Wikipedia
For the Colombian cuisine dish see Picada (Colombian cuisine)
Picada is one of the characteristic sauces and culinary techniques essential to Catalan cuisine and Valencian cuisine. It is not an autonomous sauce like mayonnaise or romesco, but it is added as a seasoning during the cooking of a recipe.
Often the preparation of a concoction begins with another essential sauce, like the sofregit, and ends with the final adding of the picada some minutes before the cooking termination. Picada is used to blend and thicken juices, to provide an excellent finishing touch to a multitude of recipes: meats, fish, rice, soups, legumes, vegetables. There are many variants for the rest of ingredients. The commonest ones are garlic (so often it is considered almost essential), saffron (considered essential too by many cooks), and / or parsley (yet another regular appearance too). Other possible ingredients used more rarely are cinnamon, cooked liver (of chicken or rabbit), chocolate, cummin, herbs and other spices.
The picada is prepared in the mortar and must contain a basic triad: almond, bread and some liquid. Almonds are toasted and can be replaced by another nut like hazelnut, pinenut, walnut, or some combination of those. Hard, dry bread is crushed on the mortar, that is, toasted or stale, or bread crust, or fried in oil on the pan, or even some sort of sweet biscuit or cookie. The liquid used is usually the cooking juice but stock or hot water can be used as well.
Picada or Picada Colombiana is a Colombian cuisine dish prepared with pieces of steak, chicken, arepa, potato, yuca ( cassava), morcilla, chorizo, and plantain. The ingredients are usually fried. The word picada means chopped in Spanish. Often served on large platters, picadas are usually served at gatherings and for special occasions.
Other types of Colombian picada can include chopped seafood (such as picada del mar).