Poma a La Cuina: Cooking with apples on the Costa Brava

?atalonia and the Costa Brava coast have gastronomic campaigns and gourmet festivals aplenty, featuring sea urchins, leeks, snails and even fish salad dressing. So why not apples too?

The culinary festival La poma a la cuina, Apples in the Kitchen, has been taking place in Torroella de Montgr� and L'Estartit every October since 2006. Right after harvest, local participating restaurants add apple-inspired dishes to their menus and serve prix-fixe meals in which fresh and baked apples play the starring role.

For example, you might begin your meal with anglerfish liver stuffed apple, continue with duck breast with glazed apples, and finish up with apple donuts, apple sorbet, tarte tatin or baked apple filled with Crema Catalana. Applesauce, compote, marmalade and very thinly sliced Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala and Fuji apples are used as ingredients in sauces and dressings for salads and main courses around town.

Apple menus are offered for lunch and dinner throughout the whole month of October. Plus, there are specialized workshops and tasting events on weekends: local chef and pastry master workshops, apple cidery visits, cycling tours of apple orchards, apple processing plant visits, and of course the best apple dessert competition!

Photo album �Torroella de Montgr��