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Vilanova i la Geltrú
Ingredients for the sauce:
(for six people) |
Ingredients for the dish:
(for six people) |
| GARLIC |
4 MIDDLE CLOVES |
| ALMONDS |
35 PIECES |
| TOASTED HAZELNUTS |
12 PIECES |
| SCALDED NYORES |
8 PIECES |
BREAD CRUMB SOAKED
IN VINEGAR, OIL AND SALT |
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| CURLY ENDIVES |
2 PIECES |
RAW RIPPED COD
(SALT TAKEN OFF) |
200 GRAMS |
RIPPED TUNA
(SALT TAKEN OFF) |
150 GRAMS |
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ANCHOVIE FILLETS
(SALT TAKEN OFF)
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18 FILLETS
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BLACK AND ARBEQUIN LIVES
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Preparation
Mince the garlic cloves with salt, so that nothing comes out of the mortar. When they are squashed enough, add the almonds and the hazelnuts slowly, and then keep tossing until you get an homogeneous dough. Scrape the inside part of the scalded nyores and add the obtained pulp to the mortar. Once everything is carefully mixed, add the bread crumb in vinegar, a little bit drained, and keep tossing.
When it’s ready, add some oil slowly –keep tossing slowly at the same time!-, to get the consistency you wish.
Lay out the curly endive well drained on a tray, then some sauce. Remove carefully and then serve in plates. Tuna, Cod, anchovies and olives can be served together with it. Let everybody at the table add as much sauce as they wish.
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Gastronomy
As you would expect of a Mediterranean town such as Vilanova i la Geltrú, the local cuisine includes a major seafood component alongside dry land ingredients. The townspeople have spent many centuries catching silver-skinned sardines, majestic prawns, meaty cuttlefish, elegant gilthead sea bream and ferocious conger eels. But for a long time too they have also been growing tangled espigalls, or cabbage shoots, and combed escaroles, and making honest wines. And preparing them in their boats or their wine cellars or orchards in pots made of iron or earthenware.
That is why, if you really want to get to know the cuisine of Vilanova i la Geltrú, you must try rossejat, all cremat, sípia a la bruta, allipebre, bull de tonyina, the seafood rice dishes, the noodle paellas, xató and espigalls amb cansalada or espigalls amb arengada. And, if necessary, take in other dishes in order to get to know it in all its richness and diversity. The list is long and full of pleasant surprises.
Xatonada Popular
Xató came into being in relation to the world of wine. The ceremony of fitting a little tap or spigot, called an aixetó in Catalan, in the cask in order to get the wine out, was known as aixetonar. It marked the start of the festival and, like any other festival, it was accompanied by a feast. The banquet was made up of savoury ingredients -anchovies, tuna and salt cod- which were common in peasant larders, accompanied by a few leaves of escarole, the vegetable of the cold months, and a few olives. All this was enriched with a sauce made with techniques that are clearly of Arab origin and different degrees of sophistication commonly used by the peasantry.
So here we have a dish whose name, when the moment to baptise it arrived, was fore-ordained. If the name of the ceremony was aixetonar, then the name of the dish would have to be xató. It is only right, therefore, that a town should go back to its origins, resume such a tradition and turn it into a festival so that other people can have the chance to get to know it. It is held the second Sunday before Carnival.
Festa del Xató
Celebrations and activities
| NOVEMBER 2007 |
• From 9th 11th. November Fair
• Human Tower-building Festival, Bordegassos de Vilanova
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| DESEMBER 2007 |
• 25th December and 1st January. Christmas Scenes
• Christmas Dioramas, Santa Llúcia’s day to Candelera’s day
• Christmas Fair and Epiphany
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| JANUARY 2008 |
• Christmas Fair and Epiphany
• 17th. Sant Antoni
• 20th. XIX Xatonada Popular. XII National Championship of xató
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| FEBRUARY 2008 |
• 16th. Large shawl dance.
• From 31th January to 6th February. Carnival
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| MARCH 2008 |
• Mountain bike race
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| APRIL 2008 |
• 23rd. Sant Jordi’s Day
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Ajuntament de Vilanova i la Geltrú - Oficina Municipal de Turisme
Pg. del Carme, s/n Parc de Ribes Roges - 08800 Vilanova i la Geltrú
Tel. : 93 815 45 17 - Fax.: 93 815 26 93
e-mail: turisme@vilanova.cat
web: www.vilanovaturisme.cat
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How to get there by train: Line 2 • On the motorway: C-32, exits 16, 21 and 26 / AP-7, exit 29
Romantic and cultural walks
Railway Museum
Steam, electrical and diesel locomotives collection and railway material which embraces the whole railway’s world history. Audio-visual about the railway’s history.
Plaça d’Eduard Maristany, s/n. Tel: 93 815 84 91. E-mail: fumvu01@ffe.es. web: www.ffe.es/vilanova
OPENING HOURS
From Tuesday morning to Sunday morning
from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.
Saturday afternoon to 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.
Monday: closed
Can Papiol Museum
19th Century Lord’s House turned into museum. The visit becomes a journey through time which brings you to the daily life of a wealthy family from the 19th Century.
Carrer Major, 32. Tel: 93 893 03 82. E-mail: museupapiol@vilanova.org
TEMPORALLY CLOSED
Tuesday morning to Sunday morning from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday: closed
Víctor Balaguer Library and Museum
Important collection of Catalan paintings from the 19th and 20th Centuries. Precolombine, Egyptian and ethnic art collections. The library bears one of the most important literature and documental 19th Century collections in Catalonia.
Avinguda de Víctor Balaguer s/n. Tel: 93 815 42 02. 93 815 37 02.
E-mail: informacio@victorbalaguer-bmb.org
web: www.victorbalaguer-bmb.org
OPENING HOURS
From October to May
Tuesday morning to Sunday morning
from 10 a.m. a 2 p.m.
Tuesday afternoon to Saturday afternoon
from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Monday: closed
Roig Toqués Museum of Marine Curiosities
This museum is the result of a life’s work dedicated to the sea where the visitor can admire a large number of curiosities. The protagonist there is also Juanita, the carp that lives in a pond in the garden. She can eat from a spoon and drink from a wineskin.
Sea-life and Fishing Museum
The Sea-life and Fishing Museum, inside Vilanova i la Geltrú’s lighthouse, depicts the long interaction between the city’s fishermen and the sea. There, you can find galleon anchors and propellers, as well as shipwreck remains and a molan jaw.
Torre Blava-Espai Guinovart
The tower of Ribes Roges, the only one remaining from the late fortified enclosure of Vilanova’s marina, dates back to 1850. Today, an outstanding place where the contemporary artist Josep Guinovart has recreated his own interpretation of marine life.
Terra XIX Romanticism Interpretation Centre
The centre located in the outskirts of Vilanova i la Geltrú, in Cabanyes’ country house. This is a Neoclassic building inspired in Italian Renaissance models. Visitors can see a display which brings them back to the 19th Century guided by an imaginary family. They can also admire a sample of the Cabanyes family legacy.
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