[Pigging by Wilfrid: May 19, 2008]
Peter Hoffman estimates he has celebrated eight annual calçotada festivals at his veteran SoHo restaurant Savoy.
I had never hied myself hence to feast on the spring leeks, but now he has Back Forty, the quiet little hit restaurant in my neighborhood, and some good out door grilling space. Why not?
A tradition of Catalunya, the consumption of these vegetables - actually something between a leek and a spring onion - is another symbolic affirmation of the seasonal fertility of the soil (along with the ever-fertile Caganer of course).
This is a rural tradition, and it could hardly be simpler. Take your calçots, whack them on the grill until nice charred, then do your best to eat the grilled bulb with your fingers.
The refinement is a bowl of rough, vivid romesco sauce - a grind of almonds, tomatoes, garlic, usually red peppers. Your fingers black with ash, you wash the endless veggies down with copious tumblers of vino rosado. The wine was icy, but drunk all the quicker in defense against an unseasonal drop in temperature.
Hot beans helped too, buttery and herby - Shanna Pacifico, who runs the Back Forty kitchen, has a reliable way with beans. This was a generous festival: all you could eat and drink, served unstintingly, at a cost of $40 for food, $20 for wine per person. Even so, one cannot subsist on endless leeks alone.
Platters of lamb chops flew off the grill, charred and chewy but well-flavored. Along with the beans, garlicky broccoli rabe. And you may have noticed some sausages.
House-made, loose, meaty, addictive. I admit that I officially over-sausaged. I lost count, but I did eat too many; and will be happy to eat them again.
After two hours of gorging and gurgling to the tune of flamenco guitar, we finished with caramelized crema Catalana - and full to the brim, willingly made space for the second sitting. A fun event, and it augurs well for the uses to which Back Forty might turn its outdoor grill space once the weather actually improves. And I managed not to spoil it by pouring wine down my shirt, despite certain pressure from our host.
I am nagging the managers to actually upload information about special events to the web-site: not yet - but other basic Back Forty facts are here. You can wait until next year for the leeks, though.
