David Solé: "We haven't cooked meat in fifteen years; we specialize in romescos and rice dishes."

TarragonaI interview chef David Solé one Monday afternoon, just after service has finished. In the dining room, preparing the tables for the next day, is his brother, Fidel, who tells me he's almost three years older than David. Also present is David's son, who is a cook like his father, and he tells me that on the day I interview his father, he's been working long hours. Between nine and ten, and so they only serve from midday, Monday through Saturday. This is the reality of the profession, which is also a passion, and everyone at Barquet transmits it.

David and his brother Fidel tell me they're already considering retirement. They're 58 and 61, and since they're prominent (David's two sons), they're reassured because they still have a long life ahead of them at the Barquet restaurant in Tarragona. Now, before we talk about all of this, We start with romesco, as the city has organized its first conference on this signature dish., and if we are sitting at a table at the Barquet, we are obliged to address the issue.

If I ask you what a romesco is, what will you tell me?

— It is a seafaring ranch that began on a fisherman's boat and has evolved to this day.

What is it like today?

— A dish that not everyone makes the same, because there are as many romescos as there are people in the world. Even what I make today will be different tomorrow. What will change are the ingredients, because I can make romesco with fish, meat, vegetables, and I even make romesco omelets. In fact, there are towns in Tarragona, like Ulldecona, that have a tradition of romesco omelets.

And what are these tortillas like?

— Cabbage and beans, for example. Vegetable romescos and romesco tortillas were made by fishermen at home when they were tired of eating fish romescos, which was what they had on hand and was very affordable. Meat used to be expensive, and therefore, vegetables and tortillas were more common in homes.

For each product, was and is the preparation of the dish different?

— Yes, because they didn't have the same bite; for example, for meat romesco, the bite is stronger because it has to withstand the solidity of the product. There must always be a balance between bite and ingredients.

I'm going back to the original romesco, what was done on boats. How were the first romescos made?

— With the ingredients the fishermen could carry in the boat, which wouldn't spoil no matter how many hours they spent, because before, boats didn't run on motors, but rather on sails. In fact, now that I mention it, I think the first motorboat in the Serrallo was my grandfather's, who was a fisherman. The fact is that the fishermen would stay in the boat for three or four days fishing; back then, they brought ingredients that lasted, that didn't spoil.

Tomatoes?

— No tomato. The first romescos were made without tomato, because they used paprika or romesco pepper. Neither tomato nor bread were the main ingredients of the original romesco.

What ingredients are current romescos made with?

— The bites are made with cayenne pepper, nuts, a little bread, and wine, which was the liquid that helped the bite set. This bite is sudden, that is, it's poured into a pot containing the hot oil. On boats, the pots always had high walls so that the sudden passage of the bite wouldn't cause splashing problems. I'll continue. When we have the bite in the pot, we then add fish, whatever we want, potatoes, and water. On boats, fishermen didn't even add potatoes; they made fish romesco with only fish. That is, they would first put oil in the pot, then the bite, and then the fish, and that's it.

What role do fishermen and farmers play in the evolution of romesco?

— It's a very beautiful story. In Tarragona, the two pillars of the city were the farmers and fishermen. Some lived on one side of Calle Mayor; the others on the other. They were located at the front, but each went to work through different gates of the walled city: the fishermen, through the Sant Antoni Gate, toward the sea; the farmers, through the Roser Gate, toward the garden. The romesco that the farmers began to make was different from the one the fishermen had explained to them, because the former used garden produce and their own cooking techniques.

Which is it?

— Escalivado (roasted vegetables). Farmers would make a fire in the ground, roast tomatoes, garlic, and peppers, and these cooked ingredients were what they began to use to prepare their appetizers, along with nuts. Over time, olive oil, salt, and a little vinegar, and we have the romesco sauce as we know it today. The difference, as you can see, is that the fishermen would grind the raw ingredients through a mortar and pestle, then sauté them in the pot with the hot oil, shocking it; the fishermen would roast them, cook them. In other words, romesco was roasted when the fishermen shared the recipe with the farmers.

Why is romesco sauce better known as a seafood ranch than romesco?

— Because salsa has traveled. In 2013, a journalist interviewed me. from the newspaper New York Times, and he assured me that in America they knew romesco sauce, as well as aioli. Furthermore, romesco sauce has been given different names in other places; I'm referring to calçots sauce and xató sauce. The three sauces are the same, with the same ingredients, but interpreted in different ways.

What's the current status of romesco sauce? Are they available in any restaurants in Tarragona other than yours?

— For a couple of years now, yes, you'll find it. We've been making it at Barquet since 1963, when my mother, the daughter of fishermen, took over. Since she knew her parents' recipe, she started cooking at Barquet, which my maternal grandmother, Angeleta Calderón, had opened. We've been cooking here ever since the 1960s, and I assure you, we're doing it more than ever lately.

What types does it make?

— Cuttlefish; capipota with a spicy touch; and skate. I also make romesco rice with bonito or albacore tuna. And now that fall is coming, I'll make romesco chocolates.

Romesco chocolates! How do you make them?

— First, I'll prepare a praline with a sweet romesco filling: nuts, toasted garlic, fried tomato, breadcrumbs, honey, sweet paprika, and a little sweet wine. All of this will go into the heart, which will be hard and encased in chocolate.

What has this current passion for romescos helped?

— In my case, I think the popular books I've written, which are a total of fifteen. In general, I think the work of Tarragona Tourism, the City Council, and chefs like Moha Quach, from the El Terrat restaurant, who has been a member of the scientific committee of the Romesco Technical-Cultural Research Congress. Did you know that Moha Quach has traveled to Slovenia to cook a sea bass romesco? All of this has greatly contributed to the spread of the dish. I also want to tell you that Seafood ranches, like dishes, have always been in fashion.

If we are at the Barquet, do we also have to eat rice, apart from the romesco?

— The rice dishes are a legacy from our parents, who started cooking them on Thursdays for breakfast. When my brother and I joined Barquet in 1992, we added them to the menu. Today, you'll find up to fifteen different rice dishes on the menu, all with the same base: a shellfish broth made with crabs and mantis shrimp, which I think has a noble flavor and is odorless. We make all our dishes with the Bahia variety of rice.

There's no meat on the menu?

— No, we don't. We're a rice and fish restaurant; we specialize. If you come to Barquet, you already know you won't find meat. And that's been the case for fifteen years.

Finally, when I came in, he told me that he was already thinking about retirement.

— My brother Fidel will be here next year; I'll be here a little longer, because I was born in 1967. I think I'll be here for two more years, and I'll retire at 60. We have a lot of support with my two children; one is in the kitchen; the other, the daughter, makes dessert.