Salvitxada Catalana

Salvitxada is Catalan, and more precisely the sauce of the calçotada around Valls in the Camp de Tarragona: roasted tomato and garlic, sweet dried ñora, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, bread, vinegar and a generous measure of olive oil. It is closely related to romesco, and households often blur the names, but this version is kept loose enough for a peeled calçot to be dragged through it and come away properly coated.

The method that decides it is the order. Pound the ñora, garlic, nuts and bread first, add the roasted tomato, then work in the oil gradually. This makes a rough, spoonable emulsion with a little grain left from the nuts. Pour everything into a blender at once and you'll get either an oily puddle or smooth nut cream. Neither belongs on a calçot.

If ñoras are hard to find, use two dried pimientos choriceros of the same total weight. Their flesh is darker and a little less sweet, so the sauce will taste earthier, but it remains a sensible Spanish-kitchen substitution. No hace falta haber pisado España. My Margin gives the consistency plainly: thick enough to cling, loose enough to drip on your shirt. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.