United Airlines shares Chef Katie Button’s romesco sauce with the world
In the “Tasting Notes” section of United Airline’s Rhapsody magazine, passengers this month are reading about Chef Katie Button’s romesco sauce.
The airline is also serving romesco sauce with chicken as a dinner option on select flights. Many American diners are not familiar with this Spanish staple. Romesco enhances dishes with its unique flavor and texture.
From the article, “Better off Red,” written by Mary Jane Weedman:
Romesco is often fondly referred to as “Spanish ketchup,” but that doesn’t do this rich, rustic sauce justice. Yes, people slather it on anything – meats, fish, vegetables – and yes, tomatoes are a main ingredient, but romesco will elevate any dish, not cover it up. The sauce originated in Catalonia, and each year people there celebrate the start of the spring onion harvest with the calçotada feast, but really that’s just an excuse to eat lots of romesco.
James Beard Award-nominated chef Katie Button cooked at the (late, great) Catalonia restaurant El Bulli before opening Cúrate, a Spanish tapas bar in Asheville, North Carolina.
Ramps with romesco sauce at Cúrate, paired with Oloroso sherry. Photo by Christopher Shane.
At Cúrate, Katie makes romesco sauce using roasted tomatoes and garlic, dried bread, pimentón (Spanish paprika), toasted almonds and hazelnuts, and a vinaigrette. Her husband, Spaniard Felix Meana, ensures the sauce is authentic to its roots. On the menu, Chef Katie pairs the versatile sauce with ramps (local wild onions), or green asparagus, when they’re in season.
But it doesn’t have to be served with anything. “You could eat it in huge quantities by the spoonful,” Chef Katie told Rhapsody magazine.
Read the full article on your next United flight or find it online on page 33.
You can make Chef Katie’s romesco sauce at home – she included the recipe in her cookbook, Cúrate: Authentic Spanish Food from an American Kitchen. The book comes out October 11 from Flatiron Books.
