Calçotada Chaos in Les Planes

It was Barry's birthday recently and so. in was has become a tradition, we headed up to Les Planes for the first calçotada of the year. It's not a completely traditional calçotada (being held indoors and, with a few exceptions, lacking much of a competitive spirit). For those of you who still haven't tried this traditional Catalan meal experience, it basically consists of a big bunch of people sat around a table, eating long onion/leak things (calçots) which have been roasted in a fire. You peel the burnt bits off the calçot, dip it in romesco sauce, tip your head back and eat the whole thing. It's particularly amusing because what with all the burnt bits and romesco sauce flying around, everyone gets pretty dirty. The tradition comes from Valls in Tarragona province (romesco comes from Tarragona too).

I don't like calçots at all, so I always have a salad instead. I do generally attempt to join in the fun by eating my not-quite cojonudos asparagus in a fashion approaching that of a calçot-eater.

...and then, our car broke down...

More pictures of the calçotada here.