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VIEW PHOTOS
VIEW PHOTOS

Host: Josh

Barcelona, Spain

USD
$164-$204 per person

An interactive market tour and fun paella class in Barcelona

Host offerings
  • Cooking studio
  • Home cook
  • Pets
  • Vegetarian
  • Alcohol
  • Transportation
  • Cooking class
  • Market visit
  • Food tour

Meet Josh

Josh grew up in Portland, Oregon and moved to Spain in 2002 to improve his Spanish. He ended up moving there permanently because he fell in love with the country's language and culture. He translated and interpreted for a while before realizing his passion for food. Josh first started cooking in his childhood, exploring spices and different ingredients. He then learned about different ways of cooking in Spain and appreciated relying on quality of ingredients to make amazing flavors. He loved the shift from depending on spices to using time and careful preparation of the best, freshest ingredients to create incredible meals. He loves the variety of fresh seafood available in Spain and learned from friends' grandmothers and fathers, learning their favorite family recipes. Josh opened up a cooking studio a few years ago to teach travelers about the region's amazing ingredients and to communicate what he loves about the area's local history and food culture through a shared food experience. Josh is also a percussionist in band and he will be happy to share his favorite local music recommendations (and even play them on the sound system)!

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

In-home meal: (4-15 guests) Your experience takes place at Josh’s cooking studio. It is centrally located and is easy to reach via public transport. The location is a professional kitchen. Enjoy your meal of paella together with Josh while you talk about food, travel, music. You can choose between seafood, meat and vegetable paella. Armed with information about Spanish food and culture, finish your meal with a tasty local dessert such as crema catalana. Sangria is included in the cost of your experience.

Cooking experience: (4-15 guests) Join our immersive paella cooking class in Barcelona! Learn the art of making traditional Spanish paella with fresh ingredients and expert guidance. Your Barcelona cooking class starts with chopping up fruit to prepare the sangria, the perfect way to start your experience! Then, you will make the dessert together, learn all the tricks to making a perfect crema catalana. Finally, Josh will take you through the step-by-step stages of preparing the ingredients for your paella. Learn some of Josh's favorite basic culinary tips needed to make a great paella and more. Expect a hands-on cooking class in Barcelona - Josh's philosophy is that you will learn to cook only by doing it! As Josh details the different ingredients and techniques of your dishes, you will prepare a traditional paella together. At the end of the class, he will offer you a chance to caramelize the sugar on the top of your own crema catalana dessert! Perfect Spanish cooking class for all skill levels.

Market visit: (4-15 guests) Guided tour of Mercat de la llibertat, a must visit market frequented by local Catalans. Start your tour with a taste of Spanish jamon at Josh's favorite Catalan charcuterie and learn about how and where the best jamon is made. Josh is friends with many of the local vendors who sell very high quality, locally-sourced meats, fishes, cheeses, and produce. Walk around the market and stop at many of his favorite vendors everything from salt cod to specially-macerated olives. Josh will point out what differentiates the best meat from the rest and will give you recommendations for cheeses, cured meats and other delicacies. By the end of the tour you'll understand the difference between Catalonian and Spanish cultures and learn a lot about specialty ingredients that are such an important part of the local diet and culture; in particular, the cured acorn-fed Iberian ham. Your market tour will last roughly 45 minutes, during which you might purchase local ingredients like squid or red peppers for your paella from Josh’s favorite vendors. Return together to Josh's cooking studio with your basket of ingredients to begin your Spanish cooking lesson and meal.

Please note that the market is closed on Sundays so market tours are unavailable on this day.

Notes: On days when Josh is not available, his colleague and fellow chef will host you. The cooking studio is located one floor up from the ground floor. However, there is an alter-able accessible elevator for those who cannot take the stairs. 1-2 glasses of Sangria are included in the price of every experience you book. Your host can also accommodate a vegetarian diet in his Spanish cooking class.

Our host Josh requests a minimum of four guests (or for a total payment of 4 guests even if there are fewer guests) to host this private culinary experience.

Languages spoken: English, Catalan and Spanish

Sample menu

This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
  • Sangria
  • Esqueixada (salad) or suquet de peix (fish soup)
  • Tapa like calamares encebollados (squids) or xistorra (special type of chorizo)
  • Paella
  • Local dessert
PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW
A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.

​​Cooking seafood Paella with Josh was one of the highlights of our 8-day stay in Barcelona. After hitting the typical tourist sites, it was refreshing to get the perspective of a local who is so passionate about food. He was very educational and patient, and we had a really fun time. It was great to pick up lots of tacit information not included in the recipe. Lastly, we enjoyed the food in the dining room with Josh and talked about his music and Catalonia. We loved hearing about Josh’s stories living in Barcelona, and greatly appreciated his tips and local perspective. We had an overall amazing experience and would highly recommend this!!

Sam and Shirbi, Traveling Spoon Ambassador

Traveler reviews

5.0 (8)
Chris guided us through cooking a delicious traditional Spanish dinner… complete with sangria, seafood paella and crema Catalan. He was friendly, knowledgeable and patient with our entire family. It was the perfect way to round out our trip to Barcelona and our kids loved getting involved in the kitchen. The food was delicious! We would recommend this class to any group looking for a personalized and unique dinner experience.
- 818mic December 30, 2023
We had an excellent experience making sangria and paella and putting the finishing touches on our traditional crema Catalana dessert. It was our first night in Barcelona and a much needed relaxing, fun, and educational evening. Everyone got to help chop, stir, cook, carmelize, drink, and eat. The apartment was welcoming and comfortable and we had a terrific time.
- Jamie December 27, 2022
We had a great time walking around the market and getting to know the culture of Spanish food shopping. We cooked the paella from scratch and had a great time chatting, cooking and tasting :) We can totally recommend this also for kids, our 11 and 15 year old had a great time and participated in cutting and cooking.Thanks Eric for a wonderful morning and paella lunch!
- SusanneS717 December 29, 2019
Best meal of our trip! Our market tour & paella cooking class with Josh was one of the highlights of our time in Barcelona. Josh did a wonderful job teaching us how to make authentic paella & my son declared it the best meal of our trip (I would have to agree!). The tour of the market was informative as well. Oh, and the sangria was the best I’ve had!
- thespicyrd July 09, 2019
Our market tour & paella cooking class with Josh was one of the highlights of our time in Barcelona. Josh did a wonderful job teaching us how to make authentic paella & my son declared it the best meal of our trip (I would have to agree!). The tour of the market was informative as well. Oh, and the sangria was the best I’ve had!
- thespicyrd July 09, 2019
Josh is a really excellent teacher, his cooking studio is SO cool and beautiful, and it was so much fun to learn not only how to make the paella, but a proper sangria as well! I would highly recommend this activity to anyone interested in cooking and learning something new.
- Kristi O May 23, 2019
Great time with Josh and cooked a noodle version of paella which was great fun. Nice to have a bilingual host who we could understand completely and intro us to a Barcelona market. Thanks chef josh.
- kerrytaz May 22, 2019
I could not recommend this more highly! This is why I travel, to meet amazing people like Josh, explore new cities and beautiful places, and to experience the best food that a place has to offer. This was pure perfection! I love Traveling Spoon. Our afternoon with Josh was perfect. We met him at one of the large markets in Barcelona, near his kitchen, for a market tour and sampling some fantastic Jamon. Josh is a teacher at heart, and doesn’t miss a chance to point out the construction of the market, the reason the government invested in and rebuilt the markets (I won’t spoil the story), and of course all the steps of making the paella. We visited specialty shops for: charcuteria (jamon), fruits and veggies, fish, eggs (yes, nothing but eggs there), poultry, and olives. We enjoyed samples at most places, and purchased the ingredients for the paella and sangria. Note: I wrote ahead to Josh to ask him to teach me to make the fish stock, so if you want that, you should do the same. Josh uses a small apartment with a professional kitchen and dining room for his classes. This was no demo class - we were in the kitchen with him the whole time, given assignments as fast as we could get them done, and with supervision and pointers at each step. “Here’s how you puree a tomato”, “Here’s what to look for as the paella cooks”, “here’s how the Castilian version is different from other versions”. I have included several photos of the market trip, and ingredients, and the process for the paella. I left out his secret steps for your enjoyment with him… The sangria was fantastic, and the paella tasted as good as it looked - that flavor was so deep and yummy! There was very little left over after dinner. Oh, and we had a nice dessert similar to creme brule. We met Josh about 5pm, and were done with dinner around 8, which left us time for a flamenco show that night. It was one my favorite travel activities I have ever done. I will certainly be trying traveling spoon again in the near future, maybe a Japanese home-cooking one in Tokyo…
- TravelingDrek August 16, 2018
Read More
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Josh

$164-$204 USD

per person
100% VETTED
Learn more
  • 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back
  • Credit card is not charged until the host confirms your booking
  • Private experience
Pricing (per person)*
1 person 4 ppl 5+ people
Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $164 $166
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $204 $188
Alcohol
 $0 per person
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
1 person 4 ppl 5+ people
Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $164 $166
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $204 $188
Alcohol
 $0 per person
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
Experience Timings
 Lunch Dinner
Cooking Experience+ Meal
 11:00am-2:00pm 5:00pm-8:00pm
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 10:00am-2:00pm

Meet Josh

Josh grew up in Portland, Oregon and moved to Spain in 2002 to improve his Spanish. He ended up moving there permanently because he fell in love with the country's language and culture. He translated and interpreted for a while before realizing his passion for food. Josh first started cooking in his childhood, exploring spices and different ingredients. He then learned about different ways of cooking in Spain and appreciated relying on quality of ingredients to make amazing flavors. He loved the shift from depending on spices to using time and careful preparation of the best, freshest ingredients to create incredible meals. He loves the variety of fresh seafood available in Spain and learned from friends' grandmothers and fathers, learning their favorite family recipes. Josh opened up a cooking studio a few years ago to teach travelers about the region's amazing ingredients and to communicate what he loves about the area's local history and food culture through a shared food experience. Josh is also a percussionist in band and he will be happy to share his favorite local music recommendations (and even play them on the sound system)!

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

In-home meal: (4-15 guests) Your experience takes place at Josh’s cooking studio. It is centrally located and is easy to reach via public transport. The location is a professional kitchen. Enjoy your meal of paella together with Josh while you talk about food, travel, music. You can choose between seafood, meat and vegetable paella. Armed with information about Spanish food and culture, finish your meal with a tasty local dessert such as crema catalana. Sangria is included in the cost of your experience.

Cooking experience: (4-15 guests) Join our immersive paella cooking class in Barcelona! Learn the art of making traditional Spanish paella with fresh ingredients and expert guidance. Your Barcelona cooking class starts with chopping up fruit to prepare the sangria, the perfect way to start your experience! Then, you will make the dessert together, learn all the tricks to making a perfect crema catalana. Finally, Josh will take you through the step-by-step stages of preparing the ingredients for your paella. Learn some of Josh's favorite basic culinary tips needed to make a great paella and more. Expect a hands-on cooking class in Barcelona - Josh's philosophy is that you will learn to cook only by doing it! As Josh details the different ingredients and techniques of your dishes, you will prepare a traditional paella together. At the end of the class, he will offer you a chance to caramelize the sugar on the top of your own crema catalana dessert! Perfect Spanish cooking class for all skill levels.

Market visit: (4-15 guests) Guided tour of Mercat de la llibertat, a must visit market frequented by local Catalans. Start your tour with a taste of Spanish jamon at Josh's favorite Catalan charcuterie and learn about how and where the best jamon is made. Josh is friends with many of the local vendors who sell very high quality, locally-sourced meats, fishes, cheeses, and produce. Walk around the market and stop at many of his favorite vendors everything from salt cod to specially-macerated olives. Josh will point out what differentiates the best meat from the rest and will give you recommendations for cheeses, cured meats and other delicacies. By the end of the tour you'll understand the difference between Catalonian and Spanish cultures and learn a lot about specialty ingredients that are such an important part of the local diet and culture; in particular, the cured acorn-fed Iberian ham. Your market tour will last roughly 45 minutes, during which you might purchase local ingredients like squid or red peppers for your paella from Josh’s favorite vendors. Return together to Josh's cooking studio with your basket of ingredients to begin your Spanish cooking lesson and meal.

Please note that the market is closed on Sundays so market tours are unavailable on this day.

Notes: On days when Josh is not available, his colleague and fellow chef will host you. The cooking studio is located one floor up from the ground floor. However, there is an alter-able accessible elevator for those who cannot take the stairs. 1-2 glasses of Sangria are included in the price of every experience you book. Your host can also accommodate a vegetarian diet in his Spanish cooking class.

Our host Josh requests a minimum of four guests (or for a total payment of 4 guests even if there are fewer guests) to host this private culinary experience.

Languages spoken: English, Catalan and Spanish

Sample menu

This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
  • Sangria
  • Esqueixada (salad) or suquet de peix (fish soup)
  • Tapa like calamares encebollados (squids) or xistorra (special type of chorizo)
  • Paella
  • Local dessert
PERSONALLY VETTED REVIEW
A Traveling Spoon ambassador visited this host. Here is their personal review.

​​Cooking seafood Paella with Josh was one of the highlights of our 8-day stay in Barcelona. After hitting the typical tourist sites, it was refreshing to get the perspective of a local who is so passionate about food. He was very educational and patient, and we had a really fun time. It was great to pick up lots of tacit information not included in the recipe. Lastly, we enjoyed the food in the dining room with Josh and talked about his music and Catalonia. We loved hearing about Josh’s stories living in Barcelona, and greatly appreciated his tips and local perspective. We had an overall amazing experience and would highly recommend this!!

Sam and Shirbi, Traveling Spoon Ambassador

Traveler reviews

5.0 (8)
Chris guided us through cooking a delicious traditional Spanish dinner… complete with sangria, seafood paella and crema Catalan. He was friendly, knowledgeable and patient with our entire family. It was the perfect way to round out our trip to Barcelona and our kids loved getting involved in the kitchen. The food was delicious! We would recommend this class to any group looking for a personalized and unique dinner experience.
- 818mic December 30, 2023
We had an excellent experience making sangria and paella and putting the finishing touches on our traditional crema Catalana dessert. It was our first night in Barcelona and a much needed relaxing, fun, and educational evening. Everyone got to help chop, stir, cook, carmelize, drink, and eat. The apartment was welcoming and comfortable and we had a terrific time.
- Jamie December 27, 2022
We had a great time walking around the market and getting to know the culture of Spanish food shopping. We cooked the paella from scratch and had a great time chatting, cooking and tasting :) We can totally recommend this also for kids, our 11 and 15 year old had a great time and participated in cutting and cooking.Thanks Eric for a wonderful morning and paella lunch!
- SusanneS717 December 29, 2019
Best meal of our trip! Our market tour & paella cooking class with Josh was one of the highlights of our time in Barcelona. Josh did a wonderful job teaching us how to make authentic paella & my son declared it the best meal of our trip (I would have to agree!). The tour of the market was informative as well. Oh, and the sangria was the best I’ve had!
- thespicyrd July 09, 2019
Our market tour & paella cooking class with Josh was one of the highlights of our time in Barcelona. Josh did a wonderful job teaching us how to make authentic paella & my son declared it the best meal of our trip (I would have to agree!). The tour of the market was informative as well. Oh, and the sangria was the best I’ve had!
- thespicyrd July 09, 2019
Josh is a really excellent teacher, his cooking studio is SO cool and beautiful, and it was so much fun to learn not only how to make the paella, but a proper sangria as well! I would highly recommend this activity to anyone interested in cooking and learning something new.
- Kristi O May 23, 2019
Great time with Josh and cooked a noodle version of paella which was great fun. Nice to have a bilingual host who we could understand completely and intro us to a Barcelona market. Thanks chef josh.
- kerrytaz May 22, 2019
I could not recommend this more highly! This is why I travel, to meet amazing people like Josh, explore new cities and beautiful places, and to experience the best food that a place has to offer. This was pure perfection! I love Traveling Spoon. Our afternoon with Josh was perfect. We met him at one of the large markets in Barcelona, near his kitchen, for a market tour and sampling some fantastic Jamon. Josh is a teacher at heart, and doesn’t miss a chance to point out the construction of the market, the reason the government invested in and rebuilt the markets (I won’t spoil the story), and of course all the steps of making the paella. We visited specialty shops for: charcuteria (jamon), fruits and veggies, fish, eggs (yes, nothing but eggs there), poultry, and olives. We enjoyed samples at most places, and purchased the ingredients for the paella and sangria. Note: I wrote ahead to Josh to ask him to teach me to make the fish stock, so if you want that, you should do the same. Josh uses a small apartment with a professional kitchen and dining room for his classes. This was no demo class - we were in the kitchen with him the whole time, given assignments as fast as we could get them done, and with supervision and pointers at each step. “Here’s how you puree a tomato”, “Here’s what to look for as the paella cooks”, “here’s how the Castilian version is different from other versions”. I have included several photos of the market trip, and ingredients, and the process for the paella. I left out his secret steps for your enjoyment with him… The sangria was fantastic, and the paella tasted as good as it looked - that flavor was so deep and yummy! There was very little left over after dinner. Oh, and we had a nice dessert similar to creme brule. We met Josh about 5pm, and were done with dinner around 8, which left us time for a flamenco show that night. It was one my favorite travel activities I have ever done. I will certainly be trying traveling spoon again in the near future, maybe a Japanese home-cooking one in Tokyo…
- TravelingDrek August 16, 2018
Read More
Pricing (per person)*
1 person 4 ppl 5+ people
Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $164 $166
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $204 $188
Alcohol
 $0 per person
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
1 person 4 ppl 5+ people
Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $164 $166
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 Not offered $204 $188
Alcohol
 $0 per person
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.
Experience Timings
 Lunch Dinner
Cooking Experience+ Meal
 11:00am-2:00pm 5:00pm-8:00pm
Market Tour+ Cooking Experience + Meal
 10:00am-2:00pm
ABOUT TRAVELING SPOON

Traveling Spoon connects you with meaningful culinary experiences, from private cooking lessons to homecooked meals in people's homes. Enjoy an immersive cultural experience that gives you a glimpse into the local way of life.

FAQ

    You can cancel your reservation up until 48 hours before your experience for a full refund minus a 3% processing fee. Experiences within 48 hours are not refundable.

    If you have a question for your host, you can include a note in the field "Write a note to your host" during the booking process. Once your booking is confirmed, you will be emailed your host's direct contact information and you will also be able to message the host through your profile. You can always cancel your booking and receive a full refund 48 hours or more before your experience. If you have other questions you can also email us at reservations@travelingspoon.com.

    Most of our hosts are able to accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies, including vegetarian and gluten free options. For vegetarian travelers, we have an icon on each host profile to indicate whether that host can also offer a fully vegetarian menu. There is a section in the booking form to note any allergies or dietary restrictions which will be sent directly to your host.

    Some hosts offer alcohol as an optional add-on for travelers who are of legal drinking age. Pricing for alcohol is visible on the host profile page and includes one to two glasses of wine, beer or local alcohol.

    Have a flight or other tour planned and can’t make the timing provided? If the timing listed on the host’s profile doesn’t work for you, our hosts can often accommodate timing changes. Because all of our experiences are private our hosts are happy to tailor experiences to meet your travel needs. Simply note your request in the booking process.

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    All prices are noted per person prices unless otherwise specified. Transportation is typically charged on a per car basis. Children aged 5-11 are 50% off, and infants aged 0-4 are free. Hosts set their own prices and Traveling Spoon marks up the experiences; on average hosts receive over 70% of the price paid by the traveler.

    100% of Traveling Spoon experiences are private! Just you and your host and host’s family.

    Hosts typically respond to booking inquiries within 72 hours. If for some reason you have not heard from your host or if you have any questions you can always contact us at reservations@travelingspoon.com.

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    Some hosts offer transportation as an optional add-on for travelers. Typically this is round trip transportation with pick up and drop off at your hotel. Pricing is quoted per car. Specific instructions for transportation will be provided in your confirmation details when your booking is confirmed.

    Many of our hosts accommodate solo travelers. You can see if a host accepts solo travelers by looking at the traveler range found next to the experience descriptions on the host profile (indicated by the numbers in parentheses next to "In-home meal", "Cooking experience" and "Market visit").

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