The tomato is the king of the garden, prince of both salads and gazpachos and a regal suiter to bread. It is an ideal match to ham in all its forms and in most culinary cultures. Ham pairs well with the celebrated pa amb tomàquet (a simple and typical recipe in Catalan cuisine). This dish requires a special tomato, yellowish in colour, only slightly juicy, and with an almost buttery flavour. Ham also pairs beautifully with both gazpacho and salmorejo (a bread and tomato puree), but in these dishes we choose a different strain of ripe, aromatic and watery tomatoes.
The fact that there is only one PGI (protected geographical indication) certified tomato, La Cañada, Almería, does not take away from the many excellent local varieties of tomatoes in Spain. They come in many forms, with extraordinary flavours and curious names, such as morro de buey (ox snout) or tetilla de monja (teat of a nun). A tomato encyclopedia would include a complette palette of colourful shades of red, yellow, maroon, and rose.
Almería