| p>Catalan cuisine encompasses influences from | | | | cinnamon and parsley. |
| Spanish, French and Italian cooking. | | | | Girona offers a diversity of eateries, from |
| The province of Girona boasts one of the most | | | | swanky establishments with imaginative gourmet |
| carefully preserved cooking traditions. It brings | | | | menus, to raw standing-room-only taverns where |
| together the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean to | | | | famished workers amass to satisfy their |
| create the concept of mar y montaña | | | | ravenous appetites. |
| mar i muntanya (sea and mountains). The | | | | From the traditional concerns serving age-old |
| geographical diversity puts everything into the | | | | authentic recipes, to the prestigious Michelin guide |
| melting pot: meat, poultry, game, fruit and | | | | restaurants; Girona manages to cram a |
| vegetables. This is a cuisine that likes to mix | | | | spectacular assortment into a relatively small area. |
| flavours, sweet and salty or fish and meat. | | | | Eating out in Girona - recommended dishes |
| Shopping for food in Girona / What to Buy | | | | Once you've found a restaurant that suits you |
| Shops open at 9.30am then close for lunch, | | | | (and there are many to choose from in Girona |
| re-opening again at 5pm until 8pm. | | | | city), you might like to try: |
| The supermarkets (Champion on the way into La | | | | Starters |
| Bisbal from Girona offers magnificent cheese, fish, | | | | Pa amb tomaquet |
| and wines) remain open all day apart from | | | | Thick sliced country bread rubbed with tomato, |
| Sundays when they generally close all day. | | | | olive oil, garlic and salt and sometimes covered |
| The Autonomous Catalan Government, the | | | | with slices of Serrano ham. |
| Generalitat de Catalunya, established a | | | | Escalivada amb anxoves (baked vegetable salad |
| 'Denomination of Quality' Products included under | | | | with anchovies) |
| this system are the apples of Girona and the | | | | This typically Catalan vegetable dish is |
| anchovies of L'Escala. | | | | accentuated by the renowned anchovies from |
| Other notable products to buy in this region are | | | | L'Escala. Tomatoes, aubergines, onions, peppers |
| the many types of Catalan Sausage (Botifarra, | | | | and courgettes all thrown into the pot along with |
| Fuet, llonganissa, peltruc), wild mushrooms, mature | | | | garlic and a carefully selected bunch of herbs. |
| cheese and goat or sheep's milk cream cheese, | | | | Main course |
| plus fruits, jams and preserves. | | | | Graellada de peix i marisc (grilled fish and seafood) |
| Eating at home: a seasonal guide | | | | If you like fish and seafood, this is the dish to |
| Spring: Savour the tastes of spring with an | | | | order. It's a platter of delights: usually gambas |
| omelette of courgettes, aubergines, garlic, | | | | (large prawns), calamars (squid), rap (monkfish), |
| artichokes and wild asparagus, or try tender | | | | Lluç (hake), and sometimes polp (octopus). |
| spring lamb with minted peas and Morels (wild | | | | It's a 'dry' dish - no sauce - but usually served |
| mushrooms). (Ask the butcher for the youngest | | | | with slices of lemon and often Ali-Oli. |
| lamb they have, this is the best.) There are | | | | Botifarra amb mongetes (sausage with white |
| specialist pork butchers that sell mouth-watering | | | | beans) |
| suckling pig, but you'll need to order it in advance. | | | | The Catalan sausage Botifarra is the UK |
| The fishing season starts around May, so pass by | | | | equivalent of 'black pudding' It's a melt in the |
| the fishmonger and see what delights grace the | | | | mouth meat that is enhanced by garnish of beans. |
| stalls. Cook up a magnificent suquet, the traditional | | | | DessertBunyols / (fritters) |
| Costa Brava fisherman's dish made from a | | | | These are fritters traditionally eaten at Christmas |
| selection of fish, usually hake (Merluza / | | | | but also enjoyed by tourists throughout the year. |
| Lluç) and monkfish (Rap / Rape) boiled in a | | | | They are made from dough with a hint of |
| thick broth and sofrito, garnished with mussels | | | | aniseed, deep-fried then drenched in a brown |
| (mejillones/musclos) and served in a 'cazeula' | | | | sugar, cinnamon, and guava syrup. |
| (earthenware dish). | | | | Crema cremada (caramelized custard cream) |
| Summer: Fiesta season! The season that brings | | | | No visit to Catalonia is complete without trying |
| the mar i muntanya / mar y montaña (sea | | | | this dessert. Catalan cream can be described as |
| and mountains) concept into its own. Try Chicken | | | | crème brullee - creamy custard with a |
| with lobster, the Costa Brava classic. It seems an | | | | crisp caramel topping. Catalan creams are |
| unusual combination, but you'll soon appreciate the | | | | flavoured with lemon zest and are traditionally |
| enjoyable mixture of flavours. In Girona there are | | | | served in an earthenware dish. |
| chicken specialists that can recommend not only | | | | Gastronomic Seasons |
| which parts of the chicken you should use for | | | | Throughout the year, Girona celebrates its |
| particular dishes, but can also offer expert advice | | | | renowned gastronomy with a series of |
| on cooking methods and recommended | | | | Gastronomic Seasons which involve the promotion |
| accompaniments (guarnición / guarnicio). | | | | of special menus in selected restaurants, cooking |
| Another masterpiece and probably one of the | | | | demonstrations and general awareness-raising |
| most unusual in the Catalan cookbook is the | | | | publicity. |
| Estartit stew of sausage, rabbit, shrimp and fish, | | | | Early in the year from January to March, |
| called 'Sea and heaven'. | | | | Palafrugell celebrates the sea urchin with La |
| Autumn: The hunting season and that of the wild | | | | Garoinada. From February to March, you are |
| mushroom, of which there are many (see guide | | | | invited to enjoy 'Peixopalo', the cod cuisine, in Sant |
| below). Salads and vegetables make popular | | | | Feliu de Guixols, Platja d'Aro, Santa Cristina d'Aro |
| autumn meals. Combine this with fish and try | | | | and Llagostera. |
| esqueixada (salt cod salad) as a fresh | | | | In the same towns during April, stews laced with |
| palate-stimulating starter. During this season more | | | | pulses like Broad Beans and Peas are highlighted |
| so than any other, you'll see the streets lined with | | | | as the cuisine of the month. |
| stall upon stall of succulent vegetables, all waiting | | | | From April to June, The famous Palamós |
| to be chopped and roasted in olive oil, garlic and | | | | prawns are celebrated in Sant Antoni and |
| herbs for the perfect Escalivada, Tumbet or | | | | Palamós, and during the same period, the |
| Xamfaina. Add this to a dish of oven-roasted veal | | | | Cuisine of the Rock Fish is honoured in Begur. |
| for a hearty meal. Panellets are rich almond | | | | In Sant Feliu de Guixols, Platja d'Aro, Santa |
| biscuits made in every household in Catalonia to | | | | Cristina and Llagostera, La Cuina del Peix Blau |
| celebrate the eve of All Saints Day. They are | | | | Ganso sees rice specialities and Suquet (stew) of |
| accompanied by roasted chestnuts and mature | | | | oily fish celebrated and in September, the Cuisine |
| wine and can be kept for a long time, so make a | | | | of the Cim-i-Tomba, a traditional local fisherman's |
| big batch! | | | | dish of fish and potatoes in an ali-oli sauce, sees |
| Winter: Warming meals, soups and winter | | | | several restaurants take part in promoting the |
| vegetables like turnips, cabbage and parsnips. | | | | traditional culinary values. |
| Snails and truffles are a winter delicacy, as are | | | | From October to December, the Celebration of |
| the sea urchins celebrated during the seasonal | | | | the Lobster takes places in Sant Antoni de |
| gastronomic feast from January to March. For | | | | Calonge. Also in October, when the Girona sport |
| Christmas, Escudella i carn d'olla is the dish of the | | | | of mushroom picking gets underway, La Cuina del |
| day. This is a Catalan soup made with the famous | | | | Bolet involving specialities made with local wild |
| pilota, a meaty 'dumpling' made'of parsley, | | | | mushrooms gets started in Sant Feliu de Guixols, |
| breadcrumbs and egg. The stew probably has | | | | Platja d'Aro, Santa Cristina and Llagostera. |
| more ingredients than any other in the whole | | | | Mar y montaña: from sea to mountain; the |
| country: veal, bacon, beef, chicken, pig's ear and | | | | cuisine of Girona is as diverse as it's cities, towns |
| trotters, pork, white and black butifarra, ham and | | | | and coastal resorts. Go there, sample a diversity |
| marrow bone, chickpeas, beans, potatoes, | | | | of scenic wonders, and match them with a |
| cauliflower, egg, turnip, carrot, garlic, flour, pepper, | | | | multiplicity of gastronomic delights. |