Alioli and Romesco: Traditional Catalan recipes

Catalan cuisine has a variety of savory foods that should be tried at least once in a lifetime. A lot of the dishes are great on their own, but if you really want to enhance the flavor, you can try adding one of the various traditional Catalan sauces. Here are the recipes for two of the most popular Catalan sauces:

Table of Contents

Salsa #1: Alioli

Alioli is one of the most famous Catalan sauces. Its name means “garlic and olive oil”.

What you will need to prepare the alioli salsa:

4 garlic cloves
500 ml of olive oil
Salt
3 spoons of vinegar or lemon juice

Smash the garlic cloves with the salt and the vinegar or lemon juice. Keep smashing until it becomes a paste. Add the olive oil, little by little as you keep stirring, so it becomes a homogenous mix.

Alioli is a good salsa for potatoes, meat, and legumes.

Salsa #2: Romesco

Romesco is another popular Catalan sauces, commonly used for fish dishes and vegetables.

What you will need to prepare the Romesco salsa:

2/3 plump tomatoes
1 garlic clove
2 dried ñora peppers
15g of roasted almonds
15g of roasted hazelnuts
1 slice of bread
250g of olive oil
100g of vinegar
Powdered sweet red pepper
dash of salt
A small piece of chili pepper

The recipe, step by step:

First of all, you need to hydrate the ñoras. Leave them in water the day before you are going to cook the salsa, or at least 4-5 hours before. Once they are properly hydrated, cut them open to remove the seeds, which you will save for later.

Next you are going to roast the garlic and the tomatoes in the oven, which should be preheated at 200^oC. Place them in separate trays. The tomatoes should be ready in fifteen to twenty minutes. The garlic should be ready sooner.

Peel the tomatoes.

Clean the ñoras seeds.

Peal the roasted nuts.

Toast the slice of bread.

When the garlic and the tomatoes are cold, place all the ingredients in a blender and mix.

Add some powdered sweet red pepper, salt and a very small piece of chili pepper for a light spicy touch. Mix the ingredients again. Add salt, chili or vinegar if necessary.