SERVES 4
This is the best known dish of La Cerdanya, the northern area of Catalunya that borders the mountainous French Cerdagne region. It has long been considered un plato popular. While in the early nineteenth century, when game and marmalades may have been found only on the tables of the upper classes, trinxat was enjoyed by every level of society. The name of the dish comes from the Catalan verb trinxar, which means to cut into small pieces. Here, it isn’t exactly cut up, or even mashed, but rather smashed.
It is a winter dish that uses winter ingredients, with cabbage at its heart. Cabbage is tastiest when it has been, as they say in La Cerdanya, tocades pel fred (touched by the cold).
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cabbage and a generous pinch of salt and boil for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue to boil until the potatoes are tender and the tip of a knife can easily penetrate, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a colander and drain well.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet or small sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute; remove and discard the garlic. Add the salt pork to the skillet and fry until golden and crunchy, 6 to 8 minutes; remove and drain on absorbent paper towels. Reserve the oil.
3. Chop two pieces of the fried salt pork; set the others aside until serving.
4. In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the vegetables and chopped salt pork and cook while tapping down on the ingredients with two flat-bottomed wooden spoons until mashy and pasty, about 5 minutes. Spoon off about 2 tablespoons of the reserved oil and stir it into the mash. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
5. Serve with the remaining salt pork laid across the top.