Beautiful Emporda is situated right between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean Sea, which gives it a unique richness of fish and seafood, fruit and vegetables grown in volcanic soil, fresh meat from livestock that roam the hilly pastures, mushrooms and cheese of the best quality. That’s why Emporda cuisine is called “sea and mountain” cooking. But the heritage of so many different cultures has also been essential for all the richness Emporda has to offer. The first inhabitants were the Iberians, then came the Greeks who settled in Empuries bringing the first wines, then the Romans with their finest cuisine (known for the Apicius recipes), then the Arabs who brought the sweet and salty balance, and recently of course, the French cuisine influence! Generally speaking chefs from this region are humble, generous and hard working. They are very traditional, they love their roots, but they are always open to using new ingredients.There is a strong influence of the roman recipes used which used fruit to cook with meat, "salt and sugar". The school works with several chefs but the cooking classes are with Chef Joan who is a great chef specialising in Baix Emporda rice and all traditional Catalan cuisine. He uses the freshest products to elaborate his recipes, as this area is one of the richest in local products. It is very much "slow food" utilizing produce from local farmers and fishermen from between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean sea.