How's your week going?
We're on cloud nine☁️, we haven't stopped!
Because what a week we've had: La Cremà, the end of the Fallas (which I told you about two weeks ago), Father's Day, and the end of the giveaway... Quite a bit😜!
Although all these endings are making me shed a little tear😢 unless...
Oh, wait, that wasn't it! It turns out it was the tenderness I'm going to tell you about today.
Do you have any suspects in mind 🤔?
It's about the spring onion🧅 and the green garlic🧄 that Javi brings us from Xàtiva.
Have you ever tried them?
Although they look very similar, don't be fooled, they are more similar to dried onions and garlic than to each other.
In fact, when you let spring onions and green garlic dry, their characteristic green stalks begin to fall off, and the bulb begins to develop in preparation for spreading its seeds.
And it is precisely these bulbs that we are most accustomed to.
Now, why let it dry instead of eating it when it's at its peak 🤔?
Well, the main reason is so that they can be preserved for longer, since by losing so much water, they can be stored for months until they are sold in supermarkets.
But it's not done the same way everywhere, perhaps seeing the previous image reminded you of a certain Catalan dish... Do you want a hint?
This is one of the most characteristic dishes, and it is prepared by leaving the vegetable on the grill until toasted, using the outermost layer as protection?
Do you know it already🎤?
It's calçots😋!
Indeed, this popular dish is nothing more and nothing less than spring onion.
But why do they call it 'calçot' and not 'ceba', which is how onion is said in Catalan 🤔?
A clue can be found in the translation of calçot into Spanish, "calzar" (to wear shoes).
But what? Do they use onions as socks in Catalonia 🙃🤯??
It's not that, (as far as I know 🫢), when they say "calzar", they are referring to the process of "calzar" the spring onion.
So that it cooks evenly on the grill, calçots cannot develop these thick bulbs, so as they grow, more and more soil is added to them so that they continue to grow upwards, giving them that green garlic shape... What a mess 😵💫!
In summary, green garlic and spring onions are the fresh version of what we know, making them a wonderful alternative for salads and other fresh dishes.
Are you craving for more Valentina 🤔?
Well, you're in luck, because we've just uploaded a new blog about spring onions, check it out.
Have a great week!
