Eating the Land: The Journey That Shaped Sitges
LOST IN TRANSLATION: LIFE OF A JAPANESE GIRL IN ITALY
● Discovering Connections with the Wider World Through the Streets and the Sea
On a university field trip, I visited Sitges, a town in Catalonia, Spain. White walls, blue doors, and narrow cobbled streets wound uphill. Flags hung overhead. The scenery reminded me of places I had visited before: Lisbon, Sardinia, and the old town of Nice. There was something distinctly Mediterranean about it all. Just walking around lifted my spirits.
Even the door handles were ridiculously cute. I found myself wondering whether I should make a photo album dedicated entirely to them.
The first thing I did when I arrived was head to the beach.
Looking at the map, I realised that Mallorca lay straight across the sea. In 1229, King James I of Aragon set sail with his fleet from ports such as Tarragona and Salou, west of Sitges, to conquer Mallorca. The Crown of Aragon, which included Catalonia, later extended its influence to Sicily, Sardinia, and Naples.
As I looked out over the sea, I could clearly feel how all these places were connected by the same Mediterranean waters. With so much exchange between them, it made sense that Mediterranean cuisines share many of the same ingredients, even if they are prepared in slightly different ways.
● The Americanos
But the town’s connections extended far beyond the Mediterranean.
Some people from Sitges had crossed the Atlantic to places such as Cuba and Puerto Rico, made their fortunes in business and eventually returned home. They were known as ‘Americanos’, or ‘Indianos’ in other parts of Spain. On their return, they built grand houses and invested in modernising the town.
Facundo Bacardí, the founder of Bacardí rum, was also born in Sitges. People with experience in grape growing and winemaking had crossed the ocean and become involved in businesses dealing in rum, sugar and tobacco.
Compared to my experiences of exploring local history in Italy, I was struck by how often Spain’s connections with Latin America came up. I would be looking at the streets right in front of me, only to find that their stories stretched all the way across the Atlantic.
● The Grapes of Sitges
Meanwhile, vineyards can still be found in Sitges today. This time, we visited the winery of Sant Joan Baptista Hospital, which has helped preserve a grape variety called Malvasia de Sitges. Originally established to care for the poor, the sick and pilgrims, the hospital now serves as a residential care home for older people.
Malvasia was once the wine Sitges was known for, particularly its sweet wines. But cultivation gradually declined. Vine diseases, the loss of vineyards as tourism developed, and the growing popularity of Cava sparkling wine all played a part.
One local man, a diplomat named Manuel Llopis, was concerned about its future. When he died in 1935, he left his vineyards on the condition that Malvasia production continue. The hospital took over the vineyards and winemaking. Even as visitors flocked to the coast and the town changed around it, the grapes continued to be grown here.
Behind the coast rises the Garraf Massif. Our guide explained how rainwater seeps into the limestone mountains and emerges as freshwater springs near the shore, comparing the process to a sponge soaking up water. The name ‘Aiguadolç’ also means ‘fresh water’, as opposed to salty seawater.
The winery uses this spring water to grow its grapes. Today, cultivation continues on small plots of land, including vineyards tucked among residential buildings in the town itself.
The ‘Blanc Subur 2023’ we tasted was a dry white wine, which surprised me, as I had always assumed Malvasia was sweet. Its aroma carried the sweetness of tropical fruit, but on the palate, I could taste acidity and a hint of saltiness. It also reminded me of a slightly underripe peach. I really liked it. I could imagine pairing it with seafood or sushi, or simply enjoying a glass as an aperitif.
Today, the same grape variety is used to make a range of wines, including dry whites and sparkling wines. At this winery, preserving tradition and trying something new go hand in hand.
● Lunch at La Nansa
For lunch, we visited a restaurant called La Nansa. While preserving family recipes passed down since its opening, the restaurant also researches and revives traditional dishes from Sitges and recipes handed down by local fishermen. It uses local ingredients alongside modern cooking techniques and is listed by Slow Food Catalunya as a ‘Cuina Km0 – Slow Food’ restaurant.
Two dishes in particular stood out to me.
The first was bread topped with escalivada.
The vegetables in this escalivada were wonderfully sweet and meltingly soft. The tomato flavour was subtle, and there was a lovely freshness to every bite. Rustic country bread, soft vegetables and rich, oily anchovies. It reminded me of ratatouille from Nice and caponata from Sicily. They all seemed to belong to the same family of Mediterranean dishes, made by roasting or stewing vegetables.
The cooking methods and seasonings may differ from place to place, but they share the idea of turning everyday vegetables, such as aubergines and tomatoes, into a dish. I love recognising similarities between dishes while discovering what makes each one unique.
And then there was a dish I will never forget: arròs a la sitgetana, a traditional rice dish from Sitges. It was based on an old local recipe, and one of the restaurant staff told us it was a personal favourite too.
We were told that the rice used was Bomba rice from the Ebro Delta, in southern Catalonia. This is where the Ebro River flows into the Mediterranean, forming a delta of wetlands and lagoons. It is an important rice-growing region, with its own protected designation of origin, ‘Arròs del Delta de l’Ebre’. Rice dishes made with seafood and eel are also part of the food culture of this watery landscape.
When the dish arrived, it was filled with pork ribs, sausage, langoustines, prawns, clams and cuttlefish. Rather than choosing between meat and seafood, both were cooked together. It was a perfect example of the Catalan combination of ‘sea and mountain’, known as mar i muntanya.
The dish also contained sweet Malvasia wine. The very wine whose history we had just learnt about, and which we had tasted by the glass, had now appeared as an ingredient in our lunch.
With every mouthful came a blend of aromas. There was something almost spicy about it, although I couldn't quite put my finger on what I was tasting. The rice was moist and full of flavour, having absorbed the richness of both the meat and seafood. The meat itself was so tender it almost melted in my mouth. At first, it reminded me of a curry risotto. But as I kept eating, it began to feel more like a comforting yet wonderfully luxurious bowl of Japanese ojiya or zosui, rice simmered in a flavourful broth.
● The Railway and the Film Festival
One thing that stayed with me from our guide's explanation of how Sitges had changed was the story of the railway. Sitges was once a fishing town, but after the railway arrived, the coast began to develop into a tourist destination.
Our guide also explained that the blue lines painted along the bottom of some houses are known as ‘blauet de Sitges’ (‘Sitges blue’) and once marked the homes of fishermen. I had been admiring the pretty blue details without realising they were traces of the town's past. Walking along the seafront today, it is easy to imagine that Sitges has always looked this way. However the arrival of a new way for people to reach the town also changed how the town itself was used.
Attracting visitors was not just about summer holidays by the sea.‘Sea, sun and sand’. Our guide used these three words to introduce another way Sitges had tried to extend its tourist season: a film festival. The Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, which began in 1968, was intended to attract visitors from abroad and give them a reason to come even after summer had ended. Today, the festival still helps extend the tourist season into mid-October.
At first, I had simply looked at the white and blue streets and thought how pretty and Mediterranean they were. I still felt that way. But as I walked around and listened to the stories behind the town, I began to see so much more.
There were the people who had crossed the sea to do business, the wealth they brought back, which transformed the town, the film festival that continued to attract visitors after summer, and the hospital that had kept winemaking alive. Sitges may be a small town, but it seemed to me that, through its connections with the wider world, it had continually found new ways to shape its identity.
I also found myself thinking of the Cannes Film Festival and the Sanremo Music Festival. So many Mediterranean towns seem to be known for entertainment. I imagined that behind each one were people who had found ways to attract visitors and shape the image of their town today. I wanted to learn more about their histories too.
At the same time, I began to wonder what supports the livelihoods of towns that once prospered through maritime trade. Beyond the beauty of the coast, how important is it for a town to keep creating reasons for people to visit? And how much does its future depend on doing so?
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