Gastronomic route through Catalonia, land of flavors

Catalonia is designated a World Region of Gastronomy this year. It thus becomes the first European country to receive this award, bestowed by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT), which highlights the richness of Catalonia's agri-food and culinary heritage and also recognizes Catalonia as an innovative region capable of connecting gastronomy with values such as sustainability, quality, and social cohesion. The president of the international organization, Diane Dodd, shared some of the jury's comments upon awarding the award. "Few places in Catalonia can compare in terms of their world-class cuisine. Catalonia's colorful landscapes are a testament to its regions' commitment to quality, tradition, and innovation. Its fusion of flavors, celebrated dishes, and exceptional ingredients create a gastronomic experience like no other," noted Georgian chef Le Kvan Lab. This award consolidates Catalonia's status after being chosen in 2016 as a European Region of Gastronomy, which already represented a boost for the agri-food and tourism sectors. The success of our cuisine, based on the Mediterranean diet, recognized by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity, lies in its local products and commitment to wine tourism, but also in the innovation brought by world-renowned chefs.

What makes our gastronomy shine is "the unique combination of popular wisdom and creativity," believes Carles Vilarrubí, president of the Academy of Nutrition and Gastronomy of Catalonia, one of the organizations promoting the candidacy. "Traditional cuisine and avant-garde cuisine, with chefs who have transformed the parameters of cuisine worldwide, have made this possible because we have an awareness of sustainability, culture, and cultural identity," he affirms. But in addition to talent, for Vilarrubí there is another factor: generosity. "Thirty-five years ago, there was a madman in Roses who started doing things differently. Everything that has happened since is the result of the desire to transmit it in the country and in the profession" because "if phenomena like El Bulli, Carme Ruscalleda, or El Celler de Can Roca had looked at their own navels, none of this would have happened," he adds. But on the other side of innovation lies the legacy of tradition. Grandmother's cooking is the foundation of this oral transmission in front of the fire and the knowledge of the territory that brings you closer to the product. "They are the ones that have preserved the flavors, techniques, and rituals that are recovered today in innovative kitchens," he asserts. A heritage that must be vindicated in a world experiencing "an international wave of foreign gastronomic models." The president of the Academy emphasizes the responsibility we have as consumers in the face of the overwhelming supply of imported products. "Catalan cuisine needs us to actively choose it," because "choosing well is creating culture, creating a country, and promoting health," he affirms, and points out the challenge of building a brand for Catalan cuisine and revaluing this designation. Finally, Vilarrubí paraphrases Josep Pla: "Gastronomy is the landscape on a plate." And it is that "one of the ways of understanding a country is its gastronomy."

A mountain kitchen

Soups, cibetes, stews, carved dishes, and tupinos: everything to cope with the weather. The mountain cuisine of the Pyrenees and Aran Valley is robust and hearty, and game often takes center stage. In the easternmost part, in La Garrotxa, we find volcanic cuisine, with unique products such as Santa Pau beans. Also characteristic of this area are cured meats such as cholís and cheeses from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya, regions where we find a typical Catalan dish: Cerdanya carved dish, a subsistence recipe in which farmers mixed what was left in the garden (potatoes and cabbage) with cancha (corn field).

Between the sea and the mountains

Rice fields and fertile orchards, abundant fishing, and a proven tradition in the production of Empordà wines and oils shine alongside fruits like the apple with Protected Geographical Indication and delicacies like the anchovy from l'Escala. This is the culinary reality of the Costa Brava, especially known for its sea and mountains, of which chicken with crayfish is perhaps the most traditional.Some cooksThey explain its origin in the exchange between fishermen and farmers, and in the reuse of seafood, which was cheaper, to extend land-based products.

Personality and character

In the central part of Catalonia, the region is known for its pork and cured meats, including the famous Vic sausage. There's also a varied vegetable garden, a variety of mushrooms, and native legumes like the Castellfollit beans. Cheese production is another highlight, including Montserrat cottage cheese, which pairs well with wines from the Pla de Bages DO. The most celebrated recipes tend to be hearty and full of character, such as fricandó or butifarra with beans, one of the most typical Catalan dishes, popularized in the 19th century by the inns that opened throughout the region.

The Barcelona garden

Local crops such as artichokes, peas, and garden beans are a signature of the coast surrounding Barcelona. Local fish and Penedès megrim or El Prat capó are also eaten, and good wine and cava from the Alella or Penedès DO are drunk. In fact, one of its typical dishes comes from the world of winemaking. It's xató, which was made when the wineskin was "letonar" (a wine barrel), that is, when the tap was turned on to taste the wine. This event became a celebration, always accompanied by this salad of escarole and flaked cod with xató sauce, the original recipe of which is disputed by many municipalities.

Calçots floor

With five wine designations of origin, the Costa Daurada is nestled among vineyards, but also among olive and hazelnut groves. This is the land of calçotada and romesco sauce, which, along with the area's fishing tradition, gives rise to one of its most famous dishes: fish romesco. It seems that the recipe was born on the boats of Serrallo at the beginning of the 20th century with the ingredients available: garlic, dried bread, dried peppers, oil, salt, wine, and the fish they caught. All of this resulted in this fish suquet, not to be confused with the beloved calçot sauce.

Peasant culture and flowering fruit trees

Casserole dishes predominate in the culinary tradition of this land of peasant culture and variety of fruit trees, also known for Agramunt nougats and DO Les Garrigues wine and oil. One of the famous dishes of the Lands of Lleida is snails a la llauna, whose origin is attributed to the peasants who collected them for a humble and nutritious meal. Lleida snails have especially hard shells due to the area's salt flats. This is why this method of cooking them on the grill, in a can, with a vinaigrette on top, and accompanied by aioli, became popular.

Between rice fields and ancient olive trees

Good rice is the star of the dishes of Terres de l'Ebre, a landscape of endless rice paddies that decorate the land where the Ebro meets the sea and which, culinary-wise, welcomes maritime delicacies such as eels, sea nettles, and mussels. If we travel inland, terraces and terraces of ancient olive trees unfold, offering some of the best oils in our region. We also find promising vineyards for the current wine industry. And it is here that we find a unique dish, typical of the Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre regions (also found in Priorat): the clotxa. Known as the sandwich of farmers and shepherds, the origin of this round bread filled with herring and roasted tomato is due to the need of farm workers to carry nutritious and easy-to-transport food.