Landscapes, dishes and products that make Catalonia a World Region of Gastronomy

Catalonia is the first territory to be proclaimed a World Region of Gastronomy in 2025, an initiative promoted by the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism that will allow tourists to explore the Catalan culinary landscape. It is also the guest region at Madrid Fusion, which will be held from January 27 to 29, where some of its leading figures will demonstrate why it deserves this title. Among them are the team from the three-Michelin-starred Disfrutar, recognized as the best restaurant in the world, Jordi Roca, the Torres brothers, the Adrià brothers, Jordi Cruz, Jordi Butrón, and Jordi Vilà, among others.

We know the best Catalan chefs well. They officiate in world-renowned culinary temples, are frequent speakers at conferences, and attend numerous events covered by the specialized press. They are the quintessential ambassadors of products that, nevertheless, often remain in the background, overshadowed by the final product. Neither the producer nor their environment receives the visibility they deserve, despite being the very source of this exceptional cuisine that Catalonia can proudly showcase in national and international forums. Recognition as a World Region of Gastronomy in 2025 will be an opportunity to shift the focus or, at the very least, to broaden our perspective on gastronomic culture.

Off-road

This year's unique proposals will be based on food and wine routes and maps featuring differentiated quality foods distinguished by PDO or PGI designations, but inevitably, products of great culinary interest with equally succulent stories will be left out.

The border with France is winding and rugged. Travelers encounter obstacles along the way, which, however, translate into cuisines of great character. In l'Alt Empordà, just above Cap de Creus, where the memory of the avant-garde rests, and very close to the red prawn fishing grounds of Roses and Palamós, the Tramuntana wind forces the Albera cows, a native breed that lives in a semi-wild state in the park of the same name, to take refuge among the wind-battered stones. From this untamed north, one can see the flocks of Ripoll sheep, from which recuit de drap is made, a traditional fresh cheese that used to travel on trains among the bundles carried by women and is now produced at Peralada Mas Mercè. The raw milk from these flocks is the ingredient in Jordi Roca's lactic dessert.

The origin of trinxat and sausages

The view stretches along the transhumance routes that once linked the Alt Empordà with Ripollès, where today the Catalan Horse reigns supreme. Beautiful specimens graze freely until autumn arrives, when one of the oldest livestock fairs in the Camprodon Valley, the Tria dels Mulats d'Espinavell, takes place. The horses and brown Pyrenean cows then spread out towards the landscaped and tourist-friendly Cerdanya. The frost of its cold nights is responsible for sweetening a type of cabbage called "de paperina," which, along with potatoes (or trumfes) and a bit of bacon, gives rise to the humblest yet heartiest dish in Catalan cuisine: trinxat de col amb rosta (a cabbage and bacon dish).

The stew, the cold, and the isolation bring the inhabitants of Pallars Sobirà together around a table laden with wild boar stew and Ripollés lamb palpís, a dish transformed into a cold cut by generations of shepherds. These are lands of Romanesque architecture in the Vall de Boí and the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, where one must arrive well-stocked with cured meats such as bulls de llengua, secallonas, and bringueras, perhaps after passing through the Berguedà region where blat de moro escairat (corn kernels) blends seamlessly with the other ingredients of escudella, as if it had always been there. In the distance, the gateway to another culture and a language sister to Gascon. In the Val d'Aran, pà de fetge (a type of bread), olla aranesa (a hearty stew), and cassis (blackcurrant) liqueur await.

The treasures of the sea

On the coastal route south, and before venturing into the rice paddies and mussel rafts of the Ebro Delta, there are fishing ports such as Blanes or Arenys, a favorite fish market for restaurants throughout Maresme and Barcelona and the origin of magnificent shrimp and squid caught by jigging.

The wine-growing lands of Penedès will burst into flames in January when their dry vine shoots become the bonfire for the famous calçots. Tortillas d'espigalls (sprouts of baby cabbage) from Vilanova i la Geltrú and escaroles with plenty of romesco sauce accompany the graelladas de carn (grilled meats), while from the Terres de Ponent come coques de recapte drizzled with Arbequina olive oil from the latest harvest of Les Garrigues and pears from Lleida cooked in wine, cinnamon and lemon.

Mountain cuisine

Inland, fog is a common travel companion, as in that famous passage from Josep Pla's "El que hem menjat," in which some "traginers" (muleteers) find shelter in front of an inn's fireplace and a lunch of small plates, country bread, and plenty of carajillo. Rustic menus of snails with abundant aioli, rabbit dishes covered in dense and dark picadas, cap i pota amb suc or samfaina, cigronets (chickpeas) from l'Anoia in empedrats, or sautéed with baby squid in the style of Pinotxo, the most famous market bar that ever existed, improvised cassoles de tros (roasted meats), truita de carreroles (omelette of fairy ring mushrooms) or of artichokes from Prat de Llobregat, butifarres del perol amb mongetes del ganxet from Vallès “sortint de l'olla” (freshly made), Parellada rice at the Fonda Europa in Granollers, black dishes of patates enmascarades (with black sausage) or stuffed with meat in the style of Olot, just as they still prepare them at the Fonda del Ossos that Xavier Cugat portrayed so much.

The cuisine of Catalan inns is a constant presence along the roads of Catalonia, where dishes of gastronomic heritage are prepared and preserved, and where cured meats are almost always a staple. The culture of pork in Catalonia is proud and tenacious. It reaffirms itself while simultaneously renewing itself. It produces products supposedly foreign, such as the splendid sobrasada that the Rovira family prepares at Els Casals, their family farm and restaurant in El Berguedà; or it revives a native pig breed of indisputable quality: the Porc Rald'Avinyó.

At the southern end, the river flows into the sea, where it is bountiful. Among flamingos, ducks, rice paddies, and blue crabs, La Tancada serves a splendid marshland rice dish with just about anything you can imagine. Not far away, in Tortosa, you can see the Ports de Beseit, where Iberian ibex is hunted and served in Barcelona restaurants like Via Veneto and Nectari. And, of course, the air is filled with the aroma of old-fashioned Moorish pastries, especially the angel hair pastries.

(Photographs: Antonio Ron)