What? Calçotada set menu (£25pp)

When? Sunday 8^th March from 13.30 (bookings taken for this event)

Where? Porta Salford – 216 Chapel Street.

The Spanish calendar is packed with festivals, celebrating everything from saints to tomatoes. Of course, our favourites are those that celebrate food which is lucky as it’s Calçotada time, a celebration of the Catalan calçot!

The calçot is a type of onion, a bit like a cross between a spring onion and a leek in appearance with a mild, sweet taste. It’s grilled over flames and charred to give it a lovely smoky taste and then dunked in romesco sauce. The taste itself is something to celebrate but the whole event is also a bit of an excuse for a party.

And the party is at Porta Tapas, Chapel Street on Sunday 8th March.

Calçotada Menu

(£25 per person)

Pa amb tomàquet

Empedrat

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Calçots y romesco

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Botifarra amb mongetes

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Crema Catalana

While the calçots are grilling on the barbeque and to get your taste buds going, we’ll serve a couple of small plates. Pa amb tomàquet (aka pan con tomate… aka tomato bread!) probably the most famous Catalan dish; simply toasted flatbread, rubbed with garlic, tomato and a drizzle of olive oil. Also, a plate of Empedrat, a delicious salad of salt cod, chickpeas, tomato and olives.

Next is the main event. The calçots are grilled over an open fire until blackened on the outside and sweet and soft in the middle – then it’s time to get hands-on and messy!

First, grab your grilled calçot and peel back the charred outer layer. Drag the sweet juicy innards through some rich, nutty romesco sauce and gobble it up. Then repeat until there are no more calçots left.

It’s fun, it’s messy and it’s all washed down with plenty of wine. Like all the best things are.

Once the calçots come off the bbq, we’ll be grilling some botifarra, a tasty Catalan pork sausage and serving it with some braised white beans.

To finish, how could we resist the classic Catalan dessert, Crema Catalana?! The Spanish version of crème brûlée. A citrussy, cinnamony custard, topped with crunchy caramelised sugar.

To book in to this event give Porta a call on 0161 4597854 or email [email protected] for more information.

Bookings taken from 13.30 till 14.30 on the Sunday afternoon.

The menu costs £25pp.