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| 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.
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| 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.
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| A novel way to grill calçots |
