Catalonia: Recipes from Barcelona and Beyond

Oh my Gaudi: the north-eastern Spanish region has a reputation for producing some of the best food in the world (Photography by Laura Edwards)

Sardines on toast with suquet

This is my idea of the perfect comfort food. You have to eat it with your hands – getting a bit messy is part of it. I’ve made some changes to the traditional recipe, which usually has lots more sauce and is served in a bowl rather than on toast.

Serves 4

50ml olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
​1 green pepper, finely chopped
1tbsp pimentón (paprika)
500g small waxy potatoes
1 dried choricero pepper
300ml fresh fish stock
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sardines

4 small fresh sardines, filleted
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
zest of 1 lemon and a squeeze of juice
​2tbsp finely chopped parsley
olive oil for deep-frying
3tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 free-range egg, beaten
4 slices sourdough, toasted
extra virgin olive oil to drizzle

The sardines are usually grilled, not fried. I’m also using potatoes to thicken the sauce, rather than picada, as I think it makes it all the more comforting. Put the sardines in a dish with the garlic, lemon zest and juice and parsley. Set aside to marinate while you make the suquet.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and gently fry the onions and pepper for 20 minutes until really softened. Add the pimentón and cook for a minute. Insert the tip of a sharp knife into the potatoes and twist to crack them open (instead of slicing). Add them to the pan with the choricero pepper, stock and plenty of seasoning. Cover and simmer gently for 40 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the sauce thick.

In a small deep pan, heat the olive oil for deep-frying to 180°C (350°F) – or until a cube of bread browns in 20 seconds. Remove the sardines from the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper. Dip in the seasoned flour then in the beaten egg. Carefully drop into the oil and fry for just a minute or two until golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Spoon the suquet onto the toasted sourdough, top with the fried sardines and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to finish.

Bermondsey bomb

La bomba de la Barceloneta is one of the most popular tapas in Barcelona. It’s a big fried ball made with mashed potato and normally stuffed with spicy carrots or meat. I’m not sure if it’s true, but La Cova Fumada is renowned as the birthplace of this dish. It is definitely worth a visit – it’s a lovely old-fashioned bar serving great food. Enjoy a vermouth with your bomba – they cook a stunning local version with prawns and octopus, it’s very tasty.

Barcelona was badly destroyed during the civil war, as was the area in London where I have two of my restaurants, Bermondsey. We’ve used a little bit of irony here, and called this dish the “Bermondsey Bomb”.

Makes 6

1kg Desiree potatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
​2 good pinches of chilli flakes
400g tin tomatoes
160g minced  pork
75g plain flour
2 free-range eggs, beaten
100g dry breadcrumbs
olive oil for deep-frying
alioli to serve

Put the potatoes in a large pan with cold salted water and bring to the boil. When cooked through, drain and let cool. Peel and mash the potatoes. Season to taste and set aside. Keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan and add half of the onions. Cook over a medium heat until they start to caramelise (about 20-30 minutes), then add the garlic and a pinch of chilli flakes. Cook for another minute and then add the meat. Cook for 10 minutes and season to taste. Set aside.

To make the spicy tomato sauce, heat the remaining olive oil in another pan and cook the rest of the onions over a medium heat until soft. Add a pinch of chilli flakes and the tomatoes and cook until reduced, with almost no juices left. Season to taste.

Make a ball of around 100g (3½oz) mash. Use your thumb to press a hole into the centre. Fill the cavity with the meat mixture and cover with more mash to enclose the filling. Repeat with the remaining mash and meat mixture.

Put the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. One by one, roll the balls first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. In a deep pan heat enough oil to cover 2-3 bombs to 180°C (350°F), or until a cube of bread browns in 20 seconds. Fry the bombs until golden – use a thermometer to make sure they are hot inside. Spoon some alioli in the centre of a plate and place a bomb on top and spoon over the spicy tomato sauce. Serve hot.

For the alioli

1 free-range egg yolk
½tsp white wine vinegar
​75ml vegetable oil
75ml olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
lemon juice to taste

To make the alioli, whisk the egg yolks with the vinegar and some seasoning. Gradually whisk in the vegetable then olive oil in a thin, steady stream, whisking all the time until you have a thick, glossy mayonnaise. Whisk in the garlic and lemon juice to taste. If too thick, whisk in 25-30ml of water. Set aside.

Clementine sorbet

Serves 4

150g caster sugar
100g honey
14 clementines
1 lemon
1 blood orange, skin removed and cut into slices, to serve (optional)

As you reach the edge of the province of Tarragona, just before you hit the region of Valencia, you’ll find the Delta del Ebro. I think this area produces the best clementines in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula – they have the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. They’re called Clementinas de las Tierras del Ebro, and they’re protected by the government.

I really love to mix cava with this clementine sorbet. These are two great Catalonian gems together – just divine! Melt the sugar and honey in a pan with 250ml (8½fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Squeeze the juice from all the fruit and sieve it into a jug – you need about 350ml of juice. When the syrup is cold, stir in the juice and taste for sweetness, adding a little more honey if you want to sweeten.

Churn in an ice cream maker until softly set then spoon into a tub and freeze completely. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, pour into a wide container and freeze for 1 hour, then mash with a fork and freeze for another hour and repeat until you have a soft sorbet, then freeze completely. Serve a scoop of sorbet with some slices of blood orange, if using.

Catalonia: Recipes from Barcelona and Beyond by José Pizarro (Hardie Grant, £25)