There are certain things that Catalans cannot, under any circumstances, stand for. Things that are untouchable, that are more sacred than the Ten Commandments. I mean, at times, people might make fun of Barça, but they'll get away with it. It irritates us, but we can look the other way. We don't like people ridiculing our Sardanes or Caganers, but if we don't feel like arguing, we'll leave it alone. Or if someone doesn't think that Joel Joan is the Catalan actor and director who stands up for Catalonia the most, they're probably wrong, but we're not going to press the point either. However, what we Catalans can't allow is for people to mess about with our pa amb tomàquet - our tomato bread . At most, we might accept it being called pantomaca. But that's the maximum we tolerate. But what The New York Times just did has no name. Or it does have one: aberration.
The social media accounts of the aforementioned newspaper, probably the most famous and prestigious in the world, have just published a video that has enraged the Catalan corner of Twitter. And probably the most discerning of Gastronomic Twitter too. The food section at the US daily talks about what to do at the end of the tomato season and in a video they show how you can use your excess ripe tomatoes to make pa amb tomàquet: "Pour one out for the end of tomato season." Oh dear...what is this "pouring" business? Yes, the usual nonsense that we often find in many bars and restaurants in Spain, who consider that pa amb tomàquet is made by making a purée of grated tomato, that you spoon or even, yes, pour onto a piece of toast. But the fact that the The New York Times has opted to propagate the same formula is a crime. And to finish the abomination, they complete the explanation by adding slices of whole tomato, topped off with cherry tomato halves. Deu meu, which is to say: OMG.
Just seeing these images made many Catalans begin to convulse and breathe fire. And worse still, when they saw at the beginning of the video how this simple foundational pillar of Catalan cuisine was labelled in Spanish: Pan con tomate. Immediately, numerous Twitter users made things clear to The New York Times. This is not pa amb tomàquet, nor anything like it: "Respect!!":
"Lies! First, 'pa amb tomàquet' is Catalan, not Spanish. Second, this tomato preparation wetting the bread is nothing like our pa amb tomàquet." — rtwt