Catalan cuisine is one of Europe's richest and oldest, with dishes documented since the Middle Ages. Many of these classics still appear on daily menus at restaurants across Catalonia, adapted to the times but true to their essence. Here are ten dishes you need to know — and taste — when you eat a menú del dia.
Escudella i carn d'olla. This is the oldest documented spoon dish in Europe: the writer Francesc Eiximenis noted in the 14th century that all Catalans ate it daily. It is a rich broth made by simmering beef, chicken, botifarra, bones and salt pork with chickpeas, potato, cabbage, carrot, turnip and celery. The pilota — a large meatball of minced meat with egg, bread and spices — is the soul of the dish. Traditionally associated with Christmas, you'll find a lighter but equally comforting version on winter daily menus.
Canelons. Despite their Italian origin, canelons have been a deeply Catalan dish since the late 18th century, when foreign cooks working in Barcelona's inns introduced them. The brand El Pavo marketed dried pasta sheets in 1911, and their popularity exploded. The tradition of eating them on Sant Esteve — filled with leftover Christmas roast — is unique to Catalonia. But on daily menus you'll find them year-round, typically stuffed with roast meat and topped with gratinated béchamel.
Botifarra amb mongetes. If there is one dish that symbolises everyday Catalan cooking, this is it. The botifarra — a fresh pork sausage, typically lightly seasoned to let the meat speak for itself — is fried or grilled and served with mongetes del ganxet or Santa Pau beans, small, white and buttery, sautéed with a touch of garlic. Simple, hearty and perfect for a midday meal.
Fricandó. An elegant stew from urban Catalan cuisine, documented since the 18th century in the recipe book of Pare Josep Orri. It consists of very thin veal fillets, floured and braised in a sofregit with wild mushrooms — traditionally moixernons or cama-secs, though ceps and gírgoles are also used today. The sauce, thick and dark, is the result of slow, patient cooking. The name comes from the French fricandeau, but the dish has evolved into something unmistakably Catalan.
Esqueixada de bacallà. The star salad of the Catalan summer: salt cod esqueixat (shredded by hand, never cut with a knife), ripe tomato, onion, black olives and red pepper, all dressed with a generous pour of olive oil. Salt cod has been a fundamental ingredient in Mediterranean cooking since the Middle Ages, when it allowed fish to be preserved for months. Esqueixada is fresh, light and perfect as a first course on a summer daily menu.
Arròs negre and fideuà. Two seafood dishes from the Catalan coast that share a common base: an intense sofregit of onion, tomato and garlic, fish stock and shellfish. Arròs negre owes its colour and flavour to squid ink, which gives it a deep, briny taste. Fideuà, originally from Gandia in the Valencian Country but enthusiastically adopted along the entire Catalan coast, replaces the rice with short, thin noodles toasted in the oven or pan. Both are typically served with allioli.
Escalivada. Red pepper, aubergine and onion roasted slowly over embers or in the oven until the skin chars and the flesh turns tender and smoky. It is peeled, cut into strips and dressed with olive oil. The name comes from «escalivar», which in Catalan means to cook among hot ashes. It is a common side dish on daily menus, but is also eaten as a first course with anchovies or goat's cheese.
Crema catalana and mel i mató. To finish, two desserts you'll find constantly on daily menus. Crema catalana — documented since the 14th century in the Llibre de Sent Soví — is a custard of eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest, topped with a layer of burnt sugar. It is traditionally celebrated on Sant Josep's day (19 March). Mel i mató is even simpler: mató fresc (a soft, unsalted fresh cheese) served with honey. Two desserts that prove the best cooking is often the simplest.