It’s not everyday that you get an invite to one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants… so when the Macallan Whisky email came through about a trip to Girona for a meal at El Celler de Can Roca, my reply was an immediate and very enthusiastic yes.

Girona is synonymous with the Roca Brothers. Joan, Josep and Jordi opened El Celler de Can Roca in 1986, and since it has won 3 Michelin stars and spent a number of years at the top spot on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The brothers, known for their immaculate palates, have collaborated with the renowned Macallan Whisky, a brand which also prides itself on the highest quality of taste.

Our meal at the restaurant was part of the elaborate ‘Time Captured Experience’, a unique and artistic tribute to time and how it develops and transforms the best ingredients.

A group of keen foodies arrived in Girona in the morning. Before visiting the restaurant we were taken to the development house to see the inventions in progress. After watching the fascinating food scientists at work we walked over to El Celler de Can Roca for Macallan whisky cocktails and miniature canapes inspired by different countries around the world.

An exclusive sneak preview of the kitchen and a interactive Q&A with the three brothers gave us all a real insight into the Roca way of creating food memories. It was endearing to watch them chat and laugh together… and it was a rare privilege to meet them all afterwards.

The grand dining room was set up with vibrant purple round tables, blue and red mood lighting and large screens for further explanation of the food. As the brothers only speak Spanish the English-speakers amongst us had a headset with a live English translation.

The meal consisted of 10 courses with various little extra bites here and there. The first course was just as much about aesthetics as taste… a delicate glass egg timer was placed on our plates and a waiter passed round the table filling each up with Truffle Zabaione with Egg Yolk. It was rich, indulgent and utterly delicious, and we each scrabbled to eat the divine yellow liquid before it escaped through the tunnel and onto the plate beneath.

I was amazed by each plate, bowl and container which found its way to our table. The beautiful crockery is all handcrafted for the Roca brothers and adds a real element of excitement and beauty to the plates of food.

For the main section of the meal we first devoured a ‘Golden Apple with Sobrasada’. This wondrous spun sugar apple was matched immaculately with the pieces of salty pork belly. Next up was ‘Goose a la Royale’ cooked for 30 hours at 63 degrees with a beetroot jewel. It was a regal dish, intensely flavoured meat which melted in the mouth and a lovely earthiness from the pink beetroot.

Careful and clever wine and whisky pairings were matched with the food and brought out to us with each course. Though I couldn’t drink it all, I sipped each one amazed by the depth of flavour and variety of tastes.

The desserts were a triumph and our table ooh-ed and ahh-ed as the plates were put down in front of us. My personal favourite was the ‘Flower Bomb’ a floral and elegant dessert concealed within a pearl sugar ball and sitting amongst a nest of candyfloss. It was almost too beautiful to eat.

No meal is complete without a chocolate course, and this was our last plate of the day. ‘The Macallan Amber Cigar Box’ was a masculine dish, woody smokey flavours of cocoa contrasting with a deep red berry coulis.

Our final taste of the day was in the words of the Roca brothers, ‘the gift of time itself’. We were treated to 2 drops of history contained within tiny bottles: a drop of the Macallan 1946 and one drop of the Trafalgar 1805. There are very few remaining bottles of these vintage Macallan blends and I felt incredibly humbled to be one of few to taste such special and rare whiskys.

Straight after the meal I was whisked off in a taxi to catch a flight home my head still reeling from the incredible and immersive El Celler de Can Roca experience.

More information about El Celler de Can Roca here, and learn more about Macallan whisky here.