Two really yummy foods are in season, Calçots (a type of scallion, about the size of small leeks) and almonds. The result is a big grillfest called a Calçotada. There's a special yummy sauce for the calçots, called salsa romescu, and its made of almonds, tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic. Just about everyone partakes in the festivities, and in one weekend in March, I got invited to two calçotades.
Teresa's family has a small vineyard in Canet where they hosted the first calçotada I went to. A bunch of Teresa and Lluis's friends came, and we literally spent the whole day grilling, eating, and drinking. Then in the afternoon, we took a hike up to this really big cross at the top of the whole town.
This is what went down...
Teresa's little country house
The little vineyard
The gang
Step one: Collect a bunch of dried grape vines
Step two: light them on fire, and stand back!
Then you prepare the calçots by cutting the green part of the onion off.
Pile 'em on the grill
Grill 'em!
Deliciousness!!!
And as we wait for the calçots, we start drinking and eating some tapas.
While we were outside grilling, the women were inside making the romescu salsa and preparing all the meat for the grill. Here in the house, they grilled "peus de porc"-- that's right, pigs feet. And yes, I tried them.
Salsa Romescu
Meat grilling!
Then it was time to set the table
Pa amb tomaquet (bread and tomatoes)
The hot-off-the-grill calçots, wrapped in newspaper to keep them warm and make them juicy
Botifarra
Unfortunately, i dont have pictures of us eating because my hands seriously were black from eating all the charred onions
After eating and resting a bit, we made it up to the cross.
View of canet and the mediterranean sea from the cross
And at the end of the night, we sat inside, having coffee by the fireside and talking crazy.
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