Picada

I learned of a new thing the other day that I just knew I needed to add to my repertoire.  I was watching a show about Spanish food and a man made a paste in his mortar and pestle that looked and sounded delicious.  They called it a picada.  I asked Dan if he'd ever heard of a picada and he said yes, it's a name for a preparation of some meats - and I said, oh, no, that's picata, like 'veal picata.'  I hadn't even realized that of course, it's pronounced the same.   

This new 'picada' is not the name of a preparation, but a paste used in cooking.   It was made with fresh garlic, almonds, stale bread, parsley, and a little of the cooking liquid from the dish he was making.   The man went to town on it in the mortar and pestle until it was a beautiful, smooth paste.  He also added some saffron. 

I was so entranced by this thing that I looked it up right away.  It turns out that the picada is an important part of Catalonian cuisine.  It's always made with bread, nuts (usually almonds), and cooking liquid, and sometimes also with garlic, parsley, and saffron; sometimes it is made with other things, but that's the standard.  It is usually used to thicken and/or season a dish, or sometimes as a a topping, such as on top of a casserole while the dish finishes, but isn't eaten raw - always used to cook with.  At least, that's what all the stuff I looked up said.

All I could think was that it sounded freaking delicious.  I actually made some that very night.  I used it as a topping for a layered eggplant dish I made.  I didn't get it as smooth as I wanted, and I'll just blame that on my weak little arms - I actually used my mortar instead of a food processor, because I was trying to be authentic.  I could get it smoother if I used the processor, and I'll try that next time.  So it was a little chunky, but it was tasty.  Very garlicky! 

I think I will try making something like that as a thickener one of these days when I make soup.  That could be interesting.  At any rate, I've learned something interesting about Spanish food that I'd never heard of before.  I hope you have, too.

Happy eating!