Spanish regional food
has many local variations and Andalucian cuisine has a wide
variety of dishes which have originated in specific
areas. Being the last bastion of the Moors, Andalucian
food has a strong Moorish influence, kebabs are very popular
and the mixture of meat and fruit, common in north African
countries is also popular here. Gazpacho, a cold
Andalucian soup, is now eaten all over Spain and
TV food channels have spread the popularity of the
dish worldwide. A few local versions of cold soups which are
not as widely known are Solerejo served in the Cordoba
region, this uses only tomatoes instead of the cucumber and
red peppers and Ajo Blanco from the Malaga area, a cold soup
which uses pureed garlic.
Video How To Make Gazpacho
Seafood
The Mediterranean coast offers an
abundance of seafood and there are lots of seafood
restaurants up and down the Costa del Sol. Parillada is a
mix of grilled seafood with garlic, parsley and a few wedges
of lemon. Fritura is an assortment of small fish which have
been coated in flour and fried in olive oil with garlic and
parsley. Baking in salt is a popular method of cooking
fish in Andalucia. The fish is encased in a salt
mixture which sets hard during baking. Special salt pans are
available for this type of cooking. The salt case is
broken away before serving. Far from being salty, the
fish becomes moist and tender.
Tuna has always been a staple of the
Andalucian costal areas and dried tuna (mojama) is exported
throughout Spain. After being covered in course sea
salt, the tuna fillets are washed and then sun dried. To
serve, the mojama is sliced wafer thin and moistened
in olive oil. Mojama is often accompanied by toasted
almonds or sprinkled over salad leaves
Paella
Paella is
the national dish and is traditionally eaten on Sunday
lunchtime when all the family troop down to their local
restaurant and spend most of the afternoon eating and
drinking. Paella varies from region to region. Paella
originated in Valencia and Valencian paella is still
regarded as the authentic version. It usually consists
of a mixture of seafood and chicken with either beans or
peas.
Clams With Beans
An unusual and tasty seafood dish from
Andalucia is a combination of clams with white beans or
Alubias blancas con almejas. If you'd like to try it
watch the video below, its in Spanish but you should get the
gist of it.
Olive Oil
Andalucia is Spain's major exporter of
olives and olive oil. Vast areas of land around
Granada and Cordoba are swathed in olive tree plantations.
The dry arid climate is ideal for growing olives.
The Romans exported olives around the empire from Cordoba
using the river Guadalquivir. Have a drink in a bar
in Andalucia and almost inevitably a plate of olives will
accompany it. To understand the scale of olive
production in Andalucia, a drive from Granada to Cordoba
will give some idea of its size. Some of
the olive trees in the area have been growing for hundreds
of years.
Andalucian Cheese
Andalucia is one area of Spain not
particularly noted for its cheese. There are a few
producers of regional cheeses, notably Malaga, a
cheese made from goats milk from the
Malagueña breed which are found in the area. Another
goats cheese is Alahama which is found in the Granada
area, this has an extremely strong "goaty" flavour.
A goats cheese flavoured with rosemary "Aracena"
recently won an Andalucian cheese award, it is produced in
the Huelva province. There are a few other
manufacturers but you'd be hard pressed to find any cheese
from Andalucia outside Spain.
The Legacy Of The Moors
The Moors were renowned for combining
meat and fish with fruit and this practice is still common
in parts of Andalucia today. The hot climate of the
region is ideal for growing a large variety of fruit and
vegetables. Unusual dishes mixing figs with ham or oranges
with cod have now started to become popular in some of the
trendier restaurants across Europe. The variety of
fruit grown in parts of Andalucia is quite staggering.
It includes varieties not found in other parts of Europe.
The cherimoya, a fruit which is common on the market
stalls of southern regions, is regarded as exotic outside
Spain. Other fruits like the pomegranate and the
passion fruit are also grown in Andalucia, a trip around
one of the many markets in the region shows the abundance
of freshly grown produce.
Andalucian Ham
Dried ham is one of Spain's most famous
specialty foods and can be found on the the shelves of
most supermarkets. A few areas are noted for the
excellence of their hams, especially Extramadura and some
of the mountainous regions of northern Spain. Another area
producing the most sought after air cured hams are the
villages dotted around the slopes of the Sierra Nevada
mountains. The climate in this area is supposed to
be the best for giving the ham a unique flavour. The
best known of these mountain villages is Trevelez.
This is Spain's highest village at 1,700 meters above sea
level. The air here is cool and fresh for most of
the year. Trevelez air cured ham has a distinctive
aromatic flavour. The ham is dried in specially
constructed sheds which are a common site in the village.
The hams are cured for a minimum of twelve months.
The video below shows Trevelez and some of the ham drying.
