Calçots! A Pre-Spring Ritual in Catalunya

One of the top signs that winter is on the way out in Barcelona and surrounding areas is the start of so many calçotada gatherings. Some people go to restaurants, still others opt for a more home-grown outdoor barbecue approach, but all are united by these tender green onions, the first of the season, grilled over an open fire and then dragged through salvitxada sauce before dropping them into your open mouth, whole.

To make sure you don’t look like the odd-guiri (clueless foreigner)  out at your next calçotada, we decided to make our readers a  short video detailing how the locals eat calçots. Warning: This can be compared to chowing down on ribs or fried chicken with your hands. O sea, Emily Post won’t approve.

Also, if anyone is wondering why the video is available in English and Spanish, but not Catalan, our reasoning is something like this: if you’ve taken all the time and effort necessary to become fluent in Catalan, you probably have made some effort to understand regional culture as well. Stay tuned for a future post including the recipe for salvitxada sauce ( a tangy-garlicky-nutty-tomatoey sauce), it’s not just for grilled green onions anymore .

Pin It

Share