{"id":2526,"date":"2021-06-07T21:14:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T18:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democraticgourmet.com\/?p=2526"},"modified":"2021-06-08T09:28:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T06:28:35","slug":"barcelona-diaries-3-the-calcots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democraticgourmet.com\/el\/barcelona-diaries-3-the-calcots\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona diaries 3 – the cal\u00e7ots"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Oliver Benet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the south of Catalonia, near the historic city of Tarragona, we find the small city of Valls, a city that when you hear its name, at the moment two images come to your mind: The Castellers – \u201cthe human towers\u201d – and the cal\u00e7ots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cal\u00e7ots, a variety of spring onions, are a delicacy and one of the most appreciated dishes by Catalans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in many gastronomic discoveries, by chance or by error, it has created real wonders. One of the hypotheses behind the cal\u00e7ots is that in the 19th century, a farmer from Valls, named Xat de Benaiges, put by error a handful of these onions on the embers and, curious about the aroma they gave off, stripped its charred skin and tasted its white meat, tender and extremely tasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tasty discovery was confined for decades in the area of Valls and Tarragona. You don\u2019t have to go back many years, maybe yes, \u201cI\u2019m my age\u201d, to remember crowds of citizens from all over Catalonia, travelling at winter weekends, to the south of the country, to enjoy these onions. Onions that involved a whole ritual while eating them. You must stand up, with a bib, soak them in an excellent sauce, and especially as a prelude to a large tiberius of grilled local meats, it accompanied by some good wine from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cal\u00e7ots – photo snapped by Eli Ramirez <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I said, it was not, until the beginning of the 21st century, \u201cwith exceptions\u201d that the explosion of cal\u00e7ots did not approach the rest of the country\u2019s homes and restaurants. And today, it is not uncommon to find them in places as far away as the Pyrenees, the Costa Brava or in the crazy Barcelona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously, the strength of the city of Valls remains intact, and it is an obligatory pilgrimage for those who like to eat cal\u00e7ots in their original place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Oliver Benet is a Catalan cook and writer of the book “Per qu\u00e8 odiava en Ferran Adri\u00e0?”<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Oliver Benet In the south of Catalonia, near the historic city of Tarragona, we find the small city of Valls, a city that when…<\/p>\n

Continue readingBarcelona diaries 3 – the cal\u00e7ots<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[589],"tags":[756,753,904,664,758,757,754,755,903],"class_list":["post-2526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-friends-columns","tag-author","tag-barcelona","tag-calcots","tag-catalonia","tag-column","tag-cook","tag-diary","tag-oliver-benet","tag-valls","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nBarcelona diaries 3 - the cal\u00e7ots - Democratic Gourmet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democraticgourmet.com\/el\/barcelona-diaries-3-the-calcots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"el_GR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barcelona diaries 3 - 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