Romesco

Romesco is a tomato-based sauce originating from Valls in Catalonia, described by food writer Melissa Clark as a rich, piquant puree made from sweet dried Spanish peppers along with tomato, garlic, almonds, vinegar and oil. It typically combines roasted tomatoes and garlic with toasted almonds, pine nuts or hazelnuts, olive or sunflower oil, and nyora peppers, a sun-dried red bell pepper, with sherry or red wine vinegar, onions and sometimes fennel or mint, thickened with flour or ground stale bread; no single authoritative recipe exists, and variations abound throughout Catalonia. Fishermen in the Serrallo area of Tarragona created the sauce for serving with fish, and while it is traditionally paired with seafood it also complements poultry, lamb and vegetables, notably accompanying the roasted spring onions called calcots during the Catalan calcotada celebrations; it is related to, though distinct from, similar sauces such as salsa de calcots and salvitxada.