November

November only lies behind October for rainfall, so expect it to be wet, but on the plus side the forests are full of mushrooms.

Want to know what the weather will do on the Costa Brava? Here’s the 25 day forecast.

If you know what you’re doing you can spend hours foraging for edible fungi.

Otherwise it’s far safer to buy them instead. You’ll find all shapes and sizes is shops and market stalls but prices sometimes eye watering. A favourite variety here is the camagroc – literally yellow leg. Apparently it’s known as yellow foot in English.

Chestnuts are another seasonal delicacy. In larger towns you may notice the air full of their sweet smell from the end of October and into November. You’ll find them widely available from street stalls and are great to fight off the chill.

You can even buy special pans to roast your own chestnuts. They look like a frying pan with holes and are used to cook chestnuts over an open fire.

Towards the end of November you may also see calçots start to appear on the menu of some restaurants and in food markets. While the season really gets going in January it’s an early opportunity to enjoy a uniquely Catalan speciality.

What’s on in November

With shorter days and cold weather there are far few things going on in the Costa Brava. That’s not to say there s nothing though as there are a couple of culinary treats you can participate in if you want to learn more about local cuisine.

All Saints Day

Every year 1st November is celebrated as All Saints Day and taken as a public holiday in Spain. Halloween and All Saints Day is celebrated with a feast based around roasted chestnuts called the castanyada.

In addition to chestnuts, the feast includes a small marzipan cake called a panellet, the most common type which is covered in pine nuts, and sweet potatoes. All this is washed down with Moscatell.

Girona: Fires de Sant Narcís

Ten days of celebration that began on the last Friday of October continue into November as Girona celebrates the Fires de Sant Narcís. More than 200 events take place at various venues around the city with celebrations continuing until the first Sunday of November.  Enjoy sampling the food and drink or go and listen to live music, visit a funfair, watch theatre performances, exhibitions, parades and human towers.

Palafrugell: Es Niu

Es Niu, or “the nest”, is a traditional stew from Palafrugell originally made from cod tripe, boiled egg, fish broth and potato.

Fishermen later added cuttlefish, then cork harvesters would cook it with game and sausage and eat it on Mondays. It takes five hours or so to cook and so generally not available on regular restaurant menus. However, since 1998 several restaurants in Palafrugell have offered it during October and November.

Llagostera: Mushroom gastronomy

With the October rainfall comes all sorts of fungi in Girona’s forests. If you go for a walk at weekends you’ll trip over people with baskets full of various mushrooms. Catalonia has dozens of edible mushrooms, although plenty that are not.

While you’ve missed Llagostera’s October mushroom fair a number of restaurants take part in Llagostera’s mushroom gastronomy campaign, which runs for a month ending in mid November.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols: Ganxotapes

The autumn edition of Ganxotapes runs for a month from mid October. During this period you can get a drink and a tapa for around €3 with restaurants competing to produce the best tapa dish based on votes from the public.