Calçot

Calçot (Catalan pronunciation: [kəɫˈsɔts]) is a variety of green onion known as Blanca gran tardana in the Catalan language from Lleida, Catalonia. The Calçot from Valls (Tarragona, Catalonia) is a registered EU Protected Geographical Indication.^[1]

Calçots are milder and less bulbous than onions and have a length of between 15 and 25 cm (white part) and a diameter of 1.7 to 2.5 cm at the root. Planted in trenches, like an onion, as a single bulb, and successively increasing the depth of the soil around the stems throughout autumn and winter, they sprout into 4-10 shoots, roughly the shape of small leeks.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Calçotada 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

Origin

The origin of the variety is disputed but one of the most commonly accepted versions [unsubstantiated] of its history is that they were developed by Xat de Benaiges, a peasant farmer from Valls by at the turn of the 20th century. He is said to have been the first to have planted the sprouts of garden onions, covering them with earth so that a longer portion of the stems remained white and edible. That action is known in Catalan as calçar, (a catalan agricultural term which means to cover the trunk of a plant or vegetable with dirt. As the plant grows, dirt is continuously added, i.e., "calçar."), hence the name calçot.

Calçotada

The most traditional way of eating calçots is in a calçotada (plural: calçotades), a popular gastronomical event held between the end of winter and March or April, where calçots are consumed massively.

Calçots are then barbecued and dipped in salvitxada or romesco sauce, and accompanied by red wine or cava. Pieces of meat and bread slices are roasted in the charcoal after cooking the calçots.

Gallery

See also

• Traditions of Catalonia
• Ramps, another species of Allium around which festivals are held

References

Further reading

• Jofre, Joan; Garcia, Agustí (in Spanish). La cuina del calçot. Cossetània edicions. ISBN 84-9791-075-3. 

External links

Allium Onion Garlic Onion cultivars Calçot Cocktail onion Pearl onion Potato onion Red onion Scallion Shallot Sweet onion Tree onion Twinleaf onion Vidalia onion Welsh onion White onion Yellow onion Onion species Allium abramsii Allium acuminatum Allium aflatunense Allium amplectens Allium atrorubens Allium bisceptrum Allium bolanderi Allium burlewii Allium caeruleum Allium campanulatum Allium cernuum Allium cratericola Allium crispum Allium cristophii Allium monanthum Allium platycaule Allium praecox Allium punctum Allium sanbornii Allium shevockii Allium siskiyouense Allium sphaerocephalon Allium stipitatum Allium textile Allium tribracteatum Allium tricoccum Allium triquetrum Allium tuolumnense Allium unifolium Allium validum Allium yosemitense Allium stellatum Onion food Blooming onion Fried onion Onion ring Pickled onion Sogan-dolma Garlic cultivars Elephant garlic Field garlic Garlic chives Ramsons Snow Mountain Garlic Solo garlic Garlic species Allium canadense Allium drummondii Allium moly Allium neapolitanum Allium nigrum Allium roseum Allium sphaerocephalon Allium triquetrum Allium vineale Garlic food Black garlic Persillade Pistou Garlic press Garlic bread Garlic chutney Beurre à la bourguignonne Garlic/onion constituents Allicin Allistatin Category:Allium