"Calçotada"

Today, I had a whim to eat “calçots” (there isn’t a direct translation, so I will talk if it were a simple onion). This food is traditional in Catalonia, and within two weeks I will eat it with my friends. I'm so excited! 

The meal, called "calçotada”, is community and it has become the most traditional way of eating onions. With strong connotations of celebration and gathering. “Calçotades” are usually from late winter until March.

The first dish on the menu are typical “calçotada” onions (usually between 10 and 20 per person, although I eat around 50, and even more) along with the typical sauce. The second dish I usually grilled meat with toasts, accompanied by vinegar or champagne, but then I don’t have much appetite, because I’m enough with the onions.

The preparation is:

Before you cook the onions, they shorten the leaves were longer and cut a piece of root. Then, without washing or removing the floor, put the onions on the flame grill, like if it were taken out of the field. Once cooked, wrapped with newspaper, so you just soften and keep warm. Usually, they serve the onions wrapped and put on a tile. Is advised to wear a bib to avoid staining clothes. Take each onion with one hand, with the other one stretch the peel out, it dips into the sauce and eat it until the leaves (which aren’t eaten).

I hope if you haven't ever eaten them, you might have the opportunity because they are actually delicious.