Catalan Food
Culture and Flavors from the Mediterranean: A Cookbook
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Catalan cuisine authority Daniel Olivella serves historical narratives alongside 80 carefully curated Spanish food recipes, like tapas, paella, and seafood, that are simple and fresh.
In proud, vibrant Catalonia, food is what brings people together—whether neighbors, family, or visitors. By the sea, over a glass of chilled vermouth and the din of happily shared, homemade Pica Pica (tapas) is where you’ll find the most authentic Catalonia. The region is known for its wildly diverse indigenous ingredients, from seafood to jamon Ibérico to strains of rice, and richly flavored cuisine that has remained uniquely Catalan throughout its complex and fraught history.
In Catalan Food, the recipes are intended to be cooked leisurely and with love—the Catalan way. Featuring traditional dishes like Paella Barcelonata (Seafood Paella) and Llom de Porc Canari (Slow-roasted Pork Loin), as well as inventive takes on classics like Tiradito amb Escalivada (Spanish Sashimi with Roasted Vegetable Purees) and Amanida de Tomàquet amb Formatge de Cabra (Texas Peach and Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese), Catalan Food brings heritage into any home cook’s kitchen, where Catalonia’s cuisine was born. To know a culture, you must taste it; none is more rich and stunningly delicious than Catalonia’s.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Olivella, chef of Austin's Barlata tapas bar, explores the culture and cooking of his childhood home in this debut collection of 80 enticing Catalan recipes. Situated in the northeast corner of Spain, Catalonia is not only a land of farmers and fisherman, but a region with a rich culinary history shaped by "centuries of invasions, occupations, exploration and trading." The opening chapter on pica-pica (little bites) is doused with plenty of the region's extra-virgin olive oil in offerings like pickled anchovies, and shrimp in garlic oil. Surf and turf come together in a chicken and shrimp plate as well as in a favorite lunch dish, meatballs with cuttlefish. Paella is treated with reverence in a section that provides tips for preparing the perfect panful (e.g., use dark red saffron rather than yellow), along with instructions for five varieties, including a Valencian version with rabbit and chicken. Other rice dishes, known as arrossos, include smoked rice with pork belly and mushrooms. Olivella explores the traditions of the cuisine, including an appreciation of the region's popular canned seafood. Surveying a region no larger than New Hampshire, Olivella unveils a vast and deep bounty of flavors in this heartfelt compendium.
