Cooking Around the World A-Z: Andorra

Physical distancing has meant coming together socially in different ways - from chatting to rarely seen neighbours during the 7pm cheer for frontline workers to getting to see friends in different cities more than once or twice a year through Zoom happy hours. 

I've become a COVID cliche, raising a sassy sourdough starter, going back to my early '90s dream of learning Welsh, exercising to Youtube videos in my bedroom (funk it out, Jane Fonda!).

But the real upside of spending more time at home and not eating out all the time (as I try not to think about the devastation to the restaurant industry) is learning to cook healthier and more interesting meals. I joined a Facebook group that cooks their way around the world, each week posting pictures of the recipes they've tried from different countries, A-Z.

We've made it through the alphabet now and are starting back at A. This time we're sharing information about the country we've chosen, as well as the recipes we cooked. And since I'm constitutionally incapable of researching anything briefly, I thought I may as well finally use this blog for something other than biannual reading challenges. 

So starting from A:

I picked Andorra, mostly because when I looked at Global Table Adventures for inspiration, a wonderful blog that helped guide me through the first time through the alphabet, I saw one of my favourite tapas, pan y tomate - or rather Pa amb tomàquet in Catalan. And when I read that Trinxat was a kind of pancake made from bacon, potato and cabbage, I was sold. If I could live on potatoes and bacon... well, I likely wouldn't live very long, but it would be a happy shortened life. So I rounded the meal off with a Warm Spinach and Mushroom Salad to try and balance my nutritional intake.

I made a basic rustic bread for the pa amb tomaquet, as I'd thought I was going to be taking an early ferry to the island for the Thanksgiving weekend and had put my sassy starter Jonesy in the fridge for a rest. But when those plans went sideways, I adjusted my A strategy, let the bread proof while I went to the club for a drink and picked up the last few ingredients. If I'd been in Victoria, I would have got some of the amazing Red Barn bacon for the trinxat, but the choices were not quite as good at my local No Frills. Still, mashed potatoes and cabbage, fried on top of some diced bacon and then broiled to a finish, was an easy satisfying Saturday dinner. The spinach and mushroom salad was also quick and easy, though I needed a larger pot to toss the spinach more efficiently. It was a bit surprising how quickly it went from an unwieldy mass of greens trying to make a break for it to wilted and tamed.

What I learned about Andorra:

Two of my high school friends did an eco volunteer trip to Andorra a couple of summers ago, so another thing that drew me to it was the possibility of getting some good second hand photos. I've also always been fascinated by European microstates like Andorra, Liechtenstein, and San Marino.

Andorra is only 468 square kilometres, which makes it enormous compared to Vatican City or Monaco, but as a comparison, Vancouver Island is over 31,000 square kilometres; there are 49 islands and 50 lakes in Canada larger than 1,000 square kilometres. Tucked in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, Andorra was believed to be founded by Charlemagne and served as a buffer between Moorish Spain and the Frankish kingdom. It is a diarchy headed by two princes, the Bishop of Urgell in Spain and the President of the French Republic. So much for the revolution...

In 1993, Andorra became a parliamentary democracy with a new constitution. The co-princes remain as titual heads of state, but the country is governed by General Council with the Chief Executive of the council is the head of government.

The capital city, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe. Tourism and banking account for the majority of Andorra's economy, with ski resorts and duty free shopping centres attracting . 98% of the land is unsuitable for agriculture, and their chief agricultural product is tobacco (and their main manufacturing products are cigarettes and cigars). Ski resorts and shopping malls dominate the But it's status as a tax haven has made it a draw for visitors and brought the country significant prosperity since the mid-20th century, after centuries of isolation. Although not a member of the EU, Andorra has an agreement that allows it to use the euro as it's official currency.

Final thoughts:

I had hoped to go to the island for Thanksgiving to visit my family and cook and learn about the country with my nephew, so I'd asked what A country he wanted to do. His first request was Alabama, so I bought the fixings for Alabama Mud Cake. He then wanted to do somewhere A in Italy (not quite grasping the concept, but he's only seven), so we planned spaghetti with clams from Abruzzo. Unfortunately he came down with a cold the morning I was supposed to go over and COVID panic set in, so now I'm stuck with cherry pie filling, crushed pineapple and cake mix.