Almonds (toasted)
Toasted almonds are whole sweet almond kernels dry-roasted until golden to brown. Heat replaces their marzipan note with a roasted, nutty one; they thicken and flavour romesco.
Romesco
Salsa romesco · Romesco sauce
Romesco is a Catalan sauce of roasted tomatoes and garlic, toasted nuts, dried nyora peppers, bread and oil, traditionally served with seafood, grilled meat and calcots.
A Catalan pepper and nut sauce
Romesco is a thick Catalan sauce made from roasted tomatoes and garlic, toasted nuts, the dried nyora pepper, bread and oil. It is a tomato-based sauce with a deep, roasted flavour. It is very often served with seafood, and it is also served with poultry, lamb and vegetables. The sauce is one of the sauces served with calcots, the spring onions of the Valls area.
The sauce is strongly identified with the fishermen of Valls, who are said to have made it to eat with their catch. The page places its origin in Valls and in Serrallo, Tarragona, and gives no date.
Ingredients and method
The nuts are commonly almonds, but hazelnuts or pine nuts may be used. The tomatoes and garlic are roasted, and the nuts are toasted. The dried nyora peppers are pounded or blended with the other ingredients, with bread as the binder. Oil and vinegar finish the sauce, and the thickness is adjusted with bread.
The page gives no quantities, so the proportions are a matter of the recipe followed. The writer Melissa Clark describes the sauce as pounded with breadcrumbs as a binder, and her version uses hazelnuts instead of almonds.
Variations
Romesco is often confused with salsa de calcots and with salvitxada, which is a separate sauce from Valls thickened with toast and garlic. Some versions add crushed almond biscuit or hard-boiled egg, which change the texture.
History
Romesco is said to have begun among fishermen at Valls, who ate it with fish. The page gives no origin date.
Ingredients
TomatoesRoasted.
No quantity given.
GarlicRoasted with the tomatoes.
Amount not stated
AlmondsToasted; hazelnuts or pine nuts may be used instead or added.
Amount not stated
Nyora peppersSun-dried small, round red peppers.
Amount not stated
Stale breadGround or crumbed, as a binder.
Amount not stated
Olive oilOlive or sunflower oil.
Amount not stated
Sherry vinegar (optional)
Amount not stated
Or red wine vinegar; optional.Method
- Roast the tomatoes and garlic, and toast the nuts.
- Pound or blend the dried nyora peppers with the nuts, tomatoes, garlic and bread.
- Bind with oil and, if used, a little sherry or red wine vinegar; adjust the thickness with bread. The sources give no quantities or times.
Places
Valls
Traditional preparation · Locality evidenceThe page says the sauce originated in Valls, where fishermen made it with fish; its infobox gives Serrallo, Tarragona. The two places are both given by the page.
Tarragona
Historical attestation · Locality evidenceThe page's infobox names Serrallo, Tarragona, as the place of origin; the origin is not dated.
Related
Made from
Variants
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Salvitxada is a Catalan sauce from Valls, thickened with toast rubbed with garlic, served almost only with calcots at the calcotada barbecue.
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Sources
WikipediaDefinition · Method · Origin · Uses
RomescoTomato-based Catalan sauce of tomatoes, garlic, nuts, oil and nyora peppers; originated in Valls among fishermen; infobox gives Serrallo, Tarragona.
Typical ingredients include almonds, pine nuts or hazelnuts, roasted tomatoes and garlic, nyora peppers, flour or stale bread, oil, sherry or red wine vinegar.
Served with seafood, poultry, lamb and vegetables; often confused with salsa de calcots and salvitxada.