Скачать с ютуб Onion festival previews the coming of spring в хорошем качестве

Onion festival previews the coming of spring

(24 Jan 2022) LEAD IN: Winter means "calçotada" season in the Spanish autonomous region of Catalonia, and the local onions take center stage. The southern city of Valls holds the region's main food festival, celebrating in this unique and wacky culinary tradition. STORY-LINE: The Catalan town of Valls is celebrated for its locally grown onions known as "calçot". Calçots are a type of white onion cultivated in a very particular way in order to increase the length of the bulb to some 20 centimeters.   A large milder version of a regular cooking onion, they are prized as a delicacy here. At the end of January the town holds a festival in its honour. This city, located in the southern part of the Catalan region in the province of Tarragona, is famous for "castells", tall human tower structures created by locals. They are also proud of the "calçot" and the "calçotada", the ritualistic way of eating this craftily grown vegetable.   The "Gran Fiesta de la Calçotada" started in 1982 and each year an estimated 35,000 attendees crowd the streets and alleys surrounding the central square. First the vegetable is grilled over an open flame by locals dressed in dressed in traditional Catalan peasant costumes.   The main event is a contest in which contestants must consume as many calçots as possible in 45 minutes. Organiser Antonio Bastus says that the pandemic has reduced the numbers of participants this year. "We have ten participants this year because of the pandemic. We usually have twenty." "The event lasts 45 minutes. To start with, we give fifty calçots to each participant. And as they eat them we keep supplying if they ask for more. We know the weight of the calçots we give each participant. And once time is over then we weigh the  leftovers. So we know the weight in calçots the contestants carry inside their stomachs," he explains. Last year the event was cancelled due to the pandemic, making this the 34st edition of the festival. The event includes several competitions ranging from awards to the farmer producing the best calçots, the best recipe for the "romescu" side sauce and the crowning moment of the day: the all-you-can-eat contest.   The "calçotada" tradition dates back to the end of the 19th century. Legend says a countryman intended to grill some onions and lost track of time.   And when he saw the burnt vegetables on top of the grill, instead of discarding them he peeled off the charred outer layers, discovering the sweet and tender cooked insides.   Since then, the eating of calçotada has become not only a local dish, but also a social occasion. Once the roots are chopped off and the calçots char-grilled, they are grouped in bunches and wrapped in aluminium foil or newspaper to keep them warm.   Typically they are eaten dipped in a sauce known as romescu, which dates back to Roman times in the ancient city of Tarraco, today's Tarragona.   The romescu is made by grinding garlic, tomato, oil, vinegar and roast almonds in a mortar.   The calçot must be held by the stalk whilst using the other hand to slide the burnt outer layer off.   The charred skin is discarded and the bulb part is eaten with the sauce.   The cooked flavour is creamy, sweet, smoky and tender.   As the contest gets underway, castell towers are created by local groups.   This year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the towers are smaller, with fewer people to avoid excessive close contact between members.   David Martin wins this year's contest, eating 138 calçots in 45 minutes.   He was runner-up in 2019.   Each stem is a calçot.   Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...