Spain... on the Road Again
Spain… on the road Again is a 2008 American food and travel series produced by PBS. The show features Iron Chef Mario Batali, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman, and Spanish actress Claudia Bassols. Each episode covers a different region of Spain as the foursome explore the country's culinary traditions and history. Before the series premiere on PBS, Paltrow and Batali promoted their tour and series on the September 17, 2008 episode of Oprah.
Episodes
With the boys up early at Madrid's fish market, the ladies lounge luxuriously eating churros and hot chocolate. Then Gwyneth and Mario cruise down to Toledo for a cooking lesson with one of Castilla la Mancha's top chefs. Mark and Claudia travel the route of Don Quijote, tilting at windmills and learning how to make Manchego cheese. That night, the group celebrates Claudia's birthday in style. After eating bird sushi, Mario learns that Iron Chefs don't always have iron stomachs.
Mark's moods swings and insatiable appetite have the road trippers stopping often as they head north to Galicia. While in Ribera del Duero wine country, Mario grills milk-fed lamb in a vineyard. While staying at a traditional county inn, Mario's competitive edge emerges and he and Gwyneth race Mark and Claudia on the Camino de Santiago, a historic pilgrimage route. Back at the inn, Mario and Gwyneth cook dinner while waiting for Mark and Claudia to get back.
Gwyneth, Mario, Mark, and Claudia get down and dirty with the local mariscadoras, digging for some of the world's best shellfish. Later Mario grills up an impromptu feast of lobsters and razor clams paired with the acclaimed Albariño wine. Next the road trippers head inland for wood-fired empanadas. After a day on the water, Mario and Claudia prepare octopus, Galician style, and wash it down with a flaming, boozy beverage.
Gwyneth and Mario meet up with architectural legend Frank Gehry for a tour of the Bilbao Guggenheim. Meanwhile, Mark and Claudia head into the woods where they discover the ultimate grilling restaurant. The foursome reunite at the Gehry-designed Marqués de Riscal Hotel and Vineyard in Rioja wine country. Gwyneth and Claudia opt for oppulent spa treatments while Mario and Mark sneak back into Bilbao to spend a boys‘ night out eating and drinking.
Gwyneth and Mario greet the day at the astonishing Marqués de Riscal Hotel with a behind the scenes vineyard tour. Feeling peckish, Mark joins Gwyneth for some vine-side grilling. Mark and Claudia set out for San Sebastián, where Claudia takes the wheel in the kitchen learning from the master, Chef Juan Mari Arzak.
Claudia takes Gwyneth for a nighttime drive through her hometown of Barcelona. Gwyneth does a celebrity appearance and then the two ladies sneak off to the gourmet department to stock up on snacks for the next leg of their journey. The next morning, Mario and Gwyneth dive into Spanish bubbly in the cellars at Segura Viudas. Meanwhile, Mark and Claudia take to the seas to enjoy some of the most sought–after shellfish in the Mediterranean and later to a fish auction that has all the excitement of a Major League game. Back in wine country, Mario and Gwyneth grill a Catalan feast. Later, Mario shocks Gwyneth when they pick up an unlikely hitchhiker. That night in Barcelona, Mario and Gwyneth join friends for a rockstar dinner at the über–trendy restaurant Inopia.
Michael Stipe joins the road trip and cruises around Barcelona with Mario and Claudia, including a stop at the colorful La Boqueria market. Gwyneth and Mario travel outside of the city to the 3–star Michelin kitchen of Chef Carme Ruscalleda. A tour of the historic Jewish Quarter in Girona really hits home for Gwyneth. Mark and Claudia have a surreal time at the Dalí museum and then drive to culinary hot–spot Roses. Chef Rafa appeals to Mark with his minimalist style of cooking Catalunya’s finest seafood.
Gwyneth and Mark get a taste for Spain’s Moorish history at the majestic Alhambra, the legendary hilltop palace in Granada. Claudia joins the group for a scenic drive along the Andalucían coast and, with Mark chiming in from the back seat, the group stops for local treats along the way. Mark teaches Claudia a thing or two about Moorish architecture as they explore beautiful and historic Córdoba.
Footloose Mark and Claudia are in hog heaven as the road trip winds through Castilla y León. Mark and Claudia hunt down a plate of incredible Jamón Ibérico in Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor. Their interest perked, they decide to head right to the source – a traditional farm that raises the famous black–footed pigs. Their porcine pilgrimage continues to Segovia where Bitty and Bassols eat like emperors in the shadow of the city’s 2,000–year–old aqueduct. Feeling a little pigged–out, Mark and Claudia return to Basque country, unearthing a medieval cathedral and sampling Vitoria’s finest tapas.
Claudia arranges a one–of–a–kind tour of architect Antoni Gaudí’s most famous buildings. Mark and Mario head west to the rugged region of Asturias. The boys stop in Oviedo for some local sweets before reaching the mountains. They visit the hilltop town of Covadonga for a little religious history. Further in the countryside, Mario and Mark enjoy a meal from a heartwarming Asturian home cook.
Touring sites in Mallorca, including the Palma Cathedral and scenic Deiá. Also: making a lobster stew in Menorca with local fishermen.
A visit to Valencia. Included: a a walk on the beach and a tour of Santiago Calatrava's City of Arts and Sciences. Also: making paella; enjoying tapas at the restaurant Casa Montaña.
The Season 1 finale visits Madrid. Included: lunch cooked by a famous chef; Madrid's architecture; a Real Madrid soccer match; the city's nightlife; cocido madrileño (a hangover cure).
