How to prepare "Pan con Tomate"

[Kdnce]

I've had Pan Con Tomate in Barcelona and I hesitantly disagree with olive oil after garlic. Wouldn't that make it more difficult for the bread to absorb the tomato? Once you add the oil to the bread the bread will have a resistance to taking on any other water based ingredients (think how scotch guard works on material - makes them water resistant). On the other hand if you add the tomato after the garlic it would seal everything in. I'll try both ways and just taste to see ,,,

[Dreadlord67]

HOW ABOUT YOU TELL US HOW YOU DO IT, INSTEAD OF SAYING WE'RE DOING IT WRONG. You can definitely do it however you wish, but don't say that our way, the ORIGINAL WAY, the way it is supposed to be created, is wrong. Besides, any old fashioned traditional catalan wouldn't pick it up with their disgusting hands. So the spillage of olive oil is not of importance. Don't tell us how to make our own dishes, please.

[Kdnce]

@Dreadlord67 "Disgusting Hands" - ??? First why are they disgusting in the first place. Second eating with your hands is no where near disgusting unless they are covered in shit. Third there is this stuff called water that you can use to turn those disgusting hands into perfectly clean hands. Fourth you sound like you are mysophobic.

[Dreadlord67]

@Kdnce Water is not going to clean your hands properly. And did you know that most soaps don't kill any germs on your hands, but only cover them? D some research man. The point is, the man who ISN'T catalan shoudln't be telling us how to make OUR own dishes. Just because it seems like it's in a silly orer doesn't mean it's wrong. It's tradition.

[Kdnce]

@Dreadlord67 I agree that he can't tell you how to make your own dish for sure, but I disagree that eating with your hands is as bad as you make it out to be. We evolved eating with our hands and it has gotten us this far, right?

[Dreadlord67]

@Kdnce Sure it's passable, but the fork, knife and spoon wouldn't have been invented had hand eating just been perfect, right? I think what I was more trying to get at (but failed to do) is that you don't have to worry about silly things like "getting the olive oil on your hands" (OH MY LORD WHAT A NIGHTMARE, RIGHT?!???!?) when you can eat it with a fork and knife?

[Kdnce]

@Dreadlord67 Hahaha ok fair enough you made a good point!

[Dreadlord67]

@Kdnce Thanks for giving me some things to think about, though. You posed some good questions:)

[siddharthbiswas]

first of all they are using the wrong kind of bread. trying to teach catalans how to cook...is he mad?

[WinePleasures]

@elvikingo Todo lo contrario! A ver. Lo de poner el aceite primero y el tomate segundo tiene su lógico pero el fuente de hacerlo así viene avalado por catalanes!!. Como nosotros no tenemos esquemas mentales sobre como se hace el pan con tomate, hemos probado las dos maneras y clarmente el de poner el tomate segundo sale mucho más sabroso - Y la mesa y los manos se libran de aceite de oliva. Prueba!

[elvikingo33]

colega , primero se pone el tomate y luego el aceite .... muy poco de pan con tomate as comido tu .... que yo soy catalan !!!!!!

[WinePleasures]

@alexsakon Well it appears many of them do but then there are those that don't and that's why we made the video. Try both ways and see which works best for you. We'll pass on the idiot comment. - it is infact our most viewed video so it is a controveral topic.

[alexsakon]

"it seems that the Catalans do it wrong" .... idiot

[pitogrillo]

Well. "Pan con tomate" is the Spanish translation. But it's not a typilcal spanish dish (its a traditional dish from 2 regions of Spain, of different culture: Balearic Islands and Catalonia). Then, the name is "Pa amb tomàquet".

[WinePleasures]

@tartala Nice point! For pan con tomate there are right tomatoes and wrong ones. There is a particular variety that oozes juice as opposed to a supermarket one which has no juice at all.

We've since made some subsequent videos on the topic with restaurant chefs and the results are interesting. We'll get them published when we have a moment.

Thank you for your comment!

[tartala]

You have less olive oil on your hands maybe. But you also have less tomato flesh on your bread, wich results in less of the ingredient that the dish is named from. I praise for the other way. Even if I have to lick my fingers a bit. a good tomato worth the mess ;)

[sergiocn92]

genial se ve muy bonito

[WinePleasures]

Don't have a recipe for the bread but for Pan Con Tomate it's important to have what is locally called Pan Payès (peasants bread). Found extensively around Spain.

[WiseLove75]

oh my.... would you, please, maestro, have a recipe for the bread itself?? It was the best looking bread I've seen in a while!!! thank you ;)))

[WinePleasures]

Well we're not French and we've been in Catalunya more than 15 years so we've tried plenty of pan con tomate. So the way we show you in the video is actually from the "horses mouth" ie the info and method was shown to us by a catalán authority on the subject and if you try it both ways you can see clearly which one gives the better taste as well as of course avoiding getting olive oil all over your hands.

[AvochDar]

I thought that it was a typical French atittude to do anything in their own way and not in the other culture's way... but it seems that stupid gringo's make the same mistake...

I tried in the way you do, and it's much better in Catalan's way! First tomato, and then the oil... Visca catalunya!! ||*||

[AvochDar]

I thought that it was a typical French atittude to do anything in their own way and not in the other culture's way... but it seems that stupid gringo's make the same mistake...

I tried in the way you do, and it's much better in Catalan's way! First tomato, and then the oil... Visca catalunya!! ||*||

[WinePleasures]

Well we are preaching what we have been taught (by catalans). Olive oil then the tomato. The tomato seals in the olive oil and prevents it from running all over your hands while eating and hence losing taste.Try it both ways and you'll see the sense.

[billace90]

I agree fully with cenobyte, you have inverted the process. Hey, I know it's a matter if taste and predilection. But I lived in Sabadell for years, and they would never do it like that(neither the Barcelona folks). To a catalan purist, that's almost a sacrilegy....But anyway, if you enjoy it like that, fine. In Catalan is pa amb tomaquet which means in Spanish pan con tomate and bread with tomato in Shakespere's language.

[CenoByte]

by the way, well done for the detail how to cut the tomato properly, because It's very important do it in the right way hehehehe

Greetings

[WinePleasures]

Thanks :)

[CenoByte]

Hi, I'm from Catalonia and I can tell you you are wrong in the order of the ingredients ;-D. The tomato comes first, and after spread it in the bread you should put the olive oil ;-).

If you put the olive oil first, the bread can't absorb the tomato juice and you will obtain bread with olive oil only, not with tomato :-D

Greetings from Barcelona

[WinePleasures]

Thank you for your comment!

I'm afraid we differ to agree. Try this at home. Do it your way (the wrong way!) and put the tomato first and then do it as per our video and then with both pieces of toast hold them up vertically. Which piece of toast does the olive oil run off?

Rest our case?

[CenoByte]

yeah, but this happen because you should do the last part. Spread the tomato (AGAIN) with the objective to remove the excess of olive oil. Believe me all people do it in that way. So, we have 4 parts:

1- Spread the tomato over the bread. It's the most important part because the bread get moist and get the flavour of the tomato juice.

[CenoByte]

2- Put olive oil.

3- Spread the tomato again, with only the purpose of removing the excess olive oil.

4- Put a bit of salt..... and enjoy ;-)

Seriously, try it. Six millions Catalans we can't be wrong lol :-D

Greetings, and sorry for my awful English...

[WinePleasures]

Fantastic English!

Applying the tomato twice will make the tomato taste too dominant. If that's the taste result you want to achieve then start with the tomato.

If however, you want a fruity taste from the olive oil combined with a well balanced acidic compliment from the tomato then do it the Wine Pleasures way particulary if you are drinking wine with it.

We have just tried both methods of preparation with a group from Catalunya and guess which was prefered?

[rwzal]

you do not eat vertically..or do you?

[WinePleasures]

Good point! :) To get the pieces of bread from your plate to your mouth there is definately a gradient invloved, enough for the olive oil to run off right on to your hand and table cloth. Try it!

[ar3nota]

halaaa, no way!

[WinePleasures]

Please elaborate on the no way comment.

[adanisrael]

jeje, mucho Navarra! ¿algún vino Manchego?