Morella Literary festival

Curating and presenting

It was such a privilege to be involved in the inaugural literary festival of Morella, a beautiful medieval village in the Spanish region of Castellón.

The festival, organised by local author Elena Moya, was focused on narratives and touched on every topic from football and gastronomy to women in literature and the crafting of crime fiction. The weekend saw the local theatre draw large crowds to attend a highly curated programme of panel sessions and discussions.

The event attracted significant names including big selling novelist Eduardo Mendoza and academic and writer Amparo Hurtado alongside football correspondents Ramón Besa (El País) and Simon Kuper (Financial Times).

I was invited to curate and present a panel of chefs, exploring narratives in gastronomy, and it was a pleasure to share the stage with four culinary greats. 

From Valencia, I invited two chefs who had recently been awarded their first Michelin star, Germán Carrizo from Fierro and María José Martinez from Lienzo. They were joined by Nacho Villanueva from El Recreo Peral, a regional destination restaurant in the town of Cuenca, and local Morella chef Carlos Gutierrez who runs Casa Roque, a village landmark restaurant that has been in the family for 30 years.

Together we explored the purpose and importance of crafting a gastronomic narrative, how this looked for each of them and how they all approach the central message of their own story, whether that be in the ingredient, the family history, or the region they find themselves in.

Held in front of a packed crowd, this was a fascinating discussion that gave the audience a real insight into  the world of gastronomy and its purpose beyond the food on the plate.