Picada
A pounded paste of nuts, garlic, parsley and sometimes fried bread, stirred into a Catalan stew at the end to thicken and finish it.
The picada is one of the defining moves of Catalan cooking, the partner to the sofregit. Where sofregit starts the dish, picada finishes it. A handful of almonds or hazelnuts, a clove of garlic, parsley, sometimes a piece of fried bread or a few strands of saffron, all pounded together in a mortar with a little olive oil into a coarse paste. It gets stirred into the stew or pan in the last few minutes of cooking. The starch from the bread and the oils from the nuts bind the broth into a glossy, slightly thick sauce; the garlic and parsley add a fresh top note that lifts the heavier flavours underneath. Suquet, fricandó, mar i muntanya, every Catalan stew has its picada. Without it, the dish stays thin.
How it's served
Not served, used as a finishing thickener. A spoonful goes into the pot in the last few minutes of cooking, dissolves into the broth, and binds it. The picada itself disappears into the sauce.
Regional variation
The Empordà version (northern Catalonia) leans on hazelnuts and almonds in equal weight. Southern Catalan kitchens around Tarragona use more almonds. Saffron picadas are common with seafood stews; bread-and-garlic picadas (with no nuts) show up in heavier meat dishes.
- Origin
- Catalonia
- Etymology
- From the Catalan picar ('to pound' or 'to chop fine').
Frequently asked
What is a picada?
A Catalan finishing paste of pounded nuts (almonds or hazelnuts), garlic, parsley and sometimes fried bread, stirred into a stew at the end to thicken and finish it. The starch from the bread and oils from the nuts bind the broth into a glossy sauce; the garlic and parsley lift the flavour.
How is picada different from sofregit?
Sofregit (sofrito) is the slow-cooked onion-and-tomato base that starts a Catalan stew. Picada is the pounded nut-and-herb paste that finishes it. Sofregit goes in first and concentrates over an hour; picada goes in last and dissolves in two minutes. Most Catalan dishes use both.
When do you add picada to a Catalan stew?
In the last five minutes of cooking. The picada should dissolve into the broth without overheating, which would dull the fresh parsley and garlic notes. Most recipes call for stirring it in, letting the stew simmer briefly, then serving immediately.
Related terms
- SofritoA slow-cooked base of onion, tomato and garlic in olive oil. The starting point for most Spanish rice dishes, stews and sauces.
- Suquet de peixA Catalan fisherman's stew of white fish and potatoes, thickened with an almond-garlic picada.
- FideuàA Valencian paella made with short, hollow noodles instead of rice. Comes with allioli on the side.
- PaellaValencian rice dish cooked in a wide flat pan over fire. The original is chicken, rabbit, snails and beans, not seafood.
- RomescoA Catalan sauce of roasted tomato, garlic, almond, hazelnut, dried nyora pepper and olive oil. The default dip for calçots.
- FricandóCatalan veal stew of thin-cut steaks slow-braised with wild moixernon mushrooms in a wine-based sauce, finished with a picada.
- Mar i muntanyaCatalan 'sea and mountain' cooking: dishes that combine seafood with meat in the same pot. Chicken with prawns is the canonical example.