Calçotada: Take 1

Yesterday was yet another first to check off the ole bucket list: go to a calçotada – aka a traditional Catalan onion BBQ. Calçots are long, skinny stalks of onions that are a local staple during the winter months. Family and friends gather together in restaurants, in parks or at home, to eat a vast amount of barbecue grilled calçots and meats, most often accompanied by pan con tomate (slices bread with tomato, olive oil, and salt) and beer.

My church here, the International Church of Barcelona, hosted a calçotada yesterday at a camp area in Les Planes. More specifically, Awaken – the young adult community group of ICB, hosted the event and about 75 young adults ended up coming and enjoy the afternoon with tasty food and great company.

I took the FGC train from Plaza Cataluña to Les Planes with the gals, and thankfully only got slightly train-sick on the ride over. The ICB Awaken team was ready to roll with bags of freshly sliced bread, tomatoes, salt, the delicious calçot sauce, cutlery, chips, and beverages. Technically it was BYOB and bring your own additional side, as the five euros per person covered pan con tomate, calçots, and butifarra (Catalan sausage).

It was a wonderful event and the weather held out for us! I would love to fit in another calçotada before my trip home coming up here… but we’ll see. Nothing planned so far. Also, plug: If you’re a young adult in Barcelona and looking for fun things to do, an awesome community, interested in having a relationship with Christ, or all of the above, you should really consider joining Awaken at ICB. People from almost sixty nations are members of ICB and they are shining examples of Christian hospitality and compassion. Don’t hesitate, just check them out!