Catalan cuisine

Catalan cuisineis the cooking traditions and practices fromCatalonia. It may also refer to the shared cuisine ofNorthern CataloniaandAndorra, the second of which has a similar cuisine to that of the neighbouringAlt UrgellandCerdanyacomarquesand which is often referred to as "Catalan mountain cuisine".It is considered a part of westernMediterranean cuisine.
There are severalCatalan languagecookbooks from theMiddle Agesthat are known to modern scholars. TheLlibre del Coch(1520) was one of the most influential cookbooks ofRenaissance Spain.It includes severalsaucerecipes made with ingredients such as ginger,macepowder (flor de macis), cinnamon,saffron, cloves (clauells de girofle), wine and honey.Salsa de pagótook its name from thepeacock(Catalan:el paó) that it was intended to be served with, but could accompany any type of poultry, and was part of the medievalChristmas meal.Salsa mirraust(ormirausto alla catalanaas it's called in theCuoco Napoletano) was half-roasted (mi-raust) poultry that was finished in asalsathickened with egg yolks, toasted almonds and breadcrumbs. In the version of the recipe from the 14th-centuryLlibre de Sent Soví[ast], the sauce is thickened with mashed poultry liver instead of egg yolks.
Hippocras(pimentes de clareya) was spiced wine made with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, honey and wine pressed through amanega, apastry bagshaped cloth that was originally designed byHippocratesto filter water.
The 17th century manuscriptEl llibre de la Cuina de Scala-Dei, written at theCartoixa d'Escaladei, contains austere recipes such as of porridges of cereals that go back toRoman times.
Catalan cuisine relies heavily oningredientspopular along theMediterraneancoast, including freshvegetables(especiallytomato,garlic,eggplant(aubergine),capsicum, andartichoke), wheat products (bread,pasta),Arbequinaolive oils,wines, legumes (beans,chickpeas),mushrooms(particularly wild mushrooms), nuts (pine nuts, hazelnuts and almonds), all sorts ofporkpreparations (sausagefromVic,ham), sheep and goats'cheese,poultry,lamb, many types offishlikesardine,anchovy,tuna, andcodand other seafood likeprawns,squid,sea snailsandsea 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 mainproducers of swine productsin Spain) to fish-based recipes along the coast.These meat and seafood elements are frequently fused together in the Catalan version ofsurf and turf, known asmar 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 uponbotifarra(porksausage) and the characteristicpicada(groundalmonds,hazelnuts,pine nuts, etc. sometimes withgarlic,herbs,biscuits).
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 andTerra Alta.
The sparkling winecava, made mainly in thePenedèsandAnoiaregions, is the Catalan equivalent tochampagne. It is widely exported.
"Moscatell" (Empordà), is a sweet Catalan wine which have similar varieties in other countries such asFrance,Italy,Portugal,Albania,Slovenia,Greece,RomaniaandTurkey, as well as other regions ofSpain. However, Catalanmoscatellis thicker than Frenchmuscatand is not drunk before the meal (aperitiu) but after it, either with or after dessert.
Some Catalan authors, such asJosep Pla,Jaume Fàbregaor Eliana Thibaut i Comalada,and others likeColman Andrews,have suggested that, besides Catalonia proper, this cuisine takes in the Balearic and Valencian cuisines,but this opinion is challenged as politicised, and is not widespread, nor is it supported by either theBalearicor theValencian government,while the Catalan government itself provides divergent points of view.In any case, mutual ties do exist between Catalan gastronomy and other western Mediterranean gastronomies, such asBalearic cuisine,Valencian cuisine,Southern French cuisine,Aragonese cuisineor Murcian cuisine.
Catalan cooks andchefsare widely renowned and critically acclaimed all over the world. Three ofThe World's 50 Best Restaurantsare in Catalonia,and four restaurants have threeMichelinstars. The Michelin Guide Spain and Portugal 2022 edition awarded 49 restaurants across Catalonia with a total of 64 Michelin stars.Barcelona has 28 Michelin stars across 18 restaurantsincludingCinc Sentitsand has been chosen as the best gastronomical city by theAmericanTV networkMSNBCin 2009, topping the list of the ten best gastronomical cities in the world.
InProvince of Gironaare two of the best restaurants of the world,El Celler de Can Roca, the best of the world in 2014 and 2015, andelBulli, inRoses, the best one in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2nd in 2010, before its closure in 2011.