Following the success of last year’s event, the festival returns on 24 and 25 May to the birthplace of the Llobregat, featuring live cooking demonstrations by chefs such as Sergi de Meià, Joseba Cruz, Iolanda Bustos and Rafel Múria, as well as master chocolatier Oriol Balaguer.
This May, Castellar de n’Hug (Berguedà) will once again be the setting for one of the region’s most unique gastronomic events: a new edition of CuinAigua, the event organised with the support of the ATL (Ens d’Abastament d’Aigua Ter-Llobregat) and in collaboration with Castellar de n’Hug Town Council, which highlights the cuisine of transhumance and the essential role of water as the backbone of the landscape and culinary culture.
Following last year’s success, a dozen chefs from across the region will gather once again in Castellar de n’Hug to share their expertise over two mornings, on 24 and 25 May. These will be two mornings of live cooking where local talents and leading figures in Catalan gastronomy will celebrate the value of water as a fundamental ingredient, highlighting the richness of shepherds’ cuisine and transhumance.
This year, the CuinAigua programme features names such as the nomadic chefs Joseba Cruz (Le Clandestin) and Iolanda Bustos (Mas Generós, in Fonteta). On Sunday 24th, the former will lead a session focusing on “The Llobregat River Ecosystem”, whilst the “flower chef” will show us on Monday 25th how “the landscape is distilled”, in a presentation that connects cuisine and the environment from a botanical perspective.
Also on Sunday 24th, Sergi de Meià will cook whilst explaining how water from the Pre-Pyrenees forms the basis of the cuisine he creates at the Coma de Meià Foundation. The following day, Pere Venturós (Terra de Berga) will explore the relationship between territory and produce in the session “Mountain cuisine: the connection between river and land”.
Home cooking and Michelin-starred cuisine
A more intimate, home-style perspective will be provided by Clara Simó, known on social media as Clara Fogons, who will be hosting the session “Good, quick and cheap: tips for everyday cooking” on Sunday.
The sweetest session at CuinAigua will once again feature the master chocolatier Oriol Balaguer, with a session as evocative as its name: “The art of sweetening life”.
Another of the highlights of the 2026 edition will be led by chef Rafel Múria, from the Michelin-starred restaurant Quatre Molins* (Cornudella de Montsant). The ‘honey chef’ will bring a haute cuisine session entitled “Water + bees = life” to the stage in Castellar de n’Hug, a haute cuisine offering that transcends the plate to become a clear statement: preserving the balance of ecosystems is also a gastronomic responsibility.
At CuinAigua, however, local chefs will play a central role: not only will they offer various show cooking sessions, but they will act as true hosts, just as they know best: cooking and sharing their knowledge of a transhumance- and water-based cuisine deeply rooted in the region and in their approach to the kitchen.
CuinAigua: water is something you can eat too
Organised by the Ter-Llobregat Water Supply Authority in collaboration with Castellar de n’Hug Town Council, CuinAigua is a culinary and gastronomic event that has established itself on the calendar as a true celebration of traditional cuisine with a focus on local character, sustainability and heritage.
The third edition of CuinAigua, which will once again be held in the “birthplace of the River Llobregat” for the second consecutive year (the first was held at the Alícia Foundation), will once again bring together hundreds of people for a unique, open gastronomic experience rooted in deep-seated values. A cuisine that speaks of origin, sustainability, time and the local area. Water, as the central theme, will take centre stage: not only as an essential ingredient, but as a symbol of life, memory and the future.
Source: ACEVEDO COM