Obviously, I can't go on all the trips that I would like to. I don't have the money or the vacation time, and as one of my friends is fond of pointing out, my carbon footprint is growing exponentially with each adventure. So, sometimes it makes sense to try and experience some outside culture here at home.
Hence my motivation to take a cheese class focusing specifically on the food & wine from Spain & Portugal. I heard about the school a couple of years ago (its actually the only one of its kind in the nation!) through my local cheese store Cheese Plus. I tried on multiple occasions to take a class, but they sell out almost immediately. Taking that as a good sign, I kept trying. I finally managed to get registered and went to the class last Thursday night.
It was amazing! It felt like a big dinner party. We walked into what felt like a cozy apartment, grabbed a drink, chatted with the other guests and then found our name card and took a seat at the head of the table. We got to try 10 different kinds of cheeses from various regions and they provided two types of wine, sherry, dried fruits, fig spread, nuts, and some $100/lb prosciutto to try pairing with them. Our teacher (like all of the classes) was an expert on the regions represented and went into great detail about the history behind each one, how they were made, and what they taste best with.
The classes are a bit on the expensive side, but you definitely get your money's worth. I learned a lot and we ate so much, that we literally had to take a stroll around the neighborhood to try and work some of it off. I'm not sure however, that it satiated my desire to visit the countries themselves. If anything it may have excited it more... :)
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