaí ice cream and pulp, one of the fashionable superfoods, rich in antioxidants and essential fatty acids. It also works as an online store and has a telephone purchase and home delivery service activated.
‘slow’ marmalade LoRUSSo
Exclusivity and nature. LoRUSSo is a small factory located in Chercos, Almería, which is mainly dedicated to making jams ‘limited edition’ using organic fruit from local farmers and clean energy. In each manufacturing process, only 50-60 kilos of fruit are used, which means that some of their jams run out very easily and you have to wait a year to savor them again. The same care is given to design and packaging, as all screen printing and labeling is done by hand. The Lady Bitter Orange (the names are another of the peculiarities of this brand) it has taken the gold in the last edition of the World’s Original Marmalade Awards in England, homeland of bitter orange marmalade. A glass jar of 160 gr of this delicacy is close to 7 euros.
Bulk chia seeds
Chia is the object of desire for green addicts around the world or, in other words, one of the most fashionable superfoods. These are dark gray-black seeds from a plant native to Mexico from the same family of mint and sage. It does not contain gluten, it is rich in essential amino acids, minerals and vitamins and in contact with water it releases a viscous substance called mucilage, a natural thickener. All those properties make chia an indispensable ingredient for celiacs, vegans (its peculiar texture is an alternative to eggs and milk and derivatives) and, of course, for all those who do not want to miss a single gift of nature. Chia can be purchased in bulk in Spanish and Italian stores in Nugget and Grain where, by the way, they award discounts to everyone who brings packaging from home.
Gyokuro, the most refined green tea in the world
“Emperor’s tea”, “Gem of the dewdrop”, “Pearl of dew”, “Jade dew”. Few products embody the definition of green luxury quite like Gyokuro tamahomare, a variety of Japanese green tea among the purest and most precious in the world. The plantations of this tea, located mainly around Kyoto, are usually covered with large nets three weeks before the harvest begins. The shade makes the leaves –fine and flat– have more chlorophyll and less tannins, giving rise to an infusion of an intense green color and with a less bitter taste than other green teas. The cocoons are always collected and rolled by hand and only once a year, in spring. Less than 1% of Japan’s tea production belongs to this variety, which explains why its price can touch 25 euros for just 50 grams if it is an organic crop.
Cookiteca
Once you have bought the best eco products in circulation, you need ideas on how to cook them. In the Barcelona Cookiteca shops-workshops, courses on natural and organic cooking are given. Macrobiotic Cuisine, Advanced Macrobiotics, Mindful Eating y kitchen with ecological products are some of the courses aimed at those who want to rethink their pantries and their food in a more natural way. All courses consist of ten workshops that can be attended for single days or by reserving the entire course. In September, a new vegetarian cooking course and a cooking course with plants will be added to this offer in the Poble Espanyol space, in the heart of Montjuic, according to Neus Canal, co-founder of Cookiteca. “A surprising space, unknown to the people of Barcelona”.
Annie Novak
If we want to go one step further without giving up to the comfort of the city, an urban garden is the answer. Before buying everything you need, it is advisable to start tracking Annie Novak, a pioneer in creating large-scale urban gardens on New York’s rooftops and a guru of the global movement who has found a way to bring the countryside to the city. Novak is, among other things, founder and director of the program Growing Chefs, co-founder and farmer of the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn and author of the definitive guide on how to build an urban garden The Rooftop Growing Guide: How to Transform Your Roof into a Garden or Farm. The sky is the only limit.
Green kitchen
Chef and inventor of the Gastrobotánica, Rodrigo de la Calle is an undisputed authority when it comes to cooking with vegetables. Its green cuisine – which is not vegetarian, vegan or raw vegan – some years ago marked the beginning of a green revolution that has resisted, like its Michelin star, the change of premises from Aranjuez to Collado Mediano. In the book Green Kitchen, de la Calle reviews tricks and secrets for cooking vegetables, from cooking them as little as possible and without hiding their flavor to choosing them in the market respecting the natural cycles of each product. Four seasons, ten vegetables for each season and two recipes for each vegetable for a total of 80 ideas on how to get out of something that we are used to avoiding since we were little. Vegetables, but also seeds, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and fruits to eat healthy and enjoy doing it.
Mama Campo
A grocery store of organic products, a restaurant that breaks with the stereotype that eco cuisine cannot be enjoyed in a refined environment and a canteen designed for organic snacks. Mama Campo There are three spaces distributed in the traditional Plaza de Olavide and a single philosophy: lor that is sold carries the name of the person who produces it. The eggs from Celia’s happy hens, Julio’s milk, and Antonio’s honey from the hives are just a few examples. The decoration of the three spaces is sustainable, the uniforms of the clerks are from Ecoalf, made with recycled fabrics, and the aprons of small and cool brands such as Peseta. The eco is an integral lifestyle and you cannot leave loose ends.
L’Espiga d’Or, a bakery with its own mill
Artisan bread is an open front for those who claim a rich and healthy food. It will not be a luxury, of course it is not for its price, but to get hold of a good artisan bread like those of yesteryear it is still a lot more difficult than buying a frozen bar at the supermarket. Jordi Morera is a fifth generation baker and bread theorist. In the bakery of its L’Espiga d’Or bakeries in Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, not only are slow-fermented breads and sourdough made, but there is also an old wood-fired oven and a mill thanks to which they are calibrated. grinds as desired and personalized flours are made from organic cereals. A real madness.
The secret of the best cheese in the world
En Dehesa de Los Llanos all the necessary ingredients are produced to make the best cheese in the world, according to the contest ‘World Cheese Awards’ celebrated in 2012, being the only Spanish cheese with this award.
In this 10.000-hectare farm located in Albacete, the La Mancha sheep are raised with whose milk this delicious cheese is made. A modern company in its methods of exploitation but capable of making artisan cheese of the highest quality. Your cheese Gran Reserva It is made with raw, non-pasteurized milk, and its natural rind is periodically brushed with extra virgin olive oil also produced on the farm. It has a minimum cure of 9 months and can be found in specialized stores or online store.
In addition, feeding their purebred manchega sheep With a balanced set of native aromatic plants grown on the farm itself, it naturally eliminates bacterial activity, avoiding adding egg lysozyme, which makes it suitable for those allergic to eggs.