Vegan Barcelona - In Bloom Cooking School

So, you've eaten tons of incredible vegan food in Barcelona, saw all the top sights, and now you're looking for something else to do?

How about something super fun, interactive, tasty, and vegan? If that sounds good, check out the classes at In Bloom vegan cooking school!

In Bloom Vegan Cooking School

In Boom vegan cooking school is run by Laura Bonet, a vegan, seasoned chef, and a native to Barcelona. She started the school to teach people how to cook tasty vegan food to share with loved ones - and to fight climate change and animal cruelty at the same time.

In Bloom, located just a few blocks from Plaza de España, has a huge selection of cooking class. You can learn how to make vegan versions of some of Spain's most well known dishes like paella, tortilla, and bombas de patata. Or you can learn to cook veganized classic Catalan dishes like canelons with bechamel, fricandó, and escalivada.

On top of local delights, you can travel the globe with In Bloom and learn to prepare Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Italian cuisine too. Additionally, you can also take classes that focus on making vegan cheese, desserts, seitan, and more.

Check out In Bloom's courses here for all the incredible options the school offers.

The In Bloom Space

The cooking school is divided into three different spaces. At the entrance is the kitchen, further in is a cleaning area, and tucked away in the back is a dining room.

The kitchen is set up with stations before students arrive. Each station is complete with knives, cutting boards, some of the ingredients that will be used, and printouts of the recipes that will be prepared there.

I recommend arriving to class a few minutes early and taking a look at the recipes posted to each station. Then you can try to claim the station with the recipes that appeal to you the most.

In Bloom Classes

In Bloom classes are offered in four-hour blocks, in the morning or evening. The majority of the class is spent cooking but the last hour or so is always reserved for feasting on the creations you make during the class.

All three of the cooking classes I took at In Bloom were so much fun, partly due to Laura's very chill and relaxed approach. She really creates a welcoming and encouraging vibe, and has a way of making even the most introverted introverts feel comfortable and confident.

At the beginning of each class Laura gives an intro and then assists students as they need it, jumping in to help or explain anything unclear. If you don't know the first thing about cooking, don't worry. With Laura's guidance, you'll walk away from her classes with a sense of accomplishment.

Classes are also offered in multiple languages. So, if you speak Spanish, Catalan, English, or German, Laura has you covered. In fact, I've heard her speak all four of those languages in the span of one class.

My Experience at In Bloom

So far, I've taken three classes at In Bloom. The Mediterranean tapas class, the traditional Catalan cuisine class, and the sushi and gyozas class. All three classes were wonderful experiences, but a bit different because of the class sizes.

One class was a full house of 14 with high energy, another super relaxed with just four students, and the third a chill but upbeat medium-sized group. Even with the different class sizes, I got the chance to try new dishes and recipes, meet people from around the world and from Barcelona, and spend a few hours immersed in a super fun learning experience at all of them.

In my opinion, the best part of each class is the end because you get to admire your plated creations and feast on them with your fellow classmates. Each dish is beautifully laid out on a big communal dining table in the back room. Beer, cava, or kombucha are offered for a small fee to enjoy with your meal. Once sat, the fun starts and everyone gets to share their creations, chat about the class, and get to know one another better.

After every class, Laura emails the recipes out so you can recreate the dishes for yourself, friends, and family.

Disclaimer: The classes offered are not static. The recipes can change or entirely new classes are offered over time. So, my experiences described below are from what was offered at the time. You can check out the current offers and recipes included on the In Bloom website.

Vegan Catalan Cuisine: Traditional Recipes

All three classes I took at In Bloom were fantastic, but my favorite was the Catalan cuisine course. Going in, I knew very little about traditional Catalan cuisine, so it was the perfect way to learn more about the region of Spain I had just moved to.

During the class we prepared mushroom cannelloni with béchamel sauce; fricandó, a traditional Catalan stew; fideuà, a Catalan dish made with short pasta that's similar to paella; aioli to go with the fideuà; and escalivada with homemade bread. Escalivada is a roasted red pepper, eggplant, and onion dish doused in olive oil that is deceptive in its simplicity considering how delicious it is. Every single dish was incredibly tasty, comforting, and felt easy to re-create at home.

Note: the recipes for this class are a bit different now than what was offered when I took it. Currently (when this article was published), the fideuá has been moved to the Paella class and the escalivada has been replaced with "Suquet de mar", a daikon "fishy" stew. Additionally, "butifarra", a white bean Catalan sausage, is also included.

The Best Mediterranean Tapas

The Best Mediterranean Tapas class was a fantastic but slightly chaotic one since it was packed to the brim with 14 people! I think this is typically the case with the more popular classes like this one and the paella classes that are offered on weekends.

That said, the packed class means we had enough people to make all of the available recipes. Familiar classics like Spanish tortilla, potato bombas with brava sauce, stuffed peppers with cauliflower salted "cod", vegan chorizo in wine sauce, albondigas (meatballs) made from soy, Russian salad made with chickpea "tuna", and "calamari" made of konjak. Plus, other less known (to me anyway) dishes like boquerones ("anchovies") with zucchini in vinegar, and Galacian tartlettes with jackfruit.

The feast at the end of the class was truly magical, and there was a real sense of accomplishment by everyone.

If you want to learn how to make a wide variety of Mediterranean - mostly Spanish - tapas that you can make at home to impress your loved ones, this is a must-do experience.

Vegan Sushi: Rolls, Nigiri & Gyozas

The last class I took at In Bloom was the Vegan Sushi: Rolls, Nigiri & Gyozas. I took it with a friend who was visiting from out of town and we both loved the experience.

We got to learn how to make veganized versions of popular sushi and gyoza. Cooking the different components are just half the experience. Learning the best way to peel an avocado for sushi, how to wrap a gyoza, and how to roll a sushi roll were actually the biggest takeaways for me from the class.

I highly recommend this class if you want to learn how to make sushi and gyoza at home and impress your friends and family.

Final Thoughts - In Bloom Vegan Cooking School

If you're visiting or living in Barcelona, there are plenty of places to try veganized versions of traditional Spanish and Catalan food, but In Bloom offers something more: a chance to learn how to make traditional dishes so you can take a piece of Barcelona home with you to share with your loved ones.

Even more, you can learn the basics of vegan baking, cheesemaking, and seitan crafting. So if you're vegan in Barcelona, carve out some time to visit In Bloom and take one of Laura's wonderful classes. Your heart, mind, and belly will thank you!