What are common mistakes when making Xató: Catalan winter salad?

Using sweet peppers instead of ñora. Not roasting the tomato — raw tomato gives a sharper, less complex sauce. Serving on neutral salad greens — the bitterness of the leaves is the counterpoint to the rich sauce. Blending the sauce too smooth — some texture should remain.

Return to the chapter Return to the chapter

SP.32.0001 Spanish

Xató: Catalan winter salad

Catalan — Salads & Sauces

Xató: Catalan winter salad

One of 76 entries · The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden

I · Origin

Penedès and Garraf, Catalonia

II · 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.

I Preparation II Charcuterie Curing III Iberian Moorish Legacy IV Spanishportuguese Proteins Mains V Wet Heat VI Basque Seafood VII Grains And Dough VIII Iberian Shared Technique IX Pastry Technique X Spanishportuguese Soups Stews

Further training content for this entry is being completed.