Andorra - Trinxat with Romesco Sauce

This week's meal comes from the small country of Andorra. Until this project, I had never heard of Andorra. I have travelled to both France and Spain but I missed the fact there is a tiny country squished between the two.

With an area of 468 km², Andorra is one of the smallest countries in the world (17th smallest). In comparison, metropolitan Adelaide is 870 km² and New York City is 790km². It is squashed between Spain and France, and the two neighbouring countries have heavily influenced Andorra’s cuisine and culture.

Andorra is the only country in the world with two ruling sovereigns, neither of whom are Andorran! Andorra’s co-princes are the current French president and Spanish Bishop of Urgell. Additionally, this makes the French President the only elected monarch in the world (although they are elected by French rather than Andorran citizens).  

In 1914 Andorra declared war on Germany. However, they had no standing army, no navy and their military consisted of 10 part-time soldiers. Because of Andorra’s small size, Andorra was forgotten at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Although Andorra remained neutral during WWII, this technically meant that they were still at war with Germany until 1939 when the mistake was fixed. 

Andorran cuisine is a mixture of Spanish, Catalan and French. Due to its mountainous region and cold climate, dishes are typically heavy in carbs. Additionally, due to its predominance in farming, Andorran food often includes pork. Trinxat, which is made from potatoes, cabbage and bacon, is representative of Andorran cuisine. In Catalan (the national language of Andorra) trinxat means ‘chopped’.  

I was initially a bit unsure about this week's meal. Mashed potato and cabbage sounded pretty bland (although my younger self who used to eat mounds and mounds of mashed potato might disagree!) After further research into Andorran cuisine I found that some restaurants serve Trinxat with a sauce. So I decided to include a traditional Catalan Romesco sauce to liven up the flavours of the potato and cabbage.

Romesco Sauce

Ingredients:

• ½ tin whole tomatoes (or roast 3 tomatoes and remove the skin)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ½ cup blanched or slivered almonds
• 1-2 roasted capsicums (from a jar or roast them yourself and remove the skin)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs smoked paprika
• 1 Tbs parsley
• 1 slice toasted bread
• ½ tsp chilli powder (add more if you want it spicier)
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper 
• 2-3 cloves garlic

Blend all of the ingredients together until smooth. 

This recipe makes about 2 cups of the romesco sauce. I only used 2 Tbs with the Trinxat. But the sauce last for about a week in the fridge or can be frozen for longer. You can use it as a dip! Or with seafood! Or anything! It’s really delicious! 

Trinxat

Ingredients:

• ½ green cabbage
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 leek
• 4 rashers bacon
• 2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 Tbs parsley

In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil.

Chop ½ green cabbage into quarters and remove the core. Peel and chop into quarters 2 medium potatoes. 

Add cabbage and potatoes to boiling water and cook for 30-40mins.

While they are cooking, chop 1 leek into small pieces and fry in a pan with oil until soft. 

In the same frypan, cook 4 rashers of bacon. When cooked, dice the bacon. 

Add 2 Tbs of oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic to the frypan and cook until brown. Keep the oil and garlic to add to the potatoes. 

When the cabbage and potatoes are done drain them well and return them to their saucepan. 

To the potatoes and cabbage, add leek, bacon, 1 Tbs parsley and garlic with oil. Mash the mixture together and add salt and pepper to taste.

Form the mixture into patties and fry in a pan until golden brown.

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I found the process of frying the patties pretty difficult as they did not stay stuck together. An alternative serving option is to serve it as a mash without frying it into patties.

I thought this meal tasted really delicious but I didn’t think that it worked well as a main meal. I think it would be best served as part of a tapas or as a side dish. But it is definitely a fun way to mix up plain mashed potatoes.

The Romesco sauce is really delicious but it has a strong flavour so you don’t need much of it. Peter said that the sauce made it really interesting. The consistency of the sauce is a bit like pesto and it has a spicy tomato flavour.

192 meals to go. Next stop on my world tour: Angola.