He Consolat de Mar is a institution born in the 13th century in Barcelona during the reign of the crown of Aragon. Since then he becomes one of the main drivers of the maritime trade boom of the time: honey from Mequinenza, saffron from Barcelona and salt from Ibiza reach ports such as Cyprus, Alexandria or Constantinople thanks to their mediating and regulatory role.
This almost millenary entity is responsible for the creation of Catalan consulates around the world, from the Middle East to South America. Thanks to his work, the first international maritime trade code was exported to more than 120 cities from our country: Catalonia’s greatest contribution to Western civilizationsince it became an international reference to resolve conflicts between merchants and sailors.
As a result of this large-scale exchange, Catalan society also evolved in many aspects and one of them is gastronomy. This year the Consolat de Mar turns 750 years old and one of the most notable actions of the celebration is the launch of the recipe book ‘The Consolat de Mar kitchen. 3/4 of a millennium of future gastronomy‘. He has had the participation of the gastronomy historian Isabel Lugo and three chefs from the ‘Catalan countries’: Sergi de Meià (principality), Lucia Murillo (Valencia Country) and Miquel Calent (Balearics); each one has contributed 50 elaborations for a total of 150.
The result has been a volume that illustrates Catalan cuisine as an example of fusion, mestizo gastronomy, with a traditional base but with many new ingredients incorporated throughout history. Based on sources that date back to the Middle Ages and others that have been passed down at home for generations, they have made a modern interpretation of traditional foods. According to De Meià, head of the Banquet restaurant, “the recipe book represents the differentiation, recovery and reaffirmation of the most traditional cuisine, that cuisine that is difficult to find in restaurants today.”
At the same time, the project represents a commitment to the future in terms of techniques and raw materials. As Murillo explains, “despite being a cuisine that comes from very far away, the traditional cuisine It has it all because with four things from home you can make dishes that are almost magic, and that’s it. natural and sustainable. It is cuisine of the future”. Miquel Calent also focuses on the cultural dimension of the recipe book, arguing that “the book represents a vindication of culture through gastronomy“.
Isabel Lugo clarifies that the challenge when developing the historical context of the book was “to reveal how the trade and maritime exchange of that time generated a moment of splendor with consequences in several territories, which helped create the cuisine we have.” nowadays”. The project, then, shows “the real kitchen, the domestic one, the one that is still alive and that, in addition, has a path towards the future“.
Here we do a menu based on a starter, a main and a dessert with three of the dishes from this recipe bookwhich can be found in the main bookstores and points of sale, as well as in the online store of the publishing house Llibres Parcir.
‘Tumbet’
“He ‘tumbet‘ either ‘Tombet‘ is a very popular classic of summer peasant cuisine that has survived to this day. Presents many similarities with ‘samfaina’ and, like this, it can present many variants. It is not surprising to add beans, meat, fish or eggs. In its origins it was understood as a way to release and preserve summer production peaks. On hot days, many Mallorcans prefer to eat it warm,” explains Miquel Calent.
Ingredients
Potatoes
Eggplant
Zucchini
Tomato
Peppers
Garlic
Laurel
Marjoram
Salt
Pepper
Oil
Elaboration
Cut the potatoes into slices and fry them in a pan with plenty of oil. When they are cooked we let them drip. Now we put them at the bottom of a basin or ‘greixonera’. We also cut the zucchini into slices and fry it in the same oil. We drip and place it in a layer on the potatoes. We repeat the same operation with the eggplants.
Now we remove almost all the oil. In the same pan we put some crushed garlic with the skin, and also the paprika cut into cubes.
We let it fry a little, then we add the grated tomato, a bay leaf and a marjoram sprout. Cook over low heat until the tomato sauce is cooked and thick. We put it on top of the vegetables.
Partridge in vinaigrette with farcells of cabbage
This is how Sergi de Meià tells it: “It is a typical dish of Catalan game cuisine, but especially from my town, Vilanova de Meià, where the partridge fair has been held since the 13th century. In the past, the ‘partridge birds’ went up from the plain to Vilanova to sell the partridges they raised, and they went up on foot with very large skirts where, below, the birds followed them. “This is a dish from childhood memories that delights us most at home.”
Ingredients
6 partridges
1.8 kg onions cut into julienne strips
2 heads of garlic
Salt and pepper
Farcel of rosemary, bay leaf and thyme
300 ml extra virgin olive oil
75 ml Grenache vinegar
75 ml cognac
300 ml escudella
450 g bacon, diced 0.5 x 0.5 cm
2 young winter cabbages
Elaboration
It is necessary, at first, to polish, burn and tie the partridges. Then we season them with salt and pepper and fry them in a saucepan, which can be made of clay or stainless steel, until they are golden brown; then we remove them. We add the onion and sauté it until it is completely reduced and golden, not burnt. Next, we add the bacon and let it sweat.
Once this procedure is done, add the partridges face down, chest side down, the herb ‘farcell’, garlic, red wine and salt. We let it cook for 25 minutes over low heat, so that the alcohol evaporates, and then we add the escudella and let it cook for 45 minutes in the oven at 80 degrees, well covered.
After this time, we open the casserole and see if they are tender; If not, we add a little more escudella if necessary. We let them rest until they are cold.
On the other hand, it is necessary to remove the hard parts and boil the cabbages in water or escudella, which is well salted.
Once boiled, we strain them and reserve the cooking water for a soup or boiling other vegetables.
When we have drained the cabbage well, we make the filling in the form of a croquette and coat them (it can be with chickpea or wheat flour) until they are golden. Once fried, we put them on blotting paper.
We cut the partridges in half crosswise and place them in the casserole again, along with the cabbage ‘farcells’ and cook them for 15 more minutes over low heat. And they are ready to eat.
‘Almoixàvena’ or ‘monjàvena’
“This dessert is very old, of Arabic origin. He was born in the city of Xativa and its consumption is increasingly spreading in other regions and even in other communities. It is a dessert typical of Carnival Thursdays“recalls Lucía Murillo.
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Ingredients
1 glass of water
½ glass of extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch of salt
4 eggs
1 glass of flour
40 g lard
½ glass of sugar
1 dessert spoon of cinnamon powder
Elaboration
We boil the water with the oil, and when it comes to a boil, we turn off the heat and add the flour; Stir well with a spatula and set aside until it does not burn when touched (if you add the eggs as soon as you take it off the heat, they cook and then the ‘monjàvena’ does not rise). Then, we add the eggs one at a time until there is a homogeneous mass.
We spread the dough with a spatula on a rim covered with baking paper. We distribute the butter by tapping on top of the dough and distribute the sugar mixed with the cinnamon throughout it (in this step, the butter can be replaced with butter).
We put it in the very hot oven at 200 degrees.