Àpats Catalunya

Àpat Catalunya is food served in situations of Catalan institutional or business representativeness, both at home and abroad. As such, it must be a differential meal that transmits the values of what Catalan gastronomy and culture are.

Brillat Savarin (1825) understands gastronomy as "the reasoned knowledge that refers to human beings of everything related to food. The material object of gastronomy has to do with everything that can be eaten; The primary purpose is to feed people taking into account both production, distribution and industry as well as the experience invented how this food should be arranged to satisfy the pleasure and desire to eat".

Thus, Àpat Catalunya will always have to contemplate the presence of products, dishes and gastronomic traditions that identify with Catalan culture.

A meal is an effective tool for promoting the agri-food product of Catalonia, even if the product in question is not directly present in the meal. The important thing is that the experience is unique and meaningful enough to capture the empathy of the guests and leave a mark on their memory.

We should talk about meals, in plural, Àpats Catalunya, since the tool you have in your hands is designed and developed to offer different proposals depending on the different types of situations in which they can be served and taking into account the particular characteristics of each catering.
If we take a look at the dictionary, we will see that meal is understood as "a meal of a certain consistency that is made daily at fixed times, such as breakfast, lunch or dinner". Each of the situations, then,
it has an expression in the form of Àpat Catalunya.

What will you find in this manual? There are two distinct sections. One that refers to the contents of the story about Catalan cuisine in general, a list of iconic products and where to locate them and the identification of
What are the bases and main elaborations of Catalan cuisine. The second refers, more specifically, to Àpat Catalunya and its execution.
You will find the selection criteria for products and preparations, concepts (groups of references) and culinary references (products and preparations) and what is the method of application, which explains some previous issues to be taken into account, the requirements to be followed, the
files that allow you to select references and some very basic examples of design from Àpats Catalunya.

Catalan cuisine:

• Extensive story about Catalan gastronomic culture.
• Specific messages about Catalan gastronomic culture.
• Iconic products.
• The most common bases and elaborations of Catalan cuisine.

Catalonia meal:

• Criteria for selecting products and preparations.
• Concepts and references of Àpat Catalunya
  (concepts and products/elaborations).
• Application method (prerequisites, files, examples).

Some concepts/categories have been considered with which to encompass the different references chosen. This order of classification aims to help in the selection of products and elaborations according to the service to be executed. They are organized in large groups that can respond to the moments of consumption, the order of intake or the forcefulness of the dish. Each concept can explain:

• Moments of consumption
• Specific elaborations.
• Customs and traditions linked to the way of eating.
• Popular knowledge and practice.

These concepts or categories are used to create the story of each of the selected references within Àpat Catalunya. In each of the product sheets and / or elaborations that are attached to the manual you can find
these synthetic stories.

How can they be used? Of all those references chosen to execute Àpat Catalunya, the room staff can use the stories to explain each of the references offered at the event.

Àpat Catalunya can be ordered, and served, on multiple occasions. Each institutional event contemplates conditioning factors, intrinsic or extrinsic, that determine the contents of Àpat Catalunya that best fits with the event to be executed.