Escudella
{{Short description|Traditional Catalan and Valencian soup}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2019}}
{{Italics title}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Escudella i carn d'olla
| image = File:Escudella Catalana - Barcelona (2011).JPG
| image_size = 250px
| caption =
| alternate_name = Escudella
| country = Spain
| region = {{plainlist|
}}
| creator =
| course =
| type = Soup
| served =
| main_ingredient = Pilota (large spiced meatball), vegetables
| variations = Escudella de pagès
}}
Escudella i carn d'olla, or shorter escudella ({{IPA|ca|əskuˈðeʎə|label=Eastern Calatan:}}; {{literally|bowl}}), is a traditional Catalan and Valencian soup made with meat and vegetables.{{cite book | last=Ichijo | first=A. | last2=Johannes | first2=V. | last3=Ranta | first3=R. | title=The Emergence of National Food: The Dynamics of Food and Nationalism | publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-350-07414-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TKJ-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 | access-date=20 June 2019 | page=90}} Francesc Eiximenis wrote in the 14th century that it was eaten every day by Catalan people.Totes les sopes: Brous, escudelles i sopes d'arreu, de Jaume Fàbrega. Cossetània Edicions, 2008. {{ISBN|978-84-9791-394-2}} {{in lang|ca}}
It is characterized by the use of a pilota, a very big meatball spiced with garlic and parsley; it also contains vegetables as celery, cabbage, carrots, etc. depending on the season. Additionally, bones, sausages called botifarra, and other types of meat, can be used. In historical times, a type called escudella de pagès, which had pasta and rice, was made mainly on Thursdays and Sundays, and it is traditionally eaten on Christmas Day.
Service
Escudella is typically served in two parts:
- The escudella proper is a soup consisting of a broth with pasta, rice or both.
- The carn d'olla is all the meat used in the broth, served afterwards in a tray along with the vegetables used.{{cite book | last=Andrews | first=C. | title=Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret | publisher=Grub Street | year=1997 | isbn=978-1-898697-76-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zFJEBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA254 | access-date=20 June 2019 | page=254-256}}
When both parts are served mixed together, it is called escudella barrejada.
''Escudella de Nadal''
There is a particular version of this soup that can be called "escudella de Nadal" (Christmas soup) or either "sopa de galets" (galets' soup), and is very typical on Christmas Day.{{cite book | last=Nadeau | first=C.A. | title=Food Matters: Alonso Quijano's Diet and the Discourse of Food in Early Modern Spain | publisher=University of Toronto Press | series=Toronto Iberic | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4426-3730-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLyqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA121 | access-date=20 June 2019 | page=121}} It includes meat from four different animals, a pilota, several vegetables and the traditional special type of pasta, known as galets, which are snail-shaped and notable for their considerable size.
See also
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite book | last=Song | first=H.R. | last2=Riera | first2=A. | title=A Taste of Barcelona: The History of Catalan Cooking and Eating | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | series=Big City Food Biographies | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-5381-0784-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VdKcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA181 | access-date=20 June 2019 | page=181-183}}
}}