As I peeled back the char-grilled skin of the calçot, while performing a balancing act involving myself, my heavy winter coat, my camera, my overweight handbag, and trying to lean up against the long white plastic tables set up especially for the event, I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I was finally here, actually eating calçots – an onion that falls somewhere in between a spring onion and a leek – with my two feet, more or less, firmly planted in the town of Valls in Catalunya’s countryside, the place where calçots originated from at the turn of the 20th century.
While that might not seem like such a great feat it really was, for two reasons. The first being that I have literally waited years (yes, you read right, years) to be in Valls on this particular day (don’t ever say that I don’t obsess pay attention to detail!) and the second being that only hours before that morning, my dreams were nearly shattered – in a broken fairy tale kind of way – when I arrived at the bus station in Barcelona, thanks to four little words.
“Me quedan tres plazas“.
The bus driver made us undoubtfully aware that there were only three seats left on the bus to Valls, and the three elderly Catalan men who, while I sensed felt sightly sorry at what was turning out to be our misadventure, marched proudly on the bus and parked their culos in the last remaining seats.
Yep, it’s fair to say that this adventure didn’t get off to the greatest of starts. But after battling an hour train ride, a 20 minute brisk walk to the bus station at Tarragona, and a 40 minute or so bus ride which was unpleasantly tainted by screeching Italian students, I was standing in the Plaça El Pati in the centre of Valls.
Gigantes – a typical sight at any Catalan festival – parading through the streets of Valls
The Traditional Parade of Gigantes
Like all good Catalan festivals, my arrival was marked by the parade of gigantes, but the gigantes, instead of representing the typical figures such as Kings and Queens, were this time themed to Valls world-famous-in-Catalunya onion, the calçot.
The first gigante to pass was the calçot himself in gigante form, then there was the farmer’s wife with her mortar and pestle underarm to grind the delicious romesco sauce that the calçots are eaten with, followed by a peasant farmer with a bunch of calçots under his arm.
As the parade looped its way around and around again, in other parts of the town various concursos were taking place. There was the contest of growing calçots, the contest of making romesco sauce, and even the contest of cultivating calçots. But the contest where I was most attentive, and the one that perhaps deserves a mention above all, was the contest of eating calçots. Because, you know, we all like to eat.
Locals of all ages making their award-winning home made romesco sauce and handing samples out for everyone to try
The Concurs de Menjar Calçots (Calçot Eating Competition)
It was just coming up to 1pm when we arrived in the Plaça El Pati, which was the hub of action for the upcoming event. It was pure coincidence (and stopping for a caffeine fix) that brought us there in that moment, but as we made an action plan, the crowd grew and we suddenly realised why.
The Concurs de Menjar Calçots was about to begin in this very square. Participants were already lined up across the stage at the front, bibs ready, emotions running high, and gearing up for the start of the competition.
What followed was 45 frantic minutes of the contestants eating as many calçots as humanely possible in that time. The winner was a Barcelona man, Adrià Wegrzyn, a long time calçot eating champion who expertly devoured 175 calçots (that’s 3.1 kilos!) in the short 45 minutes.
Contestants participating in the contest of eating calçots – they have to eat the most they can in 45 minutes
A Professional Japanese Eater Taking On The Catalans
To locals it was no surprise that Wegrzyn finished as the champion, but perhaps the most interesting participant was him who was bringing a lot of international press to the event, Japanese TV presenter Toshi Onishi.
He introduced himself to the crowd as a professional eater, having participated in over 100 eating competitions all over the world, and while his professional experience wasn’t quite enough to out-do Adrià Wegrzyn, he did end up in the fourth place – not a bad effort out of 18 people, the rest of whom were all from Catalunya.
Local helpers handing out the bags containing the calçots and (almost) everything else necessary to make your experience complete!
It’s not Catalunya without some political messages painted on the walls
“Always strong, always capable, proud to be women” – I love this photo of my self and my Devour Spain colleague Margit! Thanks to our fellow friend & colleague Renee for the photo! Hungry festival goers gathering in the squares in Valls to eat their calçots at the tables set up for the eventMe also hanging out in the square…with a vermouth, of course! Thanks to my friend Renee for the photo.
How Join in Eating Calçots in Valls
But while watching people stuff their faces with calçots was fun, the main reason for coming to Valls today was to participate in eating the calçots myself. After a walk around the town, a cheeky vermouth and finally finding the right spot to take part in this event, I was in the queue, 9 euro ticket in hand, waiting to be handed my party bag.
But instead of kinder chocolates and gummy bears, the “party bags” contained a bib, half bottle of red wine, a beer, two slices of bread, an orange, a tub of romesco sauce, and of course, 12 already char-grilled calçots wrapped up in aluminium foil and ready to peel and devour.
The process of eating calçots goes as follows: pick up the calçot with one hand, peel of the outer burnt layer with the other, dip in romesco sauce, hold the calçot high, tip your head back, dribble said romesco sauce down chin (hence the bib) and devour, devour, devour. It’s a case of just getting in there without shame, going all out, feasting and enjoying yourself, while making a huge mess at the same time – after all, the mess is part of the fun!
Calçots and other local products on sale at the Fiesta de la Calçotada
But What About Cooking Calçots?
It wouldn’t have been worth participating in the event without a little bit of time dedicated to understanding what exactly happens to cook this regional delicacy. In Plaça de l’Oli a makeshift wooden fence had been put up where around 20 locals in traditional 19th century dress took to work preparing the calçots for the calçotada.
The harvest of calçots coincides perfectly with the pruning of the grape vines, so calçots are always cooked over an open fire of grape vine wood. A heavy iron grill sits over the top of the flame, which is where rows and rows of calçots are laid down together in order to meet their fate.
When the open flame has done its work to the point that the calçots are completely black on the outside, the iron grill is lifted with long rods – work which requires cooperation of a few together – and the calçots are removed and ready to eat. Like eating the calçots, cooking them is also dirty work with ash covered hands and smokey grey air being the name of the game.
Calçots cooking over an open fire of grape vine sticksA local man cooking the calçots at the calçotada shows what dirty work cooking them really is!
Calçots are always accompanied by a hearty serve of young vino tinto, followed by a second course of meat – with butifarra, the Catalan white sausage being a favourite. Entrepreneurial Catalan butchers open in Valls on this Sunday (which is not normal practice in Spain!), and hungry punters – who choose to ignore the havoc that onion overdose is wreaking on their digestive system – purchase their share of butifarra and meats and cook it themselves on the barbecue that’s set up alongside the official calçot cooking fire.
It’s not often that spring onions get the chance to shine past a garnish for a salad. But these calçots (the spring onions from Valls) and the calçotada (the events to eat them) are the catalyst for gatherings of friends and family in Catalunya – at least, during their short but sweet season of the first few months of each year. The Fiesta de la Calçotada de Valls is the main official event to celebrate the the calçots, celebrate the calçotada, and allow anyone adventurous enough to have the chance to partake and enjoy this Catalan tradition.
If you want to eat meat at the calçotada, you have to buy your own from one of the many butchers open around town and cook it yourself on the barbecue. Butifarra, Catalan white sausage is a favourite! Yeah, I know you are supposed to take the bib off after the calçot eating has finished. Thanks again Renee for the photo!
How To Do It
The Fiesta de la Calçotada de Valls happens annually on the last Sunday of January. It’s free to attend the day (you just walk around the village checking out what’s going on!) but you pay for your food and drink. There are “unofficial” and “official” calçots packs being sold from various bars and stands around the city for various prices.
Tickets & Price: The ticket for the official calçot pack is purchased for 9 euros from one of several booths around the city, which are marked on the official map (this is available from a makeshift information stand as soon as you leave the bus station). When I went, the ticket booth right in the centre had a much shorter queue than the one near the bus station. Once you have your ticket, you can pick your calçot pack which includes 12 calçots, romesco sauce, bread, a half bottle of wine, a beer, an orange and of course, a bib. The one official pickup point for the calçot pack is also marked on the map. Updated festival information can be found here.
Arriving by bus: The bus leaves from Barcelona Sants bus station at 9am and returns to Barcelona from Valls at 5.45pm. These are the only buses so they are popular. Make sure you arrive at Barcelona Sants 30 minutes before the bus departure to ensure a seat. Tickets are purchased on the bus and they are approximately 8 euros per person. The bus takes 2-2.5 hours depending on traffic. Updated bus timetables can be found here.
Arriving by train: If you miss out on the bus (like I did) there is a local train (not the expensive AVE) at around 9.30am to Tarragona. The train costs around 8 euros per person and takes just over an hour. Once you arrive in Tarrangona it’s a 15-20 minute walk to the bus station at Plaça de la Imperial Tarranco. At 11.25 there is the bus to Valls. It takes around 40 minutes and costs about 4 euros. Updated train timetables can be seen here.
Have you ever been to a calçotada before? Do you think it’s something you would like to do? Tell me all about it in the comments below!
Katie Featherstone says
Thank-you, this is the most refreshing bit of travel writing I’ve read in a while. I really never knew that was a thing!
Cyra says
Hi Katie, thanks for taking the time to read it and that’s really kind of you to say, I’m flattered! Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it really is a thing haha….. only in Spain! :p