Catalan food traditions

Local specialties abound in Spain. Sampling them is an integral part of the travel experience. A couple years ago I was having lunch in Salamanca and struck up a conversation with a Spanish couple from Catalonia sitting at the adjacent table; they were visiting the city specifically to have a roasted lamb dish. A 6 or 7 hour car ride for a meal. I did not opt for the lamb that day but in nearby Segovia I had the local fat white beans (Judiones) served ceremonially from a large earthenware jug. A memorable experience unique to Segovia.

It is one only of innumerable local dishes fun to seek out all across Spain: cold tomato soup salmorejo in southern Cordoba, steaming cabbage soup caldo in rainy Galicia, Moroccan spiced espinacas con garbanzos in Seville, bacalao pil pil in Bilbao, rabas de calamar in Cantabria. Oh, and arroz (rice) in all its variations in Valencia. Too many to mention!

Se comen bien in España. They eat well in Spain.

In our information pack from Catalan Adventures there was a section listing traditional dishes in Catalonia. How helpful. We made it our mission to try as many as possible. We took our task very seriously.

Where to start? With a staple found everywhere. Pan amb tomaquet. Bread with tomato. A toasted slice of country bread smothered with a cut tomato and drizzled with olive oil. Sometimes we constructed this ourselves, but I preferred when the bread came already dressed with juicy tomato.

The seafood was standout. We had rape (monkfish), lubina (sea bass), rodaballo (turbot), dorada (sea bream), bacallao (cod) and sepia (cuttlefish). Smaller fish served whole, generally prepared simply with olive oil and garlic. Mussels merely steamed, served only with a squeeze of lemon, fresh and tender. A delicately flavoured carpaccio of red shrimp (gambas rojas). We ordered creatures we never heard of and for which I do not have a translation like this gorgeous red carabinero (a really huge red shrimp). Unbelievable.

There are several Catalan traditional dishes that make use of this bountiful seafood. Seafood paella, of course. Regrettably we ran out of meals to try its cousin Fideuà, prepared like a paella but with short noodles called Fideuà. The suquet de peix (a fish stew) was a highlight. A rich saffron coloured broth with large shrimp and juicy pieces of white fish. The server’s advice when he presented us with our steaming pot: take your time. We did. Washed down with a bottle of the house white wine.

It was hard to tear ourselves away from the seafood, but we had a list to get through. No item would be left behind! We sampled Escalivada, a dish of grilled tomatoes, peppers and aubergines; Esqueixada, a salad of fresh tomatoes, onions and shredded salt cod; and Butifarra, a peppery pork sausage, accompanied with the local small white bean. Check, check, check. The search continued. After our misty hike to Castell del Verdera, we ordered Canalones, a comforting dish of layered pasta, meat and gooey bechamel. Check.

There was one seasonal item on the list I was worried we would miss by the beginning of April. Calçots are large spring onions grown in the winter. When we sat down for lunch in Castelló Empúries I was giddy to see people eating calçots. It wasn’t on the menu. I asked our server. He thought they were out. Tense moments transpired as he went to the kitchen to check. He returned. Yes they still had calçots.

Hooray!

The charred onions cooked over the grill were served in a terracotta tile like a boat. I was served a bib and a plastic glove. Perhaps experienced Catalans do not need these protections, but it is a messy affair. I held the green onion in front of me, attempted to peel the outer blackened layer off in one go and then dipped the tender onion in a thick sauce made from roasted tomatoes, garlic and almonds (similar to romesco) before slurping it down. There is a technique to it. New to me. I glanced at the other table to see if I was doing it right and they nodded in encouragement.

If you like to play with your food, calçots is a treat!

Any food list should end with something sweet. There was one dessert on our list. Crema Catalana is very much like its French counterpart Crème brûlée. We did not discern the difference the first time we tried it. So we sampled it again another night. On second attempt we noted the subtle citrus notes. It might have been orange blossom. We couldn’t be certain. But we were certainly satisfied with our investigation.

We ate well in Catalonia.