“Originality consists of returning to one’s origins”
Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus in 1852. He was baptized in the priory church of Sant Pere and lived for sixteen years in the family home, which housed the workshop that was key to Gaudí’s learning, especially insofar as his sense of perception and his understanding of space. Upon completing high school in Reus he went to Barcelona to study architecture. As a renowned architect he kept in regular contact with friends and colleagues in Reus.

Hazelnuts in his pockets

Antoni Gaudí was an austere man in all respects. Towards the end of his life he lived almost like a hermit and at the table practised vegetarian habits. A great observer of nature, which he used as a source of inspiration in all regards, he consumed simple, natural products that today we could call “minimally processed”. Historians who have studied his everyday life explain that he always used to carry hazelnuts in his pockets, the dried fruit par excellence of the Reus and Tarragona area, which Gaudí knew inside-out since his childhood.

“All my work is conceived in Mont-roig”
Joan Miró first came to Mas Miró from Mont-Roig in 1911, to recover from an illness. Mas Miró is the place where Joan Miró conceived and created his universe and where he painted the works that projected him internationally as one of the most universal artists of the times. Miró, who spent 65 summers at the farmhouse, found his creative inspiration in Mont-roig.

A porron among farmers

Joan Miró had a transcendental connection with the land around Mont-roig del Camp. Apart from the fact that he always carried a carob pod in his suitcase when travelling, the artist often identified with the land at its purest and most essential. Joan Miró said he was happier “donning a sweater and sharing a porron with farmers from Mont-roig than being in Paris among duchesses in large palaces”. As a rural property with a longstanding agricultural history, today Mas Miró is farmed organically and has fruit trees and a wide variety of garden vegetables.

“Fortunately, on my many travels abroad, that boy from El Vendrell has never left my side”
Born in El Vendrell in 1876, Pau Casals became involved with music at a young age as his father was the church organist. At the age of 23, he began his career performing in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, yet Casals spent long periods in the house built on the beach of Sant Salvador, home today to the Pau Casals Museum. Pau Casals is buried in the cemetery of El Vendrell.

The simplicity of thyme soup

Pau Casals adored thyme soup, a simple dish, a sort of quintessence of the Mediterranean, perfectly matching his personality. A champion of the humble working classes and workers, this modest soup, ‘poor man’s food’, perfectly sums up the thinking of the maestro. Simple cuisine and a simple life that allowed him, in El Vendrell, to enjoy views over the sea and the Penedès vineyards, which he so missed during his forced exile in Prada de Conflent and in Puerto Rico.

"Everything I know I learned in Horta"
Picasso spent two periods in Horta de Sant Joan, accompanied by his friend Manuel Pallarès, a native of the village. He arrived for his first visit (1898 – 1899) ill, but his experiences in contact with the pristine nature of the Els Ports invigorated him. In 1909, coinciding with the start of the Cubist movement, he returned to Horta with Fernande Olivier. At that time, inspired by the landscapes of Horta, he painted The Reservoir of Horta and The Factory, among others.

Curative chicken soup

Regarding two visits by Picasso to Horta de Sant Joan (1898 and 1909) there are several snippets of news concerning the relationship between the artist and cuisine. In fact, during his first stay, Picasso envisaged recovering from his health problems by eating a comforting chicken soup, and there are even details of the diet he followed while painting the Els Ports mountain range. With regard to his trip in 1909, there is a record of the lamb and saffron soup that was served at hostal del Trompet, where he stayed with his companion, Fernande Olivier.

“Originality consists of returning to one’s origins”

Hazelnuts in his pockets

“All my work is conceived in Mont-roig”

A porron among farmers

“Fortunately, on my many travels abroad, that boy from El Vendrell has never left my side”

The simplicity of thyme soup

"Everything I know I learned in Horta"

Curative chicken soup