Solidarity dinner raises 8,800 euros for “political prisoners”

A charity dinner for Catalan “political prisoners” held at a high-end Barcelona restaurant managed to raise 8,800 euros for a solidarity fund designated to helping the cases of the imprisoned pro-independence leaders. But it was a dinner with a difference. The theme was yellow and, indeed, most of the food was yellow in a show of support for those who still remain behind bars.

111 people attended the event at the Semprioniana restaurant in the Eixample neighbourhood of the Catalan capital, according to the head chef Ada Parellada. Parellada said that lack of space meant many people could not get tickets, which cost 80 euros a head.

The menu included foods of different shades of yellow, such as chips, scrambled eggs with mushrooms, yellow peppers stuffed with polenta, saffron dough, cod with mustard, and yellow chicken curry. For dessert, the yellowish Catalan classic, crema Catalana, was served.

Parellada denounced a recent boycott of her restaurant because it was hosting the yellow solidarity dinner. She said several social media users left negative opinions on TripAdvisor, Facebook, and Google, even though they had never been to the restaurant. The comments included criticisms of her political stance. After Parellada’s denouncement, TripAdvisor removed comments that were not strictly gastronomical.

Parellada lamented that it was “sad” that “a solidarity dinner” cannot take place in “a free country” but stated how she enjoyed the culinary process of creating an all yellow menu.

The pro-independence civil organization Omnium Cultural, whose leader Jordi Cuixart is still in prison, has opened the door to repeating the initiative throughout Catalonia using Parellada’s recipes.