The first Mercat de l’oli nou gets under way in Barcelona, the great celebration of early-harvest olive oil

Barcelona's Plaça de Catalunya has become the epicentre of Catalan extra virgin olive oil. The first Mercat de l’oli nou opened today, a gastronomic event that champions first-pressing EVOO and brings olive oil culture closer to urban audiences. The event was attended by the President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig.  

The Mercat brings together more than 50 producers from 21 Catalan counties, some with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), offering the first oil of the new harvest directly to the public between today and Sunday. The programme also features nearly 20 educational and live cooking sessions with chefs such as Ada Parellada, Iolanda Bustos, Carlota Claver, Iñaki Aldrey, Susana Aragón and master pastry chef Oriol Balaguer, among others, and with a local food and wine offer. All of it to turn central Barcelona into a great celebration with Catalan oil as the star. 

The President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig, and managing director of Prodeca, Dèlia Perpiñà, led the institutional delegation's tour of the exhibitors and spoke with participating producers, processors and chefs. The opening ceremony ended with a group photo in the Mercat's central area.

During the opening ceremony, President Illa stressed that “extra virgin olive oil is a very fine Catalan product” and noted that although recent years have been difficult because of the drought, he sees the sector with “dynamism" and "a desire to move forward".

He noted that climate change and export tariffs are two of the major challenges facing the Catalan olive oil sector. Even so, Illa expressed the Government's commitment to the sector: “it is an important sector for the Catalan economy, one that says a lot about our tradition".

To close the opening ceremony, the head of the Government took the opportunity to recall that “Catalan gastronomy is the best in the world right now” and that the product can therefore be promoted through the “fine restaurants we have in Catalonia and Catalan chefs all over the world”.

Promoted by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Catalonia, through Prodeca, the Catalan food promotion agency, the Mercat de l’oli nou was created to champion the Catalan olive oil sector, to assert extra virgin olive oil as an essential ingredient of the Mediterranean diet and to strengthen the link between producers and citizens.

A first day to spread olive oil culture

The Mercat, which will stay open until Sunday 23 November, with free entry and activities for all audiences, has already held some of the sessions in the programme of gastronomic activities. Today the Olive Oil Classroom hosted Gemma Muray and Clara Soler, of Caram Caram, who spoke about “L’oli nou: l’or líquid que arriba a taula!”. 

Another of this afternoon's sessions to draw attention was “Olis singulars de Catalunya”, with  Ivan Caelles, representative of the Xarxa d’Olivicultors-Oleïcultors de Catalunya (XOOC) and an olive grower from El Pallars Jussà. 
Meanwhile, Slow Food chef Susana Aragón cooked confit Prat artichokes with “migas” and olive pâté. 

To close the sessions in the Olive Oil Classroom, master pastry chef Oriol Balaguer shone on stage with a session in which he showed that EVOO is the essential ingredient for artisan coques de recapte. 
And local cuisine tasting bites

They also the public was able to taste the seasonal, local cuisine offered in the Gastronomy area by the teams of Villa Retiro and La Cala Navega (Palamós), the Guild of Cod Merchants of Catalonia, master pastry chef Oriol Balaguer and Caterí Cuinant Formatges. All paired with a selection of seven new wines and eight wines from the exhibiting producers, producers of both EVOO and local wines. 

The Mercat de l’oli nou, making its debut this November coinciding with the year in which Catalonia is World Region of Gastronomy, will continue until Sunday as a genuine celebration open to everyone, where you can discover, taste and buy extra virgin olive oil directly from the producers, and where you can also learn about, taste and appreciate the richness, diversity and quality of the Catalan olive oil sector.

See the rest of the programme of activities scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, here.