Catalan Influences in Languedoc-Roussillon

I spent several summers in Spanish Catalonia. We ate well there, living on pan amb tomàt (Occitan, pa amb tomàquet in Catalan), tomato bread, and grilled fish, prawns or chicken. More recently, I encountered Colman Andrews’ book, Catalan Cuisine, and A Catalan Cookery Book by Irving Davis, and I began to realize what a fantastic and special way of cooking the Catalan people have developed over the centuries, part Spanish, part Roman, part Moorish. The cooking of Catalonia has ancient roots, and the Roussillon has the same heritage; it is still the Pays catalan today.