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Catalan cuisine is the cuisine from Catalonia. It may also refer to the shared cuisine of Northern Catalonia and Andorra, the second of which has a similar cuisine to that of the neighbouring Alt Urgell and Cerdanya comarques and which is often referred to as "Catalan mountain cuisine". [1] It is considered a part of western Mediterranean cuisine. [2]
There are several Catalan language cookbooks from the Middle Ages that are known to modern scholars. The Llibre del Coch (1520) was one of the most influential cookbooks of Renaissance Spain. [3] It includes several sauce recipes made with ingredients such as ginger, mace powder (flor de macis), cinnamon, saffron, cloves (clauells de girofle), wine and honey. [4] [5] Salsa de pagó took its name from the peacock (Catalan : el paó) that it was intended to be served with, but could accompany any type of poultry, and was part of the medieval Christmas meal. [6] Salsa mirraust (or mirausto alla catalana as it's called in the Cuoco Napoletano ) was half-roasted (mi-raust) poultry that was finished in a salsa thickened with egg yolks, toasted almonds and breadcrumbs. In the version of the recipe from the 14th-century Llibre de Sent Soví , the sauce is thickened with mashed poultry liver instead of egg yolks. [7]
Hippocras (pimentes de clareya) was spiced wine made with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, honey and wine pressed through a manega, a pastry bag shaped cloth that was originally designed by Hippocrates to filter water. [8]
The 17th century manuscript El llibre de la Cuina de Scala-Dei, written at the Cartoixa d'Escaladei, contains austere recipes such as of porridges of cereals that go back to Roman times. [9]
Catalan cuisine relies heavily on ingredients popular along the Mediterranean coast, including fresh vegetables (especially tomato, garlic, eggplant (aubergine), capsicum, and artichoke), wheat products (bread, pasta), Arbequina olive oils, wines, legumes (beans, chickpeas), mushrooms (particularly wild mushrooms), nuts (pine nuts, hazelnuts and almonds), all sorts of pork preparations (sausage from Vic, ham), sheep and goats' cheese, poultry, lamb, many types of fish like sardine, anchovy, tuna, and cod [10] and other seafood like prawns, squid, sea snails and sea urchins.
Traditional Catalan cuisine is quite diverse, ranging from pork-intensive dishes cooked in the inland part of the region (Catalonia is one of the main producers of swine products in Spain) to fish-based recipes along the coast. [11] These meat and seafood elements are frequently fused together in the Catalan version of surf and turf, known as mar i muntanya. Examples include chicken with lobster (pollastre amb llagosta), chicken with crayfish (pollastre amb escarmalans), rice with meat and seafood (arròs mar i muntanya) and cuttlefish with meatballs (sipia amb mandonguilles).
The cuisine includes many preparations that mix sweet and savoury and stews with sauces based upon botifarra (pork sausage) and the characteristic picada (ground almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, etc. sometimes with garlic, herbs, biscuits). [10]
There are 11 Catalan wine-growing regions qualified by the INCAVI (The Catalan Institute of Wine): Priorat, Penedès, Catalunya, Costers del Segre, Conca de Barberà, Montsant, Alella, Tarragona, Empordà, Pla del Bages and Terra Alta.
The sparkling wine cava, made mainly in the Penedès and Anoia regions, is the Catalan equivalent to champagne. It is widely exported.
"Moscatell" (Empordà), is a sweet Catalan wine which have similar varieties in other countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, Albania, Slovenia, Greece, Romania and Turkey, as well as other regions of Spain. However, Catalan moscatell is thicker than French muscat and is not drunk before the meal ( aperitiu ) but after it, either with or after dessert.
Some Catalan authors, such as Josep Pla, [15] Jaume Fàbrega [16] or Eliana Thibaut i Comalada, [17] and others like Colman Andrews, [18] have suggested that, besides Catalonia proper, this cuisine takes in the Balearic and Valencian cuisines, [19] but this opinion is challenged as politicised, and is not widespread, nor is it supported by either the Balearic or the Valencian government, [20] [21] while the Catalan government itself provides divergent points of view. [22] [23] In any case, mutual ties do exist between Catalan gastronomy and other western Mediterranean gastronomies, such as Balearic cuisine, Valencian cuisine, Southern French cuisine, Aragonese cuisine or Murcian cuisine.
Catalan cooks and chefs are widely renowned and critically acclaimed all over the world. Three of The World's 50 Best Restaurants are in Catalonia, [24] and four restaurants have three Michelin stars. The Michelin Guide Spain and Portugal 2022 edition awarded 49 restaurants across Catalonia with a total of 64 Michelin stars. [25] Barcelona has 28 Michelin stars across 18 restaurants [26] including Cinc Sentits [27] and has been chosen as the best gastronomical city by the American TV network MSNBC in 2009, topping the list of the ten best gastronomical cities in the world. In Province of Girona are two of the best restaurants of the world, El Celler de Can Roca, the best of the world in 2014 and 2015, and elBulli, in Roses, the best one in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2nd in 2010, before its closure in 2011.
Spanish cuisine consists of the traditions and practices of Spanish cooking. It features considerable regional diversity, with significant differences among the traditions of each of Spain's regional cuisines.
Aioli, allioli, or aïoli is a cold sauce consisting of an emulsion of garlic and olive oil; it is found in the cuisines of the northwest Mediterranean.
Pa amb tomàquet ; also known as pan con tomate outside of Catalonia, is a traditional food of Catalan, Aragonese and Balearic cuisine. Pa amb tomàquet is considered a staple of Catalan cuisine and identity.
Biscotti are Italian almond biscuits originating in the city of Prato, in Tuscany. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, and crunchy. In Italy, they are known as cantucci, biscotti di Prato or biscotti etruschi and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Smaller biscotti may be known as biscottini or cantuccini. In Italian, the word biscotti encompasses all kinds of biscuits or cookies.
Crema catalana 'Catalan cream' or crema cremada 'burnt cream' is a Catalan and Spanish dessert consisting of a custard topped with a layer of caramelized sugar. It is "virtually identical" to the French crème brûlée. Like all custards, it is made from milk, egg yolks, and sugar. Some modern recipes add cornflour. It is typically flavored with lemon zest, cinnamon, or vanilla, and a crisp caramel crust is made by caramelizing sugar placed on top of the custard.
Valencian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine as cooked in the Valencian Community, Spain. Its basic ingredients are vegetables, seafood and meat. It is famous worldwide for its rices, such as paella, and its citrus fruits. The cuisine of neighbouring regions have given and received important contributions from Valencian gastronomy, amongst them Balearic cuisine, Catalan cuisine, Aragonese cuisine, Manchego cuisine and Murcian cuisine.
Balearic cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine as cooked in the Balearic Islands, Spain. It can be regarded as part of a wider Catalan cuisine, since it shares many dishes and ingredients with Catalonia and the Valencian Community. Others view it as part of a more global Spanish cuisine. Traditional Balearic cuisine is rich in vegetables, cereal and legumes as well as being low in fats. A succinct selection of the primary dishes would be ensaimades, seafood and vegetable stews, sobrassada, coques, tombet, Maó cheese and wine.
Calçot is a type of green onion. The name calçot comes from the Catalan language. The calçot from Valls is a registered EU Protected Geographical Indication.
The coca, coc or fogassa, is a pastry typically made and consumed in Catalonia, the Aragonese Strip, most of Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Andorra and in French Catalonia.
Jaime Fábrega Colón is a Spanish gastronomy writer, journalist, historian and professor at some universities. He has written more than fifty gastronomy and cooking books, he has won five times the Gourmand World Cookbook Award and he has made Ferran Adrià known over the world as a Catalan chef. He takes part of some international cultural associations as for example AICA and FIJET.
Josep Lladonosa i Giró is a Catalan chef and food writer from the province of Lleida. He has been a chef since the 1980s. Throughout his career, he has also conducted extensive research on cooking techniques, products, recipes and the culture tied to eating in Catalonia. He has documented these aspects of Catalan cuisine since the Middle Ages, as exemplified in his book Llibre de Sent Soví. Lladonosa has diffused this knowledge through a large number of books and articles, some of which have been translated into languages including Spanish, English and French. He is also a famous gastronomy teacher, collaborating with individuals such as Joan Amades and Jaume Fàbrega. In 2003, he was awarded the highest Catalan honour by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Creu de Sant Jordi.
Picada is one of the characteristic sauces and culinary techniques essential to Catalan cuisine. The technique is typically found in Catalonia and Valencia and subsequently Catalan cuisine and Valencian cuisine. It is not an autonomous sauce like mayonnaise or romesco, but it is added as a seasoning during the cooking of a recipe.
Flaó is a cheesecake or tart found in Spanish cuisine popular from Levante. It is claimed by Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera, with some controversy. Traditionally flaons were part of Easter family celebrations in Menorca, but now they are available all year round.
Joan Roca i Fontané is a Spanish chef, best known as founder and head chef of El Celler de Can Roca, awarded three Michelin stars in 2009. In 2013 & 2015, it was named the best restaurant in the world by the Restaurant Magazine. It was ranked second by the same magazine in 2011, 2012 & 2014.
The Catalan dialects feature a relative uniformity, especially when compared to other Romance languages; both in terms of vocabulary, semantics, syntax, morphology, and phonology. Mutual intelligibility between its dialects is very high, estimates ranging from 90% to 95%. The only exception is the isolated idiosyncratic Alguerese dialect.
The gastronomy of the province of Valladolid comprises the meals, their preparation, and the culinary habits of the province of Valladolid. It is based on barbecued and roast food, especially roasted Spanish cuisine, complemented by wines.
Menorcan cuisine refers to the typical food and drink of Menorca.
Josep Sucarrats Miró is a Catalan writer, specialized in gastronomy.
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