Cantonese meets Catalan: Spanish cuisine in Hong Kong
To the untrained eye, Cantonese and Catalan cuisines might seem a world apart, but with their focus on the freshest ingredients cooked simply and for sharing, they are more alike than they are unalike
“It was difficult at first,” Gil recalls. “But I refused to adjust to local flavours. We were one of the first restaurants to introduce carabinero prawns and baby lamb shoulder on the menu. It was an opportunity to be different, to show off Spanish cuisine and, most importantly, create an identity for the restaurant instead of competing with all the other restaurants that cater to local tastes. And now, these ‘new’ ingredients have become a staple of most Spanish restaurants here.”
For Carles Codina, executive pastry chef at three-Michelin-starred Amber and a native of Catalonia, the core of Catalan cuisine lies in its ingredients.
“The key to Catalan food is the produce,” he says, “with respect to their season and region.”
Gil cites pa amb tomàquet – bread rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and topped with fresh tomato – as an example. “It’s simple, but the quality of the ingredients makes it extraordinary.”
In Barcelona, fresh seafood is grilled then dressed simply with local olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, a no-frills approach that resonates with Hong Kong’s culinary traditions, where steamed fish is enhanced with just a touch of ginger, chives and soy sauce.
Both Catalan and Cantonese cuisines share a deep respect for letting good ingredients shine. Local seafood is a key feature of both culinary traditions, but so are ingredients coming through the ports. Hong Kong has embraced potatoes and tomatoes from the New World, and integrated British tea culture with a silky twist, whereas in Barcelona, this spirit of innovation gave rise to Adrià’s famous molecular gastronomy, which put Catalonia on the culinary world map.