Before going on a calçotada ‘the popular gastronomical fiesta of Catalunya’ it is important to first work up an appetite. So along with some friends in our Hiking and Outdoors Meetup Group we went for a walk, a stroll to see some 13th century castles.

The first…just outside the town of El Pont d’Armentera (where we soon would be returning for our feast of calçots). The ruins of the tiny village and castle of Selmella.

Next on to the region of Querol which is a hilly area near the river of Gaià. The castle of Saburella sits high on a hill looking over its once domain.

Along with the beautiful landscapes, we encountered a few unusual landmarks.

And now….for the food! We went to a great restaurant called - La Sort, and tried to get our fill of the calçots and the heaping plates of artichokes, beans, and grilled meat.

Add in drinking wine out of a communal porro and funny bibs for keeping romesco sauce off the clothes and you have the recipe for a good time. The use of a porro is an acquired talent, but lifts the act of drinking wine out of the hands of the snobbish and into those not afraid to wear their wine (at least for the amateur).

An excellent way to spend a Saturday!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 6:01 pm by Corrie and is filed under Food, Spain, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.