There is a story that is often told that a group of international students gathered to celebrate their last evening together and they agreed for each to prepare a typical dish from their homeland. Marcelo from Buenos Aires carefully shaped the empanadas, Haya from Tokyo chose fresh ingredients for the sushi, Mary from London fried crispy fish and chips, Ah King from Beijing wrapped delicate dumplings, John from New York prepared home made hamburgers, Fatima from Rabat produced a chicken tagine. After they proudly set their elaborated dishes on the table, they were still waiting for Pep from Barcelona who was late. To while away the time they started to guess what exquisite Mediterranean treat he had prepared for them. When Pep eventually appeared, to everyone's chagrin, he presented his pa amb tomàquet, slices of bread topped with mashed tomato and olive oil.
Pa amb Tomàquet (Catalan), Pan con Tomate (Spanish), Bread with Tomato
Pep is not wrong in representing his homeland with pa amb tomàquet. It is indeed a very common and popular dish in Catalonia. It can be a tapa, or in many restaurants which specialize in traditional food it is served instead of plain bread. If one orders a sandwich in Catalonia, by default it is made with pa amb tomàquet. Some places offer the ingredients for diners to prepare their own version of pa amb tomàquets. In the national paradores, there is always a section at breakfast with a bowl of tomatoes, a dish of salt, a plate of garlic, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and bread.
Although pa amb tomàquet is simple and easy to prepare, quality varies. As traditional dishes go, there are many claims about the "correct" way to prepare it. There is even a fair dedicated especially to this dish.
Tomàquets de Penjar, "Hanging Tomatoes"
Theoretically, and in practice, any type of tomatoes can be used. However, in Catalonia one finds tomàquets de penjar, literally translated as "hanging tomatoes" which are especially for elaborating pa amb tomàquet; indeed this is their sole usage, because they are not for eating raw by themselves or for cooking.
These tomatoes are called so because they are hanged throughout the year, so one can always have tomatoes at hand for preparing pa amb tomàquet. They are smaller than most salad tomatoes; they have a dry look and they are more fleshy and that is the reason why they are good for making pa amb tomàquet.
Rustic Bread
Another important ingredient is the bread. Rustic bread with a hard crust is best for preparing pa amb tomàquet. Sometimes it is slightly toasted. The best result is achieved by using small narrow bread that is elongated instead of a rounder shaped bread.
For elaborating sandwiches, baguette or xapata is used instead. Xapata is the local version of the Italian ciabatta.
It is thought that originally people started to use the tomato to soften hard bread, which may be true, because soft bread would not yield the same result.
Recipe for Pa amb Tomàquets
Ingredients
- ripe tomatoes
- bread
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- garlic (optional)
Directions
- Cut the tomatoes in half. It is important to cut them horizontally instead of vertically, because then one can use the whole tomato without wasting anything.
- Slice the bread in half for baguette or xapata, or in thin slices if it is a big loaf (in this case, it is recommended to slightly toast the bread).
- If garlic is used, rub it against the bread now. Usually garlic is not used in the pa amb tomàquet served in restaurants because it may not suit everybody's palate; but it does give a very tasty contrast.
- Squeeze the tomato and rub it on the bread starting from the edge, continue rubbing until only the skin of the tomato is left. The bread will be all soaked with the pulp of the tomato. Work until the whole bread is covered. When making pa amb tomàquet for a group of people it certainly works the arm muscles.
- Pour the olive oil on top and let it sink into the bread. Needless to say, use the best olive oil available.
- Sprinkle a little bit of salt on top.
- Now the pa amb tomàquet is ready. Pile them up in alternative layers and serve.
Fresh and Easy and Delicious Pa amb Tomàquet
This is one of those simple dishes that the ingredients are most important. A well prepared pa amb tomàquet is delightful. Try it for a simple ham sandwich and one will notice the difference. Next time when visiting Catalonia, do ask for some of the neatly piled up pa amb tomàquet at the counter of bars. At the end, Pep's friends may not find his representative dish disappointing at all.
Join the Conversation