Handsome Catalan man eating a calçot
What are all your Catalan friends doing next Sunday? From November to April, chances are they are meeting for a calçotada, a traditional fiesta consisting mainly of calçots, that is, sweet onions typical from the Valls area (Tarragona).
So, how does the calçotada work? First, you and your friends gather in a masia (typical Catalan farm), preferably in the south of Tarragona. If you don’t have any Catalan friend whose family owns a country house, you can also go to a restaurant and ask for a calçotada menu. The main purpose of the calçotada is having fun with your friends, chatting, drinking wine, and eating with bibs! Yes, bibs! Bibs are mandatory, not only because eating calçots with its sauce is tricky, but also in case you want to drink wine with a porrón instead of using a normal glass. Just remember you can’t touch the porrón with your lips, you must drink from a distance, so the porrón can be used by more than one person.
In a calçotada, we usually drink cava and red wine. Appetizers can consist of many things, including cockles, olives, roast hazelnuts, prawns cooked with olive oil and garlic, Iberian ham, Spanish omelette, bread and tomato with olive oil, fuet, and tons of other things. As you’re in Tarragona, the tapas may also include coca de recapte, a pie typical from this area, with roasted onions, tomatoes and pepper. You can also add some anchovies from L’Escala, simply, the best anchovies of the world!
Calçots are cooked over a flaming barbecue. After cooking them, they are wrapped in a newspaper to bring them to the table and they are served in a clay roof tile to keep them warm. So, you grab a calçot, and you’ll see a burnt onion, but, don’t panic, you don’t have to eat the burnt leaves! All you need to do is peel away the outer layers and dip the calçot in the delicious sauce called salvitxada made from a mixture of almonds, hazelnuts, tomatoes and olive oil.
The barbecue is also used to grill more food: bread, meat, artichokes and a popular dish called botifarra amb mongetes (sausage and haricot beans). You can add the famous Catalan sauce allioli to the menu, as it accompanies meat very well. Allioli is a Catalan word meaning all (garlic) and oli (olive oil). For a homemade allioli, just pound garlic, extra virgin olive oil and salt in a mortar.
After all this food, I don’t think you can eat much more, but, in case you want something sweet, why not try a crema catalana?
I love going to calçotades because they are a perfect excuse for a day out with friends or family, and little children do enjoy the view of their parents eating with bibs and drinking with those weird things called porrones!
If you want to learn more about calçots, I recommend visiting Valls during their Gran Festa de la Calçotada
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About the author
marta
It sounds great!, I will taste, tku!
I’ve been to a calçotada a couple of times. I remember there was so much food! And it lasted until around 6pm. I found the calçots very difficult to eat. Maybe I need more practice 🙂
I’d love to go to a calçotada! sounds like too much fun. And I love, love, love allioli!
Thanks for your comments, Rai, Liz and Ana.
Liz and Ana, we could meet for a calçotada the next time you are here if you come during the calçot season. Ana, I like allioli too but it’s better to avoid it if your husband doesn’t eat it too, otherwise, no kisses! Ha, ha
He likes it too!!!!:)
You must understand that “the calçotada” was born at Valls, a city in the Tarragona province. There you must find a nice restaurant named Restaurant Foc i Brasa, they have a great calçotada menu.
Try it here : restaurantfocibrasa.com
Marta, I am no drooling on the keyboard! so glad you shared this link.
this sounds delicious and like a good excuse to gather and enjoy each others company.