Catalan Tapes Menu

I'm a big lover of Catalan food - well, actually I'm a massive fan of food in general but as I live here in Catalonia, I tend to eat more Catalan food than anything else!

I took this photo of the Tapes Menu at the Centre Mataroni on the Rambla in Mataró and it struck me that, given the problems that most travel guides seem to have in distinguishing between all things Spanish and all things Catalan, it probably requires some explanation.

First of all the word 'Tapes' in Catalan is pronounced in exactly the same way as 'Tapas' in Spanish. The singular in both languages is 'Tapa' but Catalan makes the plural of a word ending in 'a' with '-es' rather than than Spanish '-as'.

First on the list is 'Patates Braves' (Patatas Bravas in Spanish), which are lumps of fried potato, a kind of cross between roast potatoes and chips, covered in a hot spicy sauce and either mayonnaisse or all i oli - Catalan garlic mayonnaisse.

The ones at Centre Mataroni were particularly good. They were quite thinly sliced and the alli oli was strong enough without blowing your head off. They didn't have a spicy red sauce but were covered in black pepper, which was an interesting and tasty variation on a familiar theme.