SERVES 4
This is pure Catalan country food, and quite nearly the region’s national dish. This almost-holy trio of grilled sausages, white beans, and allioli (garlic sauce) is served for a farmer’s lunch and at village celebrations. With that lingering link to the countryside, it remains a part of many urban festivities, too. During the autumn revelries in my Barcelona neighborhood, there is a massive botifarrada—basically a celebration centered around grilled fresh sausages—with rows of tables set up in the small square. A couple of euros gets you a long, thick sausage, more white beans than you can—or rather, should—eat, and a generous amount of allioli. For another euro, you get a bottle of rather sturdy red table wine (that some of my neighbors are known to cut with gaseosa, a sweet carbonated soda water). An allioli-making competition takes place beforehand, and after all of the sausages have been polished off, an orchestra strikes up, the tables are cleared from the center of the square, and there is dancing until late at night. It ends with cups of hot, thick drinking chocolate (see page 306) served from a massive pot sometime after midnight.
The standard botifarra is around 1¼ inches/3 cm thick. Adjust the cooking time here if using thinner sausages. Outside of Spain, it is often easier to find fresh Italian sausages; use plain ones made without fennel or other dominating spices.
1. Drain, rinse, and place the white beans in a saucepan with about 2 cups/480 ml water. Bring to a boil, cover the pan, and remove from the heat. Leave in the liquid until ready to use.
2. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Pierce the sausages in a dozen places with the tines of a fork and lay them in the pan. Grill, turning occasionally, until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a platter and loosely cover with aluminum foil tented in the middle to keep warm.
3. Drain the beans and add to the pan. Season with salt and cook over high heat, turning in the pan but being careful not to mash, until some of the beans are golden at the edges, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Serve the sausages alongside the beans and a generous dollop of allioli.
