Ratafia - Catalán liqueur

It is an alcoholic drink made with walnuts and various herbs: mint, lemongrass and sage. The liqueur is made through maceration, for at least two months, with alcohol and/or anise, with green walnuts, with plants and/or flowers and fruits and/or spices, together with sugar. Once done, the liquid is decanted and aged in wooden casks. The result is an intense sweet drink of caramel color with an alcohol content of 26-29%. It is usually taken after meals as digestive liqueur, at room temperature, but also as an aperitif or nightcap, with ice.

Making Ratafia is a tradition that is found in most of the old Catalonia (Girona, Pallars, Alt Urgell, Vallès, Segarra and Garrigues).

Ratafia can be found in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Country, Occitania, France, Corsica, Euskadi, Galicia, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, England, Scotland, USA, Poland, Ukraine and Brazil.

In Catalonia many people, especially in the countryside, make their own homemade Ratafia. They macerate the alcohol and/or anise with a piece of lemon, four or five cloves, a nutmeg, the peel of a green walnut in pieces and a pinch of cinnamon. Herbs like mint and lemon are also added to get a degree of aroma. All this is set for 40 days in sun and shade. This is the way that the peasants of Catalonia make Ratafia, the only country where this liqueur is made.
 

                                         Making homemade Ratafia                                 



The Ratafia Legend
…according to Jacint Verdaguer (one of the greatest poets of Catalán literature)

It is said that once, in a farmhouse in Catalonia land, three bishops met; one from Vic, the Archbishop from Barcelona and the one from Tarragona. They met to discuss an issue of a small territorial council.

After the meeting and having agreed on the subject by signing the agreement, they asked the farmer to give them a drink to quench their thirst. The farmer, as a major request, pulled a big bottle of Ratafia, which was served in three glasses. The drink was new to them, and they liked it very much.

- What drink is this so good? …they asked. What’s its name?
- It is a drink that we do here, ‘said the farmer.
- Does it not have a name? - ‘said one of the bishops.
- I do not know of a name for this drink, ‘said the farmer.
- Well, since no one has given it a name yet, let’s give it one now - said the bishop. What name shall we give it then? If we found one that was the hallmark of the treaty we just did, it really would be the best.
The three gentlemen bishops thought a bit, until one of them said:
- Rata fiat! (“It is signed” in Latin)

With the approval of the bishops, who celebrated the joke, this Catalán liqueur, which is the most Catalán of all liqueurs, was baptized with a Latin name, and that name is known everywhere.

Ratafia goes really well with cakes, with ice creams, as an aperitif and some people drink it also at bars in a tumbler with ice. Its aroma is quite powerful and it tastes of herbs and anise.


Ratafia Catalana

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The mountain of Montserrat

Montserrat is much more than a mountain in Catalonia, it is a symbol for all those who love Catalonia and want to know more about its culture. Montserrat is an extraordinary natural park with marked trails, it is a monastery with an active community of monks and a school choir known throughout.  There is a museum with paintings, jewellery and sculpture. Montserrat is the Sanctuary of “La Mare de Déu de Montserrat, La Moreneta “(the virgin of Montserrat, The Black Madonna), the patron saint of Catalonia. Thousands of people come yearly in pilgrimage to visit the virgin, together with many tourists.

The mountain is located at 50 Km northwest of Barcelona between the regions of the Anoia, the Bajo Llobregat and Bages.      

Montserrat Mountain is an isolated mountain of great uniqueness for its geomorphology. It is a steep rock formation with numerous cliffs in which people practice climbing. A place where you can spend hours looking at beautiful sites, beautiful paths and amazing scenery. This mountain of rocks can be described as “magic” for several reasons, but certainly the way and where it stands are one of the reasons. In reality, this is one of the most impressive mythical Catalán places in the whole of Catalonia. It is a mountain that somebody once called “sea of rocks”.       

Mountain of Montserrat

Montserrat Natural Park has a wealth of flora and fauna, typical of the Mediterranean climate. When you venture into its paths you discover that the vegetation is dense and fauna live wildly. Big trees live there together with aromatic herbs such as rosemary and the popular thyme. Loads of mammals, reptiles, birds and occasionally birds of prey live there too.

Montserrat means in Catalán “saw-like mountain” and, in fact, this natural saw seems to drill the earth from below. In the middle, is the monastery where you can visit the “Black Madonna” and also delight your ears with the children’s choir “The Virolai” (take a minute to listen to it – it is enchanting). I advise you to be patient when visiting the virgin, as there are normally queues of hundreds of people.

The Monastery and La Moreneta



If you like hiking, from this point begin countless routes with breath-taking views. You can also take the funicular to go to the top of the mountain to begin your route.

The highest peak of the mountain is the “Sant Jeroni” with 1,236 meters. The mountain is about 10 Km long and about 5 Km wide, and covers a perimeter of 45 square kilometres.

Human presence dates back to the Neolithic era, although its big moment came in the tenth century, when many hermits arrived and settled in the farthest reaches of the mountain. Since then, Montserrat has had a religious aura, enhanced by its Sanctuary and the famous Virgin of Montserrat, “The Black Maddonna”, patroness of Catalonia.

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