Calçotada (A Catalan Import)

Calçots ready for grilling

Thin, green and white cousins of the onion. They're not leeks, they're calçots! Calçots are not typical Galician or even Spanish. Rather, they are from the region of Catalonia, where they have their EU Protected Geographical Location. There is also even a name for the celebration that revolves around eating these mild green onions: a calçotada.

Calçots are prepared by the dozen on the grill, roasting them until blackened on the outside. Then you wrap them in newspaper for a few minutes and they're ready to serve. This is not a dainty dish. With your fingers, you must first gently slide off the outer, charred layer of calçot. Then dunk in a special orange sauce. And then down the hatch! Since calçots are long, they take a few bites, leaving time to drip sauce all down your shirt. That's why people usually wear bibs. 

Store-bought sauce

The sauce is what got me hooked on calçots, to be honest, because without it they are quite bland. We usually dip in homemade Romesco, a sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, and almonds (or other nuts). Apparently though, there is a specific sauce for the calçots which isn't exactly Romesco. Similarly to a chili at home, every family has their own variation for their special sauce. After years of having it, I had gotten a little sick of the calçot sauce. But I'm happy to report that this year our Catalan friend brought his own batch of sauce and once again I was a fan. 

Needless to say, we have borrowed the Catalan tradition at our house. We've been hosting calçotadas since right before the pandemic. For us it's a time to kick off the spring with a cookout. Although unfortunately-- but perhaps not surprisingly for Galicia-- the last two years we've had to eat indoors. This year was a first though: we even cooked the calçots inside in the fireplace. They were just as charred though, so no problem there. We can only hope that next year's calçotada will be sunny enough to enjoy outside.

A novel way to grill calçots

Cachena: It's What's for Dinner

Galicia prides itself on its native species. These livestock species include the Mos hen (galiña de Mos), Galician sheep (ovella galega) and goat (cabra galega), as well as five breeds of cows: Vianesa, Cachena, Caldelá, Frieiresa, and Limiá. They may also include the Celtic pig (porco celta) and Purebred Galician Horse (cabalo de pura raza galega), depending on who you ask. The aforementioned species were all on the brink of disappearing at the end of the 20th century. The industrialization of farming and the meat industry had led to this decline in autochthonous cattle breeds. Instead of using cattle to plow the fields, they were using mechanized tractors. And the consumer trend went towards cheap and mass-produced meat rather than local, quality products. That's where BOAGA comes in. BOAGA was established to conserve, recover, and promote these eight livestock species. So now after their efforts trying to revive the populations, four of those five cattle breeds can boast around or over 2000 specimens. (Poor Frieiresa is left out and barely has 900 cows) Perhaps the most well-known of the bunch is the longhorn Cachena.

Smile for the camera, Cacheniñas!

I had a close encounter with Cachenas three years ago when I worked at an international agricultural conference held here in Galicia. During it, one of the outings that I worked on as an interpreter was to a Cachena farm in O Incio. Unfortunately for me, I didn't take notes and have a terrible memory. But I remember being surprised that a man barely in his 30s was the farmer, given the fact that the average age of bovine farmers here is 57 years old. After an open Q&A with the guy, we hiked out to the meadow where the cows were grazing under drizzly skies. For me, it was worth braving the rain, because Cachena cows are just so photogenic!

100% Certified Autochthonous!

Fast forward to this year. We ordered a half of a Cachena. Well, a quarter, as we split it with friends. Slaughter the fattened cow! Just Galician things? Just Spanish things? Just European things? I don't know, but nobody I know back home has bought a whole or half of a slaughtered cow. You'd be surprised how much meat half a quarter of a heifer makes. Thank goodness we have an extra freezer! We won't need to buy any type of beef for months. And our purchase came neatly organized in tons of vacuum-sealed packages, each labeled with the name of the cut. Handy! As someone who barely knows the names of cuts of meat in her own language, I'm equally clueless in Spanish/Galician. I'm going to need a cheat sheet, because I wouldn't want to use something optimum for grilling in a stew!

Feeling inspired while researching these previously endangered native species, I got a cookbook specifically meant for cooking with autochthonous breeds from the library. And after reading Presentation, Prologue, and Introduction, well, I have half a mind to buy a plot of land and raise some Galician cows! That's not very realistic, though, so for now I'll stick to buying 100% raza autóctona meat products.

Sources:

Governmental Cow Counts 

Cookbook