There are just two ingredients in this dish, but there’s nothing better

The dish

Pa amb tomaquet, Spain

Plate up

There’s a clue here in the name. If you speak a little Spanish, you might be looking at “pa amb tomaquet” and thinking, huh? How is that Spanish? What does that even mean? And you’re right, it isn’t Spanish. This is Catalan, because the dish is Catalan. It’s also foundational, a key building block upon which an entire cuisine is based, a simple, incredibly tasty dish that you will find everywhere, from high-end restaurants to family dining tables across north-eastern Spain.

So what is it? Bread and tomatoes. That’s the translation, and that’s the dish. A rustic, crusty bread roll is toasted and then the key technique: tomatoes are sliced in half and rubbed directly onto the bread, so the pulp and juices are soaked up, and then the skin can be tossed away. Top with a glug of fresh, extra virgin olive oil, some flaky sea salt for seasoning, and you’re done. A Catalan specialty, and there are few things better.

First serve

Pa amb tomaquet was born, as so many great dishes were, out of necessity. In the late-18th or early-19th century – no one is completely sure – Catalans in rural areas wanted to use up their stale bread. There were also plenty of tomatoes in this verdant region, the vegetable having earlier been introduced from the Americas, and so the practice of rubbing tomatoes into the bread was born. Rather than progress this recipe, over the years, towards something more complicated, Catalans relish its simplicity, its reliance on high-quality ingredients and its perfect harmony of flavours.

Order there

In Barcelona, El Xampanyet is a traditional bar known for the quality of its pa amb tomaquet (elxampanyet.com).

Order here

In Sydney, order the “pan con tomate” at Paripe (paripe.com.au). In Melbourne, it’s hard to go past the “pan Catalan” at Movida Next Door (movida.com.au). In Brisbane, try Botellon (botellonbar.com).

One more thing

The popularity of pa amb tomaquet has spread throughout the rest of Spain, where you’ll often find it called “pan con tomate”. In the south, the addition of jamon iberico is hard to say no to.