Cooking much more than just dishes
In the villages of inland Spain, among centuries-old olive groves, almond terraces and beaten earth tracks, a silent revolution is simmering. They do not have familiar faces, but they have hands that have been trained in recipes handed down from generation to generation. They are the ones who, day after day, feed not only their communities, but also a new kind of traveller. A traveller who seeks authentic experiences, who wants to sit at a table and understand the soul of a territory through its flavours.
This phenomenon has been taking shape in the hands of those who know their territory best. At Abaq we have developed a project of gastronomic ambassadors: great connoisseurs of local culinary culture, capable not only of interpreting and explaining it, but also - and above all - of facilitating access to people, recipes and traditions that, without them, but above all without them, would remain out of reach of the traveller. Thanks to their complicity - and in many cases, their generous willingness to teach and share - we weave authentic connections that allow us to enter family kitchens, discover almost forgotten techniques and sit at the table not as a customer, but as a guest.
In their kitchens, much more than food is made. Stories are told, identity is preserved, and visitors are welcomed with generosity. Those who take part in one of these experiences - an artisan bread workshop in a century-old oven, a traditional slaughter with an explanation of each process, or a picnic under a vine where the produce of the garden is served - take away not just a tasting, but a complete story of the place and its people.
Rural gastronomy with soul is nourished by zero-kilometre ingredients, know-how without artifice and an intimate relationship with the territory. It is also a form of resistance to depopulation: many of the people who promote these experiences have transformed their kitchens into spaces for training, tourism or direct sales. Visitors, for their part, exchange the menu of a conventional restaurant for a shared meal in a home, a workshop or a living farm.
From Galicia to Andalusia, via Castilla-La Mancha or Aragon, there are hundreds of examples of people who ‘feed’ in the deepest sense: they feed the body, yes, but also the link between generations, the transmission of sustainable values and the emotional connection with the land.
At Abaq, we approach these experiences with the same curiosity and respect as our travellers do. We propose them as essential moments in our gastronomic itineraries and incentive trips: encounters that bring depth, emotion and meaning to each journey.
When someone opens their home, workshop or farm to cook and share what they know, they are not just offering a meal: they are passing on a knowledge that has stood the test of time, a testimony to cultural resilience and a form of hospitality that is not taught in any hotel school.
At Abaq, we love talking to travel agents from around the world who seek to design itineraries with soul and meaning. Experiences that connect people, knowledge and landscapes from the human and the authentic. Because that's what we believe in, and that's what we do.
