1. FROM GIRA-SOL SCHOOL
SCHOOL TO SCHOOL
TO MUSTUR SCHOOL

3. In Catalonia, we have between three and five meals a day. We eat
breakfast between eight and nine. We have a morning break at school,
and we eat a sandwich or something sweet. We eat lunch at one, in the
school, but in general lunch is between one and three in the afternoon;
lunch is the main meal of the day. It is usual to eat a snack (called berenar)
after work or school, because dinner is very late, at nine or ten in the
evening. If you go to bed very late, you can eat also a snack at night,
called ressopó.
 Breakfast is usually when we get up, usually at around eight in the
morning. We drink milk, coffee, tea or fruit juice, and we eat cereals,
biscuits, toast, pastries, toast with jam…
 There are two typical snacks, a morning one called esmorzar, and
one after school called berenar. The morning snack is at eleven
o‟clock, during the break; we normally eat a sandwich, a piece of fruit
or a pastry. After school, between five and six, we normally eat fruit,
biscuits, a pastry, a sandwich or candy.
 In Catalonia, lunch is between one and three in the afternoon, and it
is the main meal of the day. Before lunch, especially on holidays, we
can have an aperitif, which is a drink accompanied by tapas (very
small dishes) of snacks, crisps, etc. Then comes the “first” dish,
usually a starter; it can be vegetables, pulses, mushrooms, rice or
pasta dishes, soup or salads. Next we have the “second” dish, a main
dish of fish or meat, typically, accompanied by vegetables or chips.
Last, but not least, comes the dessert, which can be fruit, yoghourt,
custards, cottage cheese, ice cream, cakes… After lunch, adults
usually have coffee or tea, sometimes with biscuits.
 Dinner is between nine and ten in the evening. Dinner is similar to
lunch in structure, although it is a lighter meal. Sometimes, dinner can

4. be a simple typical meal of tomato bread and sausage, cheese, etc. If
we go to bed late, sometimes we drink milk or eat a snack as
ressopó.
The Catalan diet is based on the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean
diet uses olive oil to dress our dishes, usually fish, meat, cheese,
vegetables and fruit. Fresh bread, usually baked the same day,
accompanies most meals. We use a variety of spices, but not in big
quantities; Catalan cuisine is normally not hot spicy, or very sophisticated
like the French one. It is delicious, but relatively cheap and easy to prepare,
centred in the essence of each good ingredient.
In many families, both parents work, and they do not have much time to
cook. For that reason, they also buy prepared food, like bread, tomato
sauce, jam, chocolate spread, chips, etc. They can also buy macaroni with
Bolognese sauce, cannelloni with béchamel, hamburgers, pizza, etc.
In Catalonia, especially in large towns and cities, there are shops that sell
exclusively already prepared food.
In our typical meals we normally sit on chairs around the table. We cover
the table with a cloth. The food goes on a dish, of two types (deep or flat),
and the cutlery on the sides of the dish. On the right there is the spoon and
the knife, and on the left there is the fork. Next to the knife there is a
napkin. In front of the dish there are the glasses, the bowl, the cup… When
we eat, we cut the food with the knife on our right hand, and hold with the
fork on the left hand.

5. Our kitchens have many electrical appliances: the fridge, the oven, coffee
makers, water boilers, mixers, microwave ovens, etc. The stoves can work
with gas or electricity, and they can also be glass-ceramic cook tops.
Look at the pictures!

6. This is the canteen:

7. We made chapati.
We made a biscuits cake.

8. We made and we drank lassi.

16. Look at the map!
1. Polbo a féira: It is a traditional Galician dish that consists of boiled octopus with
potatoes and it is sprinkled with coarse salt and paprika.
2. Empanada: In Galicia, an empanada is prepared similar to a large pie which is cut in
pieces. The filling of Galician empanada usually includes tuna, sardines or chorizo, but
can instead contain cod fish or pork loin. The meat or fish is commonly in a tomato,
garlic and onion sauce inside the bread or pastry casing.
3. Tarta de Santiago: It is a famous type of almond pie from Galicia. The filling
principally consists of ground almonds, eggs and sugar. The top of the pie is usually
decorated with powdered sugar, masked by an imprint of the Saint James cross which
gives the pastry its name.
4. Fabada Asturiana: It is a traditional Asturian dish. Fabada is a heavy dish and for
that reason is most commonly eaten during the largest meal of the day, lunch. It is
made with dried large white beans, shoulder of pork or bacon, black pudding, chorizo,
and often saffron.
5. Cider: It is a fermented beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol
content from 2% ABV to 8.5% ABV.
6. Squid (Rabas): Fried squid (fried calamari, calamari) is a dish in Mediterranean
cuisine. It consists of batter-coated, deep fried squid, fried for less than two minutes to
prevent toughness. It is served plain, with salt and lemon on the side.
7. Salt cod al Pil pil: It is a traditional Basque dish. It is made with salt cod, olive oil,
garlic and chili peppers.
8. Basque Pintxos: A typical snack consists of small slices of bread upon which an
ingredient or mixture of ingredients is placed and fastened with a toothpick, which gives
the food its name "pincho", meaning "spike." Almost any ingredient can be put on the
bread, but those most commonly found in the Basque Country include fish such as
hake, cod, anchovy; potato omelette; stuffed peppers; and croquettes. Pinchos can be
very sophisticated, sometimes consisting of very elaborate (and sometimes expensive)
fish, seafood, or meats.
9. Piquillo Pepper: It is a variety of chili traditionally grown in Northern Spain Piquillo
peppers are roasted over embers, which gives them a distinct sweet, spicy flavour,
more akin to bell peppers than chili peppers, despite their small size. Piquillo Peppers
are often stuffed with meat, seafood or cheese.
10. Wine: It is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from
grapes.
11. Cuajada: It is a compact, almost cheese-like product (milk curd), like curd "grains"
condensed tightly to make a cheese of some sort, made traditionally from ewe's milk,
but industrially and more often today from cow's milk. Cuajada is usually served as
dessert with honey and walnuts or sometimes sugar, and, less often, for breakfast with
fruit or honey. It is popular in the north-eastern regions of Spain (Basque Country,
Navarre, Castilla y León, La Rioja).
12. Bread with tomato: It consists of bread — optionally toasted — with tomato rubbed
over and seasoned with olive oil and salt. Sometimes garlic is rubbed on the bread
before rubbing in the tomato. The dish is served accompanied with any sorts of

17. sausages (cured botifarres, xoriço, fuet, etc.), ham, cheeses, anchovies or other
marinated fish, or grilled vegetables.
13. Calçots: It is a variety of green onion. The most traditional way of eating calçots is
in a calçotada, a popular gastronomical event held between the end of winter and
March or April, where calçots are consumed massively. Calçots are then barbecued and
dipped in salvitxada or romesco sauce.
14. Escalivada: It is a typical Catalan dish that consists of several types of grilled
vegetables, such as eggplants, sweet red peppers, red tomatoes, and sweet onions.
Once well cooked on the grill, those vegetables are peeled and sliced in strips, the
seeds removed, and seasoned with olive oil and salt, and sometimes with garlic.
15. Cava: It is the name of a type of Spanish white or pink sparkling wine produced
mainly in the Penedès region in Catalonia, Cava is produced in varying levels of
dryness of the wine which are: brut nature, brut (extra dry), sec (in Catalan) seco (dry),
semisec (in Catalan) semiseco (medium) and dolsec (in Catalan) dulce (sweet).
16. Panellets: They are the traditional dessert of the All Saints holiday, the Castanyada
(Halloween), in Catalonia, together with chestnuts and sweet potatoes. Panellets are
often accompanied by a sweet wine, usually moscatell. Panellets are small cakes or
cookies in different shapes, mostly round, made mainly of marzipan (a paste made of
almonds and sugar). The most popular are the panellets covered with pine nuts,
consisting of the panellet basis rolled in pine nuts and varnished with egg white.
17. Tortell de reis: It is a Catalan typically O-shaped pastry stuffed with marzipan, that
on some special occasions is topped with glazed fruit. It is traditionally eaten on January
6 (Epiphany), at the conclusion of the Twelve Days of Christmas. This is also known as
the day of the Three Wise Men according to the Catholic liturgical calendar. The tortell
de reis contains two hidden surprises: a dried field bean, and a tiny figurine of one of the
three kings. The person who gets the figurine in their cut gets to wear the paper crown.
The person who gets the dried fava bean in their cut gets to pay for the tortell.
18. Mona de Pasqua: It is a pastry richly covered with almonds, yolk jam, chocolate
eggs (or currently big chocolate sculptures) and colored decoration that the godfather
and godmother give as a present, every year, to their godchildren in Easter (Pasqua).
19. Paella: It is a Valencian rice dish. There are three widely known types of paella:
Valencian, seafood paella and mixed paella but there are many others as well.
Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (rabbit, chicken, duck),
land snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with
seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style
combination of meat, seafood, vegetables and sometimes beans. Other key ingredients
include saffron and olive oil.
20.Orxata: It is a Valencian drink made from tigernuts, water, and sugar. It is served ice
cold in the summer.
21. Torró: It is a nougat confection, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, with
toasted almonds or other nuts, and usually shaped into either a rectangular tablet or a
round cake.
22. Sobrassada: It is a raw, cured sausage from the Balearic Islands made with ground
pork, paprika and salt and other spices.

18. 23. Ensaïmada: It is a pastry product from Majorca. The "ensaïmada de Mallorca" is
made with strong flour, water, sugar, eggs, mother dough and a kind of reduced pork
lard named saïm. Among the variants of ensaimada the most common are:
 Llisa (literally plain) with no extra ingredient.
 Cabell d'àngel (literally angel's hair), the stringy orange strands found inside
pumpkins are cooked with sugar to make a sweet filling that is rolled inside the
dough.
 Tallades (literally sliced) covered with Sobrassada and pumpkin, obtaining a
bittersweet taste. It is typical of Lent days.
 Filled with sweet cream, chocolate or turrón paste.
 Covered with apricot.
24. Migas: This dish includes day-old bread soaked in water, chorizo and bacon, and
are often served with grapes. Some historical sources associate the origins of this dish
to North African couscous.
25. Madrilene stew (Cocido madrileño): It is a traditional chickpea-based stew from
Madrid, Spain. It is prepared with vegetables, potatoes and meat. It is most popular
during the winter, but served year-long in restaurants.
26. Gazpacho: It is a cold Spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup, originating in the
southern region of Andalusia. Gazpacho is mostly consumed during the summer
months. It is served cold.
27. Salmorejo: It is a cream consisting of tomato and bread from the south of Spain. It
is made from tomatoes, bread, oil, garlic and vinegar. Normally, the tomatoes are
skinned and then puréed with the other ingredients. The soup is served cold and
garnished with diced Spanish Serrano ham and diced hard-boiled eggs.
28. Canarian wrinkly potatoes (Papas arrugadas): It is a traditional baked potato dish
eaten in Canary Islands. They are usually served with a pepper sauce, called Mojo, or
as an accompaniment to meat dishes. The dish is made from small new potatoes which
are cleaned (but not peeled), then boiled in water (originally in seawater, but it is more
usual that salt is added to the water in the boiling process) and then baked in their skins
until they become shriveled. Alternatively, in some recipes, after cooking in salted water
most of the water is discarded and the small amount that remains is boiled away until
the potatoes become dry. This leaves them with a characteristic dry salt crust on their
skins.
29. Lechón: It is a pork dish in several regions of the world, most specifically Spain. In
most regions, lechón is prepared throughout the year for any special occasion, during
festivals, and the holidays. After seasoning, the pig is cooked by skewering the entire
animal, entrails removed, on a large stick and cooking it in a pit filled with charcoal. The
pig is placed over the charcoal, and the stick or rod it is attached to is turned in a
rotisserie action.
30. Hornazo: It is a meat pie or bread made with flour and yeast and stuffed with pork
loin, spicy chorizo sausage and hard-boiled eggs.
31. Pisto: It is a dish made of tomatoes, onions, eggplant or courgettes, green and red
peppers and olive oil. It is similar to ratatouille and is usually served warm to
accompany a dish or with a fried egg and bread. It is also used as the filling for
empanadillas and empanadas.
32. Cocido extremeño: It is a rich stew of bacon, fowl, ham, meats, and vegetables.

19. 33. Zarangollo: It is a common dish in the Murcian countryside in Spain. The dish is
scrambled eggs with zucchini, onion, and occasionally potatoes. All ingredients are
sliced very finely, fried in olive oil, and then mixed with the beaten eggs. The dish is
served hot.
34. Ham: It refers to certain types of dry-cured ham from Spain. There are two primary
types of ham: Jamón serrano (meaning ham from the sierra or mountains) and Jamón
ibérico (ham from the Black Iberian Pig).

22. CATALAN-STYLE POT-AU-FEU
Ingredients:
1 veal shank 4 pork sausages: 1 parsnip
1 lamb cutlet 2 black and 2 1 turnip
1 small piece of white 1 leek
pig‟s ear, A handful of 1/2cabbage
1 pig‟s trotter, presoaked 300 g Catalan
1 cured ham bone, chickpeas pasta shells
1/4 chicken 4 potatoes Flour
2 slices streaky 2 carrots Water
bacon 1 celery stick salt
Meatballs:
150g minced pork 1 egg Pepper
Chopped garlic Bread crumbs
Chopped parsley Salt
Preparation:
 Place the meat, excluding the sausages and the meatballs, in a
saucepan of cold water.
 Boil for 1 hour, frequently skimming off the surface foam.
 Add in the chickpeas.
 Allow to cook for a further hour, then add in the vegetables, but not
the potatoes. Allow to cook for a further hour.
 Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the meatballs together and knead
for a while to ensure that they are well mixed together.
 Form the mixture into oval-shaped balls and thoroughly dust with
flour.
 Add the potatoes, sausages, meatballs and salt to the pot-au-feu.
Allow to cook for a further 30 minutes.
 Once cooked, remove the meats and vegetable and use the broth to
cook the pasta. First serve the soup, then the meats and vegetables.

23. COURGETTE SOUP
Ingredients:
1 kg of courgettes
3 or 4 pieces of cheese.
1 big potato
1 onion
1 litre and a quarter of water
Oil
Preparation:
 Peel the courgettes, the onion and the potato.
 Cut up them.
 Fry the ingredients lightly in a pot. Add some oil and salt.
 Pour 1 litre of water.
 Boil until the courgettes and the potato are soft. Add the pieces of
cheese.
 When the cream is lukewarm, crush the ingredients.
 Put the courgette cream in the fridge.

24. CATALAN SPINACHES
Ingredients:
2 kg of spinaches
100 g of ham
150 g of raisins
100 g of pine nut
Oil
Preparation:
 Wash the spinaches.
 Boil the spinaches during 5 minutes.
 Drain them and cut the spinaches into small pieces.
 Cut the ham into pieces.
 Fry the ham, the raisins and the pine nuts.
 Put the spinaches into the frying pan.

25. CATALAN-STYLE CANNELLONI
Ingredients:
16 cannelloni sheets 2 garlic cloves oil
200g pork tenderloin 1 tomato salt
100g topside veal 1 glass white wine pepper
200g chicken béchamel sauce milk.
1onion grated cheese
1 bay leaf butter
Preparation:
 To a saucepan of water, add salt and a drizzle of oil, then add the
cannelloni sheets and bring to the boil. Allow to cool, then spread on a
cotton cloth and allow to dry.
 Season the meats with salt and pepper. Fry briefly with the onion, garlic,
tomato and bay leaf.
 When half-cooked, introduce the wine and allow to reduce. Add in a little
milk.
 Once the meats have released all their juices, put everything thought a
mincer.
 Grease an oven dish with butter.
 Wrap the meat mixture in the cannelloni sheets and place these on the
oven dish.
 Cover with béchamel sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese to taste and add
a few knobs of butter.
 Bake in the oven at 180ºc for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted.

26. BLACK PEAS WITH BACON
Ingredients:
400g black peas.
1 teaspoon bicarbonate.
1 onion.
1 clove.
A handful of aromatic herbs.
1 hambone.
4 slices streaky bacon, 200g xoriço (spicy sausage).
1 spoonful of pork land.
Olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
Preparation:
 Soak the peas the day before in plenty of water containing a teaspoonful
of bicarbonate.
 Once softened, cook the peas in water for 2 hours, along with the onion,
clove, herbs, ham bone and a pinch of salt. Drain, but keep some of the
broth.
 Melt the lard in a pan, caramelize the onion, then mix in the chopped
sausage. Add in the peas and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add
in, as necessary, some pea broth if it seems that the dish is too dry.
 Serve on individual plates with a strip of streaky bacon and a drizzle of oil.

27. BREAD WITH TOMATO
Ingredients:
White bread (made of wheat).
Tomato
Olive oil
Salt
Garlic
Preparation:
 Cut a big slice of bread.
 You can toast it a little if you like (Try toasting it, and without toasting, and
compare what you like more).
 After having your bread ready, just pick a tomato and have it rubbed over
the bread slice (do it only for one side of the slice).
 Now season the bread with tomato using salt and Olive Oil.
 Some people like to rub garlic before rubbing the tomato over the
bread.(like always, try both recipes and keep which you like more)
 You can eat the bread and tomato with cheese, omelette, sausages,…

28. MIXED GREEN SALAD
Ingredients:
1 head Iceburg or Romaine lettuce
2 tomatoes cut into 8 pieces
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup green olives, stuffed with anchovies
1 can (approximately 15 oz) white asparagus
1 red or yellow pepper, sliced in long thin strips
1/4-1/2 yellow or red onion, sliced thin
1 carrot, grated
tuna, drained
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut into quarters
red wine or sherry vinegar
olive oil
salt
Preparation:
 Hard boil the eggs. Allow to cool in cold water. Then, peel and cut into
quarters, or slice in thick slices.
 Cut the lettuce head in half. Rinse the lettuce under cold water and allow
to drain. While lettuce is draining, cut the tomatoes. Peel and slice
cucumbers and slice the red peppers. Grate the carrot.
 Open the cans of the other ingredients and drain each one.
 Break up the lettuce into small pieces for a salad. Make a bed of lettuce
on a large platter. On top of the bed, place the tomatoes, cucumbers,
onions, peppers and carrots. Then spread out the tuna around the bed of
lettuce, breaking it up into small chunks with a fork first. Place the egg
slices, asparagus and olives
 Dress with oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt to taste.

29. VEAL WITH WILD MUSHROOMS
Ingredients:
1kg joint of veal tied with string A dash of brandy or truffle liquor
1kg fresh/dried wild mushrooms 1garlic clove
1 large onion salt
2 carrots pepper
3 tomatoes parsley
1glass of sherry or port olive oil
Preparation:
 Allow to cook for a further 30 minutes, then serve.
 Place the veal in a hot oven along with salt, pepper and oil.
 Once the meat acquires a golden colour, add the onion, carrot and
chopped tomato.
 Shortly after, add the sherry and brandy.
 Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
 Cut the veal and place the slices on a baking tray or casserole dish.
 Put the juice through a Chinese colander and pour over the veal.
 Sauté the wild mushrooms with chopped garlic and parsley.
 Arrange around the veal. Finely chop and mix the garnish ingredients and
sprinkle on top.
 Return the dish to the oven until the meat is tender, but ensuring that it
does not overcook.

30. SNAIL CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
- 1.5 kg snails - bay leaf and thyme
- 200g pork cutlets - olive oil
- 200g tastet (raw pork sausage) - vinegar
- 100g streaky bacon - salt.
- 2 onions Garnish:
- 3 tomatoes - 1-2 rabbit livers
- ½ green pepper - 20g almonds
- ½ red pepper - a fistful of pine kernels
- 1 glass brandy - 1 chili pepper
- ½ L meat stock - fennel.
Preparation:
 Clean the snails thoroughly in plenty of water containing a pinch of salt
and a measure of vinegar.
 Place in a saucepan with cold water, bay leaf and thyme.
 Cook over a very low heat.
 Sauté the onions, tomatoes, peppers and garlic in a pan, then add in the
pork cutlets, sausage and streaky bacon.
 Once cooked, add in red and green pepper, onion, tomato, and 1-2 rabbit
livers depending on the quantity of snails being prepared.
 Once the livers are cooked, remove them and set them aside for the
garnish.
 Add the snails on the pan, along with the brandy and a little meat stock,
and allow them to simmer gently for a few hours.
 Prepare the garnish by chopping up the livers, almonds, pine kernels, chili
pepper and fennel.
 Add a little meat stock, mix in a blender and add to the snails.
 Allow to cook for a further 30 minutes, then serve.

31. CHICKEN WITH PRUNES AND PINE
KERNELS
Ingredients:
1 free-range chicken cut into 8 sections
20 prunes
1large onion
2 ripe tomatoes
1 garlic bulb
50 g pine kernels
chicken stock
olive oil
a finger of sherry or port
salt
pepper
Preparation:
 Season the chicken and fry in a pan with a whole garlic bulb, chopped
onions and the tomatoes cut in tow.
 Soak the prunes then place them in boiling water along with the pine
kernels.
 Drain off and keep the prunes liquid.
 Once the chicken golden, add in the prunes and pine kernels.
 Season with salt and pepper and add in a good measure of sherry cu port.
 Add in the prunes liquid and allow the dish to simmer over a slow heat
until the liquid evaporates.
 Serve with rustic farmhouse bread and accompanied by a good Prorate
wine.

32. POTATO OMELETTE
Ingredients:
6 eggs
4 potatoes
2 onions
Salt
Oil
Preparation:
 Cut up the onions and the potatoes into small pieces.
 Fry the onions and the potatoes.
 Beat the eggs in a dish.
 Mix the pieces of the onions and the potatoes with the eggs.
 Put some oil in a frying pan, when the oil is hot put the mixture in a frying
pan.

33. CATALAN-STYLE CUSTARD
Ingredients:
- 1 litre of milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- lemon peel
- 200 g of sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 40 g of starch
- flour or cornflour
Preparation:
● Boil the milk with the cinnamon and the lemon peel.
● In a bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
● Remove the cinnamon and peel from the milk, add the starch and
dissolve.
● Add this liquid to the eggs beaten with sugar.
● Cook the mixture, stirring constantly with an egg-beater until it comes to a
boil.
● Remove from the heat and pour into small dishes or pots.
● Allow to cool.
● Before serving, sprinkle with sugar and caramelise with a red-hot heating
iron.

34. QUINCE JELLY WITH CHESSE
Ingredients:
quinces
sugar
Optional:
Goat‟s cheese of curds
Preparation:
 Peel and chop the quinces and remove the cores.
 Boil in water for 20 minutes.
 Weight the pulp before placing in a saucepan.
 For each kilo of pulp, add 800g sugar.
 Cook for 40 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mix turns a reddish
colour.
 Spoon the quince jelly into individual serving pots and allow to cool.
 A wonderful way to enjoy this delicacy in to serve it with goat‟s cheese of
curds, building up alternating layers of quince jelly and cheese.

35. TYPICAL CATALAN SAUSAGES
Botifarra. A cooked sausage made of minced pork, thick and round in
shape. There is a white variety, a dark variety made with pig‟s blood and a
variety with egg.
Bull. A cooked sausage made of minced pork and tongue, haggis like in
shape. The varieties include bull blanc (white) and bull negre (black, made with
pig‟s blood).
Fuet. Cured, hard, pork sausage, long and thin in shape.
Llonganissa. Similar to fuet but of superior quality.

36. Xoriço. Cured spicy pork sausage made with pepper.
HOW TO PREPARE TYPICAL CATALAN SAUSAGES?
1. Mince the pork meat and add pepper and salt.
2. Put the mixture into the machine.
3. The machine grinds the meat and pumps it into the pork intestines (the
„skin‟), which have been thoroughly emptied and cleaned and are used as
recipient.
4. Some sausages, which are cured and have more spices, are let to air and
dry in a dark area and they can be eaten raw. Others, especially the
typical botifarra, are raw and need to be cooked, usually grilled.