Xato de Vilafranca

The Penedès winter would not be the same without a good dish of xato, the salad that pairs risada escarole with shredded cod, tuna, anchovies from the coast and Arbequina olives. The key, however, is the sauce: a mortar chop of scalded pine nuts, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, garlic, breadcrumbs soaked in vinegar, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Each town on the Xató Route —Vilafranca, Vilanova, Sitges, El Vendrell and Calafell— defends its formula, and the Vilafranquina version is usually slightly milder in vinegar and with the nyora very present. The Festa del Xató, on the third Sunday of January, invites you to taste different interpretations, accompanied by young white wines of macabeu or xarel·lo that cleanse the palate.

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