Call it Catalogne in France or Catalunya in Spain. Discover the tastes of Catalonia and link across time to a cross-border region that history has tried and failed to rip apart. If you try the Catalan pronunciation for a place name or a menu item, Perpignan locals will usually still steer you back to conventional French. A pair of fortified villages high in the mountains explains the cultural amnesia that, until its recent revival, turned French Catalan culture into a mountain outlaw.
Though parts of it can be visited year-round, its citadel is still an active military base where French commandos train. Villefranche-de-Conflent is an unusually oblong-shaped walled town crammed into a narrow valley, between steep slopes and the River Tet. To attract a population of shopkeepers and craftsmen, he invited settlers to live tax-free for three years, after which they could pay taxes when and only as much as they wanted.
Their stone shopfronts and tall, narrow houses line deeply shaded streets that open onto dazzling mountain views. It was originally created by Louis XIV to house prisoners. Visitors can climb more than steps of an underground staircase or take a shuttle bus from the parking area outside the town walls to ascend metres higher. The air of the enormous Saturday market in the border town of Ceret resounds with Catalan; the market stalls are laden with Catalan specialities β bunches of vegetables and jars of sauces rarely seen elsewhere in France.
Both dishes seemed to be on every Catalan menu on both sides of the border. Make them at home and you can experience a taste of Catalonia at your own table. In season from January to April, they are often served at raucous, messy festivals where they are grilled until they are blackened, peeled, rolled in romesco sauce β made of ground almonds, pine nuts, sweet peppers, garlic and tomatoes β and then lowered, pretty much whole into your hungry mouth.
There they were eaten blackened outer layer and all. It looked a bit like charcoal but was actually sweetly delicious β in the same way that the blackened outside of a toasted marshmallow is sweet and edible. In another key difference, in France, they are often served on plates and eaten with cutlery. A lot less messy. This recipe, by Jenny Chandler on the Borough Market website , has everything you need to know about preparing and eating these unusual onions.
