Catalunya is geographically diverse and as such provides a variety of fresh high quality seafood, poultry, game, nuts, fruit and vegetables.With this as the reference point Catalan food is not just the choice of a few regional dishes, but a complete cuisine easily ditinguishable from its neighbours in France and indeed in the rest of Spain.The basic cuisine comes in many unusual combinations - such as seafood with meat  mar i muntanya ,fruit served with poultry, nuts with fish . but the essence of  Catalan cooking lies in its sauces of which there are five basic mixes.Again, as you would expect all the raw ingredients are fresh and readily available:

• Sofregit is made with chopped onion, garlic and tomator lightly fried in olive oil
• Chanfaina or samfaina made by using sofregit  but adding red perrper, aubergine or courgette, similat to ratatouille, this is used as both an ingredient and an accompaniment
• Picada a sauce based on ground almonds with garlic and parsley, plus pine or hazelnuts, the ingredients are pounded together in a mortar using a pestle - sometimes saffron, ham and breadcrumbs will be added - this is usually used as a thickening agents or for seasoning
• Allioli or garlic flavoured mayonnaise, best made fresh - it is garlic pounded in the mortar, with olive oil and egg yolk added- this is often served as an accompaniment to meat and seafood dishes, and finally,
• Romesco a sauce constructed with tomato, almonds, hazelnuts, olive oil, vinegar and a special type of red pepper called  nyora - this is especially local to the coastal areas south of Barcelona and often used to dress salads.

Fine salads are readily available with the abundance of fresh vegetables - Catalan salads are not what is expected in the UK - which can often be a couple of limp lettuce leaves a slice of tomato and an onion slice.Here they are a colourful mix of exquisite, in season vegetables, the staple Amanida Catalana  is the Catalan salad and is a hearty mix of lettuce, olives, hard boiled eggs, peppers, onions and garlic, served with a mix of fish and cold meats, with dressings of mayonnaise, olive oil and vinegar.Although this is generally a starter, it is almost a meal in itself, so its wise to bear this in mind when selecting your meal choices in restaurants.

You’ve treated yourself to some extra virgin olive oil -an every day standard here in Catalunya - but what can you do with it thats different? -Try this easy soup recipe:

THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF COOKING WITH BOTH OLIVES AND OLIVE OIL - TRY THESE 2 RECIPIES FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US AT LANDBANK INT.

OLIAIGUA AMB TOMATICS  -  Olive oil soup with tomatoes.   Serves 4.