Mar

22

Tasting the catalan cuisine

March 22, 2007 |

Last Sunday we decided that a little bit of social life wouldn’t be bad, so we accepted Estanis’ invitation to go to Valls for a calçotada. I really wanted to know the catalan tradition, as I feel like a total stranger here so I guessed that this would be the perfect ocasion: a big nice calçotada, the most traditional of the catalan traditions in Valls, where this tradition was born (of course, with the permission of the pa amb tomaquet, I will dedicate another entry to this great invetion that could save the humanity).

Going back to out theme: the calçotada. I have encountered a very detailed explanation of what calçots and calçotada mean:

“In the town of Valls, capital of Castellers - the people practice the precarious art of building human towers - and of calçots. Calçots are pretty much re-sprouted onions that are not allowed to die. Catalans hate waste so they shove them back underground until something happens. They sprout and the shoots are then covered in earth to maintain a white, succulent stem which grows into a long, gangly spear something between a leek and a spring onion. And then, after months in the dark, they barbecue them.

The town’s annual Calçotada celebrates the harvest of these sumptuous, char-grilled treats by laying out huge steel barbecues through the streets. Calçots, grubby from the earth are laid in thick bundles across glowing vine embers and charred to black. On removal, they are wrapped in newspaper (to soften the skin and steam the innards) before being downed in much the same way as a baby bird might neck a worm. In another of the town’s plazas, five strong-armed volunteers pounded together a special calçot dipping sauce. “

Courtesy of PilotGuides

We had some trouble with starting the fire but we eventually did, and barbecued the calçots. Some of them were raw and some of them were delicious. Estanis’ mother prepared a special sauce for us. I had tasted the calçots before but I never liked them so much as last Sunday. It was a combination of personal achievement with Estanis’ mother sauce and the fresh air together with the nothingness that surrounded us.

There are some photos that we have taken but only a few as we need to buy a new memory card for the camera. You can see the pics here.


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