ottawa foodies

Hola. my family is getting ready to travel to Spain with 4 other families at the end of July. We're renting a villa near Girona in Catalonia. I'm hosting a dinner this weekend for all the families and am wondering if anyone has tips on where to get good spanish ingredients (good serrano ham, manchego cheese...).
I'm also making a recipe for white fish poached in fig leaves. Where can I get fresh fig leaves?
Muchas gracias!

Serrano ham, Manchego cheese....La Bottega (Market) or Il Negozio (Wellington West) are my two picks.

As for fig leaves, I would suggest posting an ad to craigslist about fig trees (Momomoto I think has one, maybe he has leaves?)

greenqueen I would echo LWB's suggestion of getting your hams and cheeses at La Bottega. I don't buy much meat but I love cheese and they seem to have every type imaginable. I may be way off base on this but you could also try Mario's Food Centre on McArthur. I went there a couple of times last year and seem to recall mostly non perishables so you might want to call first.

As for fresh fig leaves some of the ethnic grocery stores might be able to help. I'm thinking along the lines of the Mid East Food Store on St. Laurent or the Sultan Supermarket in South Keys. Good luck with your search - your dinner sounds delicious!

Nicastro's (both Glebe & Merivale) has manchego - I've bought both mild and aged manchego at the Glebe store. Might be worth calling if you're nearby to see if they have serrano.
I hope you'll post after your return about your adventures - we have been considering renting a villa in southern Europe with a group of friends too, and I'm interested in hearing all about it.
Buena suerte! (At least that's what my wife says - I'm hoping she's right!)

Cheers! Andy
PS 5 families? That include kids? Awesome! Mucho buena suete!

Alas, I am fig-tree-less! rdmsgirl did say that she had one, though.