Catalan specialities and good wine…
Like all areas of France the Catalan country has its local specialities rich in flavours, spices and colours. It’s a generous and convivial stylof cooking.
Lots of meat and fish, grilled with alioli or in Catalan sauce which is rich ion tomatoes peppers olives garlic…Artisanally cured meats such as ‘La Boutifare’ a Catalan black pudding,eaten hot or cold, patés, terrines and all sorts of sausages, fresh or dried such as the ‘Fouet Catalan’….. Catalan lamb and tender ‘rosée (veal raised under its mother) and not forgetting goat’s and sheep’s cheese. You’ll be spoilt for choice and if you don’t eat fish or meat – there are always the snails!!!
The famous ‘Ollada‘ (pronounced ouillade) is a local country soup and Escalivade, a mixture of woodfire grilled vegetables, are worth a try as are the famous anchovies of Collioure, fished at night with lamps.
Grill of Catalan delicatessen
The Rousquilles Touron
For desert there are Rousquilles, of which the best are made at Arles… There is also the ‘Crème Catalan’, ‘bunyetes’ and ‘Croquants de St paul’. Sadly the Cemoi chocolate factory are no longer at Arles but can be visited at Perpignan.
Or also the famous cherries of Céret and the apricots and almonds of Roussillon.
Who hasn’t heard of the famous Muscat de Rivesaltes, Banyuls or Byrrh? They are all produced in this area near the sea and you can see the vines covering the steep slopes where they can only be harvested by hand. There are many caves and wine domaineson the Catalan plains which you can discover by following the ‘Route des Vins‘, where there are as many different tastes as there are different types of topography. White, red, rosé, aperatifs and AOC such as ‘Cotes du Rousillon Villages‘ are all to be tasted with moderation of course!
The Pyrenees-Orientales, less well known than the Cotes du Rhone or Bordeaux, are used in the manufacture of the ‘Grands Cru Francais‘ – the great French wines.
Cherries of Céret
Cellar of Byrrh in Thuir
The vineyards of Paulilles