Canelons
Catalan cannelloni stuffed with chopped roast meat and béchamel, traditionally eaten on Boxing Day (Sant Esteve, 26 December) using the leftovers of Christmas dinner.
Canelons are the Catalan version of cannelloni: flat pasta tubes rolled around a filling of finely chopped roast meat (rostit), then arranged in a dish under béchamel and grated cheese and baked until the top browns. The dish became a Catalan tradition in the 19th century, when Italian-influenced Barcelona restaurants started making them; the home tradition uses the leftover Christmas-day rostit (a slow-roasted mix of chicken, pork, beef and sometimes veal) to make the filling for the following day, Sant Esteve (Boxing Day, 26 December). Eating canelons on Sant Esteve is a near-universal Catalan tradition. The rest of the year they appear on traditional Catalan menus as a starter or main.
How it's served
Baked in a small earthenware dish under bubbling béchamel, three or four tubes per portion, eaten with a fork and spoon. Usually a starter at a sit-down meal; on Sant Esteve they're the whole event.
Regional variation
Barcelona kitchens often include foie gras or wild mushrooms in the filling for a richer version (canelons de rossejat, canelons amb tòfona). The classic home version sticks to leftover roast meat; the restaurant version varies endlessly. The Italian original (cannelloni) uses a different binder and is more strongly tomato-led.
- Origin
- Catalonia (adapted from Italian cannelloni in the 19th century)
- Etymology
- Catalan for 'cannelloni,' borrowed from Italian.
- Also called
- canelones
Where to try it in Barcelona
2 restaurants on Guidavera mention canelons in their kitchen description.
Frequently asked
Why do Catalans eat canelons on 26 December?
Tradition. Christmas Day in Catalonia centres on a slow-roasted meat dish called rostit. Whatever's left over gets chopped and rolled into canelons for Sant Esteve, Boxing Day (26 December). The frugality is the point; the dish became one of the most-cooked meals of the Catalan calendar.
What's in canelons?
Finely chopped roast meat (chicken, pork, beef, sometimes veal or foie gras), rolled in flat pasta tubes, covered in béchamel and grated cheese, then baked until the top browns. Some restaurant versions add wild mushrooms, truffle, or seafood; the home version sticks to leftover Christmas roast.
Are canelons the same as Italian cannelloni?
Adapted from them but not the same. The Catalan version uses a roast-meat-and-béchamel filling rather than the Italian tomato-and-ricotta or meat-and-tomato style. Catalan canelons are heavier on béchamel and almost never use tomato; the Italian dish is tomato-led. Different sauces, different texture, related ancestry.
Related terms
- 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.
- FricandóCatalan veal stew of thin-cut steaks slow-braised with wild moixernon mushrooms in a wine-based sauce, finished with a picada.
- Escudella i carn d'ollaCatalan winter stew of meats, vegetables and beans simmered together. Served as two courses: pasta soup first, then the meats and vegetables on a plate. Christmas Day tradition.