"Spain would like to have our old recipe books, but only Catalan cuisine has them."

BarcelonaCatalan cuisine is "deservedly" in fashion. This is what chef and scholar Josep Lladonosa (Alguaire, 1938) says. He presided over the final of the 2018 Catalan International Cooking Awards at the Palau de Pedralbes on Thursday. cooking awards that bear his name. "I say deservedly because when the institution that awarded us the mention, the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT), learned about the heritage of Catalan cuisine, they were astonished; they understood that we should be a World Region of Gastronomy," he explains.

For the fifth edition of the awards, promoted by chefs Javier and Sergio Torres and Lladonosa himself, the chef has focused on medieval recipes of Catalan cuisine, specifically on the two recipe books that he has studied in depth throughout his life: the Sent Soví's Book (1324) and the Car book, by Robert de Nola (1520). "When I was young, I wanted to go back to the roots of Catalan cuisine, and that's how I ended up in the ancient manuscripts of the Feel Soví and the Car book, but they were written in old Catalan, with Gothic letters," recalls chef Josep Lladonosa. He then asked for help from Rudolf Grewe, a friend and food specialist, who translated them into modern Catalan. Lladonosa, for his part, dedicated himself to putting the recipes, which had no measurements or weights, into practice. He spent hours and many days making them all in the kitchen to check how they were," he notes.

The Banquet of America

And so it did until one day, in 1992, Madrid Tourism wanted to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, and wanted to hold a banquet based on the food of the time of the Catholic Monarchs, on what was eaten before they had gone to the Indies. "They didn't know how to do it. A friend of mine, Manuel Martínez Llopis, a doctor in nutrition from the Madrid School of Hospitality, told them that I had worked on two old medieval Catalan recipe books, and that I could help them." Madrid Tourism contacted Lladonosa, who advised them on how to organize the banquet. "In Madrid, in Spain, they wanted to turn the Car book in the oldest part of their kitchen, they wanted to pass it off as a reference, and I told them no, that the Car book It belongs to our culture, to Catalonia," says Lladonosa, who claims that he has said it and repeated it in all the Spanish cities where he has been invited to talk about medieval recipes. "Spain has wanted to keep it Sent Soví's Book and the Car book, but I've always told them they're Catalan books. They're not Spanish books, they're ours. They have a book from 1475, called Carving art, which is a manual that teaches how to cut pieces of fruit and meat, but does not teach how to cook as the manuscript of the Feel Soví or the Car book". According to the chef, Spain is interested in being able to say that it has an old medieval recipe book, "but they must prove it, because they don't have one; they have a manual on how to cut food, but no recipe book of their own."

In the competition, participating students from training schools have reproduced recipes from both books, following the written instructions of Josep Lladonosa. One of the recipes, for example, was pickled fish, which they will see in Barcelona Tarragona. "So, in the Middle Ages, the color of our cuisine was white, but also yellow and brown because of the spices that were used; In no case was it red, because the tomato, the red pepper or the pepper arrived from America, and were introduced into the kitchen later," says Lladonosa.

The chef explains the discontent he feels about the museum that bears his name in Sant Vicenç dels Horts. from the origin, to the countryside, and then out to the classroom." In fact, Lladonosa chose Sant Vicenç dels Horts precisely because of this relationship between the population and the peasantry, "when he had offers to create the museum in Andorra." The fact that the classroom is small, with few places, is already an impediment, says the cook, but the kitchen is still very much an impediment, but the kitchen is even more of a impediment, but the kitchen is even more of a impediment, but the kitchen is even more of a impediment, but the things I had in mind are even more of a impediment."

The regional minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig, stated that the Lladonosa Awards are moving in the same direction as the premises set by the Government. "It is based on young talent, training and cooking, and also other values such as understanding the work of producers, from evil, from bad, to discomfort, to the presentation of the awards to the winners together with the jury, Josep Lladonosa and the brothers Sergio and Javier Torres.

In the Cooking category, Jenny Mieres, from the Cambrils School of Hospitality and Tourism.

The second prize in Cooking was shared by Júlia Ibars, from the Pallars School of Hospitality, and Bryan Quintero, from the CETT Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy.

In the Dining Room category, Martina Pérez, from the Joviat School (Manresa).