Calçot
A long, sweet spring onion from Catalonia, charred whole over vine wood and dipped in romesco.
The calçot is a green onion grown by hilling soil around the stem so it stretches long, white and tender. It's a winter speciality of the area around Valls in Tarragona, eaten at outdoor meals called calçotades. The onions char on a grate over a vine-wood fire until the outside is black, then steam wrapped in newspaper for a few minutes. You peel them by hand, hold them by the green end, lower them into a bowl of romesco-style sauce, and tilt your head back. Wear the bib.
How it's served
Eaten with hands, dipped into a salbitxada or romesco sauce, washed down with cava or young red wine straight from a porró. The calçots are usually the first course; lamb chops grilled over the same coals follow.
Regional variation
The Valls version (DOP Calçot de Valls, protected since 2002) is the reference standard. Many other Catalan towns hold calçotades through winter using locally grown calçots that aren't part of the DO.
- Origin
- Valls, Tarragona, Catalonia
- Etymology
- From the Catalan calçar ('to hill up' soil around the stem).
Where to try it in Barcelona
2 restaurants on Guidavera mention calçot in their kitchen description.
Frequently asked
When is calçot season?
Late November through early April. The traditional peak is January and February, when local restaurants and farmhouses run calçotada lunches all weekend long. Outside those months you can find frozen calçots, but the social ritual is the point.
What sauce goes with calçots?
Salbitxada or romesco, both built around roasted tomato, garlic, almond or hazelnut, dried nyora pepper and olive oil. Recipes vary by family and village. The sauce is half the meal.
What's a calçotada?
An outdoor meal centred on grilled calçots. You eat them with your hands wearing a bib, then move on to grilled meats, beans and a glass of cava or red wine. It usually runs two or three hours.
Related terms
- RomescoA Catalan sauce of roasted tomato, garlic, almond, hazelnut, dried nyora pepper and olive oil. The default dip for calçots.
- Pa amb tomàquetCatalan bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, finished with olive oil and salt. Comes with almost every meal.
- ButifarraThe Catalan family of pork sausages: fresh ones grilled over coals, cured blood-based ones, and a sweet lemon-and-sugar oddity from the Empordà.
- A la brasaCooked directly over wood embers or charcoal. The default high-end grill method in Catalonia and the Basque Country.
- AllioliPungent Catalan emulsion of garlic and olive oil. Traditionally no egg. Eaten with grilled meats, paella and fish.
- CavaSpanish traditional-method sparkling wine, mostly made in the Penedès region of Catalonia, from local grapes (Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada).