NeighbourFood

Around the end of January each year, the autonomous region of Catalonia pays homage to the humble calçot (a bit like a cross between a spring onion and a leek) with a festival dedicated entirely to the vegetable. All over the region around this time, grilled calçots are served in restaurants, and locals even throw calçot parties, but it’s the small town of Valls in the Tarragona province that really goes crazy for them with a special Calçotada Festival.
The festival begins early in the morning when locals dressed in traditional costumes grill thousands of calçots outside in the middle of the town squares. The sweet, charred smell of burning calçots can be detected for miles around.

The next part of the festival is a competition to judge the best bunch of calçots grown by local farmers, as well as the best romesco sauce – traditionally eaten with the grilled vegetable. Made from almonds, garlic, olive oil, red pepper, tomatoes, and bread crumbs, it makes for the perfect accompaniment. During this time, there’s also the chance to look around at the many stalls selling classic Catalan delicacies such as cheeses, bread, ham, chorizo, and, of course, calçot products such as calçot bread and calçot coca (similar to focaccia).

After the judging is over, the festival moves up a gear with street parades, dancing, and music. A large calçot dances through the streets while being followed by giants, horses, and musicians playing classic Catalan tunes. Local school children also join the festivities, performing traditional dances with sticks. The parade culminates in the large town square where one of the main highlights of the festival takes places – the calçot eating competition.

So if the Catalonians can go so crazy for this particular dish, there must be something to it!

Ingredients:

1 small garlic clove, crushed
2 roasted and peeled red peppers
1 slice of stale bread, crust removed
1 large roasted tomato
30g toasted almonds
20g roasted and skinned hazelnuts
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp sherry vinegar, plus a little more to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
dried chilli to taste
500g Spring Onions

Method

Step 1
To make the sauce, put everything, apart from the chilli, into a food processor. Blend into a thick sauce. Add more olive oil or a dash of hot water to loosen. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch or two of chilli to your taste. Add a shake more vinegar to increase the piquancy, if you think it needs it. This can be made ahead of time.

Step 2
To cook the calçots, preheat your oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Griddle the calçots until the outsides are marked and starting to blacken and burn. If you have a gas hob you can pass them over an open gas flame too, for some extra charring.

Step 3
While the calçots are on the griddle, take a sheet of baking parchment and run it under some warm water. Scrunch it up in you hands until it becomes soft and pliable. When the calçots are nicely charred, wrap them in the wet baking parchment and pop them in the oven for 5 mins so that they cook through to the centre.

Step 4
Serve them whole, with a bowl of sauce on the side. Peel away the charred skins and dip them in the sauce as you eat.

Recently we were asked down to GIY HQ to chat to Mick and Co for a new TV show they were making for RTÉ called . It's always a treat to visit them in in Waterford and the chats are always mighty.
Food Matters airs each Wednesday and we will feature TONIGHT.

We actually recorded a postcast there which you can hear here... https://shows.acast.com/the-neighbourfood-podcast/episodes/giy-diaries-with-michael-kelly-the-grow-it-yourself-food-rev

Our podcast episode Knead to know is now out. A chat with the microbakers of Ireland featuring Laura O’Donovan of So-Doh Renvyle, Gráinne McGough of Grá Arán and Angela Nöthlings of Ryes & Shine.*

Link to episode - https://shows.acast.com/the-neighbourfood-podcast/episodes/MicrobakersOfIreland

This week we are chatting to three different microbakers from different parts of Ireland, who bake real bread using only flour, water and salt, for local customers within their local communities.

Our guests are Angela Nöthlings, Ryes & Shine, Cork; Laura O’Donovan So-Doh, Renvyle, Connemara and Gráinne McGough of Grá Arán, Wicklow

These are three stories of three different solopreneurs who join us to talk about their experiences with starting and growing their individual business from their kitchen counter tops to repurposed studios and garden sheds. We also talk about about the network of microbakers both in Ireland and around the world who support, encourage, mentor and inspire each other, and of course we hear about the importance of real bread from a health perspective, with the simplicity of the most basic of ingredients ingredients in making a wholesome and nutritious loaf.

We found it inspiring listening to their can-do attitudes, an insight into their microbaking world and perhaps even motivation for anyone who is thinking of going down the microbakery route themselves.

**IN SEASON** Are you familiar with Blood Oranges? Often perceived as a bit of a gimmick, this variety actually have quite a unique flavour profile being distinctly raspberry-like in addition to the usual citrus notes. They make an incredible salad with fennel and nigella seeds