Pan con Tomate

pa amb tomàquet

August 15th 2011

Pan con Tomate is a very simple, yet extraordinarily delicious way of serving bread with a meal. In Cataluña, where it originates, all meals come with tomato bread (pa amb tomàquet – the Catalan name), instead of plain old sliced bread.

Pan con Tomate recipe:

a few slices of good quality bread (mine’s brown sourdough)
garlic
ripe juicy tomatoes
Spanish extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and cracked black pepper

perry court tomatoes

Cut and toast some sourdough bread – ideally on a barbecue. Bruise a piece of garlic and chop off the bottom (there’s no need to peel it), then rub the garlic into the toast. Slice a tomato in half and rub/squeeze the juice and seeds into the bread (dispense with the tomato skin). Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Pan con Tomate is absolutely fantastic with all Spainsh food – it goes particularly well with ajoblanco, chorizo, jamón serrano, sardinas, tortilla, etc.

The origin of this bread dish is in pan con aceite (or pa amb oli in Catalan) – bread drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. I don’t doubt that using bread this way was to ensure that nothing was wasted – stale bread toasted and revitalised!

I like this on toasted sourdough, but you will find it on fresh bread, served in all Catalan restaurants. Generally it arrives preprepared, but some serve bread, garlic, oil, salt and a whole tomato.