Origin
Penedès and Garraf, Catalonia
Description
Xató is a winter salad from the Penedès and Garraf coasts of Catalonia — a carnival dish traditionally eaten during the Carnival season (February) based on salt cod and/or salted anchovies, chicory or frisée, black olives, and a sauce identical in technique to romesco but with its own regional variations in nut and pepper ratios. The xató sauce is the essential element: toasted hazelnuts, fried almonds, ñora peppers, garlic, tomato, and vinegar blended to a thick, rust-coloured sauce that coats the greens and fish in equal measure. Every village in the Xatodrome (the designated xató region) claims the definitive recipe. The competition is ancient and ongoing.
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