The women are taking part in an annual ritual—gathering plants to make the traditional Catalan liqueur called ratafia. A heady concoction of around 50 aromatic herbs, flowers, fruits and spices, this sweet, caramel-coloured drink is said to have medicinal properties.
While many Spanish liqueurs such as patxaran/pacharán, the sloe-flavoured liqueur from Navarra, and orujo, the transparent spirit popular in Galicia, Castilla-León and Cantabria, have become supermarket staples, ratafia remains very much a local product. And although small distilleries, such as Cal Russet in Olot and Distribucions Portet outside of Lleida, produce ratafia commercially, the practice of making it at home is still widespread.
Traditionally, the herbs are gathered on the eve of the midsummer festival of Sant Joan when they are said to be imbued with magical qualities. Each family has its own recipe—a closely-guarded secret that is passed down through the generations—and their own way of preparing the liqueur. For this reason it is said there are as many different types of ratafia as there are people who make it.
Lluisa, who was taught what she knows by her mother, is now passing on her knowledge of herbs to her daughter Anna Güell and four-year-old granddaughter Julia. For the past four or five years, they have been joined on their annual herb-gathering trips by several of Anna’s colleagues, all of whom contribute their own ideas on what to add to the brew.
Another ratafia enthusiast, Xavi Amat, from Santa Coloma de Farners, learned how to make the liqueur by listening to the advice of “la gente mayor” as well as from taking part in an annual summertime workshop held in his hometown. “Like all families and people who make ratafia, we have a secret recipe,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I can only give you some details.”
While Amat gathers herbs that he finds near his house throughout the year and buys others from herb shops, Lluisa’s friends enjoy the social aspect of their plant-gathering excursions in the run-up to Sant Joan.
One of the group, Àngels Camós, doesn’t even plan to make ratafia this year. “I still have ratafia left from last year,” she explained. “I just want to learn about the plants.”
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