Grilled calçots with romesco sauce
WHAT ARE THEY?
Technically, a variety of the onion , more tender and sweet and similar in size to the leek that it is traditionally grown in the Alt Camp region, in Tarragona . Unofficially, your next favorite gastronomic plan, which will make you develop a radar to detect calçotadas.
HOW ARE THEY EATED?
The most classic way of making them is grill , until the inside is soft and cooked and the outside blackish and charred. To take them you have to remove with your hand the first layer of the calçot, the one that is burned, dip the clean part in sauce and gobble them whole in one bite . This makes it almost essential to avoid dripping sauce using a bib, which has become the defining attire of the calçot dining room. The black charcoal hands afterward are another identifying element of this activity. After roasting the calçots, sausages, sausages, meat, artichokes or potatoes are cooked on the embers, which with some of the usual desserts such as Catalan cream they complete the menu of a calçotada of those that leave you with trembling legs and an urgent need for a nap.
The Calçots, a variety of onion
WHEN DO YOU EAT?
They are not yet like tomatoes or avocados, which can be found at any time of the year anywhere (so their taste ranges from bland to horrible, of course). Calçots are winter products and can be found from November to April, although the strong season to consume them is between January-March.
WHERE TO TAKE THEM
In Valleys (province of Tarragona) and the area of High Camp Of course, the traditional place to enjoy this menu before it became popular throughout Catalonia. Like the one that had retained, they have obtained a protected geographical indication and annually celebrate a festival of the calçotada on the last Sunday of January , in which there is even a calçot eating contest that has nothing to envy to the Coney Island hot dog eating contest. A spectacle as grotesque as it is funny.
The grace of this plan is to go to a country house in the area (prior reservation, of course) of those that serve unlimited calçots –normally on a tile, to maintain the rustic harmony- until the diners say enough and then they move on to the meat. Some good addresses to keep in mind are: Cal Ganxo, Masía del Pla, Mas Boronat, Can Montllor, Mas de la Mel, Masía Bou or Masía Fontscaldes.
Grilled calçots
If you do not want to leave Barcelona or its surroundings, there is no problem; there is currently a lot of supply in the city because there is no doubt that calçot and calçotada have become fashionable and live a kind of vindication and elevation to the altars of popular food . If you decide not to travel too much to enjoy a feast, you have to look for a place where at least the spirit of a meal in the open air and calçot roasted on vine shoots is maintained. Can Martì , El jardi de l'ápat , Can Tranvi Nou , Can Sardà in Cerdanyola or Can Portell in Molins de Rei are good options without going too far from the city.
POPULAR CALÇONATAS
The other option, cheaper and battle and of course more festive, is to join a popular calçotada of those that are celebrated in squares and streets of Barcelona or from towns and are usually announced a little in advance by the old and efficient method of hanging signs on the sidewalks. Instead of being served on tiles, they appear wrapped in newspapers; instead of unlimited calçots, the ration is usually limited to a dozen , to a glass of wine and a sausage with bread or potato; instead of sitting comfortably in a large dining room, you queue to buy the ticket and to receive the food ration, which is usually enjoyed standing up. But hey, it's much cheaper, improvised and the product is still delicious.
to lick your fingers
ROMESCO OR CALÇOTS SAUCE?
It is a great topic of debate that gives for hours of bitter discussion. It is important not to confuse them because in knowing how to establish this difference, the authentic expert is recognized. Let's say both have tomato, garlic, almonds and crushed hazelnuts, but in different proportions , and that the calçots sauce is sweeter and more crushed than the romesco sauce. In any case, both are a perfect accompaniment to grilled vegetables in general.
ARE THE CALÇOTADAS AN EXCUSE TO FILL UP WITH MEAT?
Short answer: yes. Long and elaborate answer: you don't have to. According to the diner, the calçot can be a pretext for many things : take an excursion, get out of the routine, spend a day outdoors, come home smelling of smoke, enjoy grilled meat or simply enjoy several dozen calçots dipped in sauce to roll home.
Good excuse to eat meat?
CAN THEY BE PREPARED OTHER THAN GRILLED?
Of course: they can be used to make calçot cream, some people mix them with minced meat to make hamburgers or sausages and there is always the helpful plan of taking them in an omelette. In any case, the flavor that the grill gives has little comparison.
ANY FINAL ADVICE?
If you have difficult digestion, it would not be a bad idea to carry a good supply of fruit salt . Get your fingers and bib dirty and enjoy.
*You may also be interested...
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