Les Cols in Sweet Style #PR54 (ebook)

Les Cols

In this second edition of PastryRevolution for 2022, number 54, all the secrets of Les Cols' sweet world are revealed.

The marriage between Manel Puigvert and Fina Puigdevall opened the Les Cols restaurant (Olot, Girona) in May 1990. Today, Clara, Martina, and Carlota – their daughters – work hand in hand to continue bringing La Garrotxa to diners. José Carlos Capel, gastronomy critic for El País, notes, "In their cuisine, with the family's seal, local products and producers appear in alliance with modern techniques." Marta Fernández Guadaño, journalist for Gastroeconomy in Expansión, adds, "Their landscape cuisine, something like a gastronomic nakedness, extends to the physical space of the restaurant." This poetic, intimate, local, and, therefore, universal gastronomy has earned them 2 Michelin stars (2005 and 2010) and the green star (2021).

Throughout the 180 pages of this monograph on the sweet world of Les Cols, we find a total of 75 creations – with 240 processes – divided into five families: [sweet] cuisine, [savory] cuisine, [sweet] bites, liturgy, and [sweet] celebrations.

In [sweet] cuisine, adaptations of traditional desserts coexist with more avant-garde ones made with vegetables, fruits, flowers, nuts, and mushrooms in the two-Michelin-starred restaurant (Les Cols). Once again, the Puigvert Puigdevall family demonstrates that the connection between savory and sweet is a winning tandem. All of this is reflected in the [savory] cuisine where pastry techniques – such as puff pastry or choux pastry – are used in their dishes. Next, the small [sweet] bites – or petits fours – such as basil 'tocinillo' or fennel macarons are the protagonists. In liturgy, they showcase typical sweets for different festivities like 'panellets' for All Saints' Day or 'turrones' and 'neules' for Christmas. Finally, this monograph is topped off with the classic cakes they serve at their [sweet] celebrations held at La Carpa.

In this edition, we present 2 reports on 2 traditional bakeries in Catalonia. Both are highly renowned for the excellent quality of their products, made using sourdough.

Forn Quelu 1903

The oldest bakery in Sant Boi de Llobregat, owned by the Quixal family since its inauguration, has been passed down from father to son. Miquel Quixal is now the baker.

In the magazine, we present 6 products:

Wholemeal spelt bread with seeds

Buckwheat, cassava, and rice bread, with seeds

Sourdough bread, in round loaf and baguette

Wholemeal spelt bread

Brioche flatbread

“Dit de crema” (xuixo or suiso)

L´Artesanna

L´Artesanna is a workshop for sweet and savory bakery, pastry, and confectionery products, established by baker and pastry chef Anna Tort Marcet, chef Josep Tort Marcet, and barista and mixologist Maximiliano Gubler, located in the city of Terrassa, Barcelona.

We present 10 products:

Viennese bread

Cheesecake

Orange and/or chocolate brioche rolls

Cocas (4 different, savory and sweet)

Pas de Pessic (traditional Catalan sponge cake)

Carquinyolis (almond dry biscuits)

Traditional ensaimada