Bread and what? Figuring out Catalan cuisine
Bread and something is the most basic meal in much of the world. Bread and water is the most basic of all. So if you are trying to figure out a cuisine, it’s always interesting to ask what goes on bread.
And here in Catalonia, Spain where I am spending a few weeks, “bread and/with” or “pa amb” is a whole world. Best known in the wider world is bread and tomato, pa amb tomaquet, pa sucat amb tomaquet,¨ the wonderfully delicious bread rubbed with a cut tomato and softened with olive oil. And this can be topped with all the salty stuff, ham, sausage, jamon iberico (serrano), anchovies and the like.
But there’s more.
Bread with sugar and olive oil. Sprinkle your bread with lots of sugar and a good slug of olive oil. A favorite with children.
Bread with wine and sugar. As above but substitute wine for sugar.
Bread with oil and salt. Olive oil, salt and a sprinkle of vinegar
Bread with allioli. Spread with a good topping of allioli (emulsion of garlic and olive oil)
Bread with fresh cheese. Fresh cheese or whey cheese (ricotta type) and sugar or honey
Bread with quince paste
Bread with figs
Bread with garlic. Rub with garlic, add salt and oil
Bread with chocolate. Spread with one of the recently invented spreadable chocolates. A children’s favorite
Bread with cracklings. And perhaps sugar too.
Bread and milk. Pour over milk and sugar
No bacon. No jam. No peanut butter. No lettuce. No tomato slices. No onion. Above all no butter, no mayo.
This is not me, of course. I’m a novice. Thanks to Jaume Fabrega, La Cuina Gironina (The cuisine of Girona) (1985). And to Joan Roca, La Cuina de la meva mare (My mother’s kitchen) (2004).
And I am still wondering about that white bread. As described, I doubt these ‘bread ands’ go back before the nineteenth century.
