Xatonada in Vendrell 2024

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Enjoy the Xatonada de Vendrell, a gastronomic fair of local artisan food products alongside wine and cava, but the star of the show is the xató salad. You'll have the opportunity to taste this famous salad, buy some to take home, join a xató-making masterclass, peruse a handicrafts markets and much more.

Xató is an absolutely delicious Catalan traditional winter salad made with curly endive, desalted cod, tuna and anchovies or sardines. But the secret of xató, what makes you go back for more time and again, is the sauce. Salsa xató contains almonds, hazelnuts, garlic, nyores (small red peppers), bread, vinegar, salt and olive oil. More Mediterranean it cannot be. Every year, xató is eaten in the Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès, and El Garraf, and each has it's own special twits to the recipe. Nobody knows exactly how old this recipe is, or where it was invented.

Where does the name "xató" come from? The most widespread explanation attributes the origin of the name xató to the action of aixatonar which means to put a tap on a wine barrels. This act took place when the arrival of the first young wine of the season was celebrated. In this festive atmosphere, the salad was prepared with common elements in the pantry of the Catalan countryside (curly endive, olives, cod and other salty foods) and thus it acquired its name and personality. 

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