Grilled calçots / calcots, a special type of large spring onion grown in 
Catalonia that I didn't think I'd get to try because it was out of 
season.  (In fact, the reason I picked this restaurant when 
walking down the street and reading menus was because it was on the 
menu.) <br />

The staff had to teach me how to eat them.  First, they gave me gloves 
because the calçots were too hot to touch.  Then they provided a bib.  
To eat the calçots, I had to grab the root and yank (like removing a 
sleeve), thus peeling off the charred outer layer.  Once I had the white 
insides, I dipped them in the accompanying romesco sauce and ate them. 
The gloves were important--even if I could peel them, the insides were 
too hot to lift to my mouth without gloves.<br />

These grilled calçots tasted like soft, grilled green onions (naturally) 
with a "grain" in one direction (a la how meat has a grain).  The plate 
was too big for me; this many onions got to me.