What Makes Catalunya Tick: The Food

During a conversation about food,  a recent arrival from UK asked her new Catalan friend/language exchange: “if this was your last night on earth and you could eat whatever you wanted, absolutely anything… what would that be?”
The guy barely stopped to think: “Bread and tomato.”

“Whaaat? But you can have anything you want - anything at all.”
I could just see my acquaintance imagining those horrible soggy white bread sandwiches we used to eat in the UK:  on picnics, in the car, in the rain. On your last night on earth?
But later, she got it, having been invited to a llesqueria and treated to proper pa amb tomàquet. With garlic cloves to rub over the doorsteps of fresh bread, and fragrant olive oil, and delicious ham, embotits, anchovies and cheese.
I remember having the same reaction years ago when I was a new arrival, and that first summer we took a group of students to London to do an intensive course.
“Where can we get pa amb tomàquet?” They moaned. “We miss pa amb tomàquet. Food in London is awful. We can’t wait to get home and have pa amb tomàquet. We’re homesick.”
“But you’re in London! There are so many restaurants, so many fantastic ethnic foods to try: what’s the matter with you people?”

But now, I couldn’t agree more.
Last time I got back to BCN from the UK, the one thing I felt like eating was pa amb tomàquet with chorizo. In fact I was craving for it, so I dumped my luggage and headed straight out to buy a freshly baked loaf from my local forn.
Because, of course, you have to have the right bread, the right tomatoes and the right olive oil.
Consider this: my father-in-law had pa amb tomàquet for supper almost every night of his life, and he lived till the age of 89, active and lucid till the end.

Bon profit!

Valerie is the co-author, with Theresa O’Shea, of In The Garlic: Your Informative, Fun Guide to Spain