Chat Benaiges guilty of calçotada Valls

The origin of the calçotada Valls, accident

For over 200 years is calçotada Valls, a tradition that has become almost obligatory once past Christmas. Today we tell you how it originated and become famous this phenomenon.

A farmer from Valls called Xat de Benaiges was the inventor of this juicy onion. At the end of the 19th century, everything had to be taken advantage of, nothing could be thrown away, and when the Chat found two grilled onions in his orchard, he did not hesitate to throw them on the fire. When he finished turning the pieces, the onions were well roasted, he peeled them and saw that they were tender and good, it had been very cold that winter. He soaked them in the homemade sauce and it turned out to be a delicious meal.

This is how calçotada originated in Valls, as he liked that invention so much that he decided that the following year he would let the onions be grilled and planted them. Everyone who tried his invention fell in love with it so he perfected the technique and the onions were getting longer and sweeter.

Calçot puts

That new technique was to plant their spreading to Alt Camp and farmers adopted it and fix the procedure. First you have to sow the seed of white onion in the last months of the year. Once it has sprouted and grown executed and saved a season. When it turns cold again to plant but in this case just falls apart a bit. When the onion is growing with soil should be wearing so that we covering and this forces the plant to stretch looking for the sun. It fits two or three times.

Calçotada Valls world

When we calçotada do much more than a meal, a calçotada Valleys became an excuse to get together with family or friends and enjoy a day out in the community. At the beginning of the 20th century, this custom of making calçotada spread like a typical meal in the winter months. But the great boom of the calçotada came when the “Penya Artística de l’Olla” prominent cultural entity of Valls, began to celebrate calçotadas with personalities from the cultural and media world of the time.

With this momentum calçotada Valls became an attraction and restaurants in the area took the opportunity to offer this delicacy so original foreign families. The first restaurant that did it was the Masia Bou, at that time called Fonda Universo.

Calçotada Valls has become the star product during the winter months, a tradition that is now part of our culture.

The weekend of 25 and 26 January we celebrate the feast of Calçotada Valls, see the whole program here >>>