Catalan cuisine: Difference between revisions

There are several [[Catalan language]] cookbooks from the [[Middle Ages]] that are known to modern scholars. The ''{{Ill|[[Llibre dedel Coch|es}}]]'' (1520) was one of the most influential cookbooks of [[Spanish Renaissance|Renaissance Spain]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Scholliers |first=Peter |title=Writing Food History: A Global Perspective |date=2012 |isbn=9780857852175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7WUDAAAAQBAJ }}</ref> It includes several [[sauce]] recipes made with ingredients such as ginger, [[Mace (spice)|mace]] powder (''{{lang|ca|flor de macis}}''), cinnamon, [[saffron]], cloves (''{{lang|ca|clauells de girofle}}''), wine and honey.<ref>''Lybre de doctrina Pera ben Servir: de Tallar: y del Art de Coch''</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Alimentació i societat a la Catalunya medieval |publisher=[[CSIC Press]] |date=1998 |isbn=9788400069209 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=34GZHYTGWkAC}}</ref> ''[[Salsa de pagó]]'' took its name from the [[peacock]] ({{lang-ca|el paó}}) that it was intended to be served with, but could accompany any type of poultry, and was part of the medieval [[Christmas dinner#Spain|Christmas meal]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Pollastre o capó rostit amb salsa de pagó | url=http://www.cuinacatalana.eu/ca/pag/receptes-1714/?id=14 |website=Fundació Institut Català de la Cuina}}</ref> ''{{lang|ca|Salsa mirraust}}'' (or ''{{lang|it|mirausto alla catalana}}'' as it's called in the ''[[Cuoco Napoletano]]'') was half-roasted (''{{lang|ca|mi-raust}}'') poultry that was finished in a ''salsa'' thickened with egg yolks, toasted almonds and breadcrumbs. In the version of the recipe from the 14th-century ''{{ill|Llibre de Sent Soví|ast}}'', the sauce is thickened with mashed poultry liver instead of egg yolks.<ref>[https://online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica/issue/7/2 Two Ways of Looking at Maestro Martino] ''Gastronomica'' Spring 2007 Vol. 7 Issue 2</ref>

The 17th century manuscript ''El llibre de la Cuina de Scala-Dei'', written at the [[Cartoixa d'Escaladei]], contains austere recipes such as of porridges of cereals that go back to [[Ancient Roman cuisine|Roman times]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Alan |title=National & Regional Styles of Cookery: Proceedings : Oxford Symposium 1981 |date=1 January 1981 |publisher=Oxford Symposium |isbn=978-0-907325-07-9 |page=178 |url=https://wwwbooks.google.escom/books/edition/National_Regional_Styles_of_Cookery/?id=zcNdB_sl2JkC |access-date=18 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Catalan cuisine relies heavily on [[ingredient]]s popular along the [[Mediterranean]] coast, including fresh [[vegetable]]s (especially [[tomato]], [[garlic]], [[eggplant]] (aubergine), [[capsicum]], and [[artichoke]]), wheat products ([[bread]], [[pasta]]), [[Arbequina]] [[olive oil]]s, [[wine]]s, legumes ([[bean]]s, [[chickpea]]s), [[Edible mushroom|mushrooms]] (particularly wild mushrooms), nuts (pine nuts, hazelnuts and almonds), all sorts of [[pork]] preparations ([[sausage]] from [[Vic, Catalonia|Vic]], [[ham]]), sheep and goats' [[cheese]], [[poultry]], [[Lamb and mutton|lamb]], many types of [[Fish as food|fish]] like [[Sardine (food)|sardine]], [[Anchovy (food)|anchovy]], [[Tuna as food|tuna]], and [[Cod (food)|cod]] {{sfn|Pujol|2009}} and other seafood like [[Shrimp and prawn as food|prawns]], [[Squid as food|squid]], [[sea snailssnail]]s and [[Sea urchin as food|sea urchins]].