R E C I P E S
Calçots amb Romesco (Grilled Onions with Romesco Sauce)
Calçots, which originated in the town of Valls in Catalonia, Spain, are a particular kind of onion, hilled up as they grow to have a longer section of thick, tender white stalk. Calçots resemble leeks, but don’t taste like them. At their best for only three weeks each spring, they’re grilled on a rack over hot coals until they’re completely tender inside, by which time the outer layers are black. Romesco is an uncooked, creamy, orangey-pink sauce from around the nearby city of Tarragona; it’s named for the mild red romesco pepper, which gives the sauce a slight piquancy. The pepper’s taste isn’t so specific that you can’t substitute another mild sort. There are many recipes for the sauce. The bread with which it begins can be plain, toasted, or fried; the garlic may be cooked or raw or a mix of the two; some cooks omit the tomato, though it adds color, flavor, and lightness; some add parsley and mint. The garlic and tomato for the sauce are often roasted over the same fire that will cook the calçots. In Catalonia, the oil that goes into the sauce comes from the sweet native Arbequina olive. Starting with the almonds and ending with the oil, all the ingredients are pounded in a mortar or pot.By Edward Behr
Calçots are eaten at a feast, a calçotada. As you eat the calçots, a dozen or more per person, depending on their size and the person, you peel and discard the black layers. You dip the tender, pale end generously into the sauce and then lower it into your mouth, a messy process that requires a bib. You eat only the tender part, discarding the green. Irving Davis — drawing, I believe, from experiences in the 1920s — wrote in A Catalan Cookery Book that calçots are “eaten only in the neighbourhood of Valls, in the open air under the almond trees in bloom.” Like everyone else, he noted that eaters drink plentifully from the porró, the glass bottle passed from one eater to the next, tipped so a jet of wine comes out, the bottle never coming near anyone’s lips. Of course, you may not have calçots at all, but the delicious sauce also goes well with grilled meats and fish and dresses salad — though some Catalans might consider those other uses to be heresy. The quantities given below are for one person — increase accordingly.
a slice of white bread
a small handful of peeled, toasted almonds
salt
1 romesco, nyora, or other mild dried pepper, crushed
1 or 2 cloves garlic
1 ripe red tomato — preferably grilled whole on a fire to blister and loosen the skin — peeled, seeded, and chopped
about 7/8 cup (200 ml) excellent, fresh-tasting olive oil
a dozen or more calçots, cleaned and the roots trimmed
In a mortar, pound the bread with the almonds and ¼ teaspoon of salt, or reduce them in a food processor. To the mortar or processor bowl, add the dried pepper and pulverize it along with the garlic, and then add and pulverize the tomato. When all these form a smooth paste, dilute it gradually with olive oil while stirring with the pestle or processing, until it’s a thick, creamy, thoroughly emulsified sauce. Taste and season with salt as needed.
Cook the calçots whole over the hot coals, turning, until the outer layers are black and the insides are completely soft. Wrap the calçots in layers of newspaper and leave them to steam for about 15 minutes, which ensures complete cooking and softens the charred layers so they can be easily peeled away. Serve hot. Serves 1.
From The Art of Eating Cookbook
