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FEATURE

The one speciality dish you need to try from each of Spain’s regions

Can there be anything more enjoyable than traversing Spain discovering all the regional variety that the country has to offer?

Published: 9 January 2020 13:06 CET
Updated: 22 May 2021 14:10 CEST
The one speciality dish you need to try from each of Spain’s regions
But wouldn’t it be awful if you found out after your trip that you had missed sampling one of essential culinary delights of a region?
 
To avoid that pitfall, The Local has come up with its very own list of recommendations from region to region.
 

Map of Spain’s regions. Image: Depositphotos
 
 
By no means definitive, and ultimately a matter of opinion, we hope you enjoy this gastronomic tour of Spain.
 
Asturias: Fabada


Photo: Flavio Lorenzo Sánchez/Flickr

Each region of Spain has some sort of version of hearty winter stew, whether it’s a cocido Madrileño, a caparrones in La Rioja or caldereta manchega.

But our favourite lunch after a brisk walk on a cold day has to be Asturian Fabada, a traditional and hearty white bean stew with chunks of fatty meat and sausage.  Particularly popular during the colder months, it is traditionally eaten with crusty bread and a glass of Asturian cider. 

Galicia: Pimientos de Padron


Photo: elenachaykina/Depositphotos

With so much to choose from in Galicia from the traditional boiled octupus to the frankly downright bizarre percebes to the powdery almond tarta de Santiago, it’s hard to narrow it down to one dish.

But we have.

The small peppers that are quite often the only green you find in a meal, are grown in the valley surrounding the town of Pádron in Spain’s rainy northwestern region.  Deep fried in olive oil and coated in seasalt. these vibrant green peppers are generally sweet and mild, but beware because every now and again you’ll come across a hot one. 

READ ALSO: Thirteen mouthwateringly delicious reasons to be a vegetarian in Spain

Valencia: Paella

Photo: nito103/Depositphotos

You can’t really talk about cuisine in the eastern region of Valencia without thinking about paella, which has become one of Spain’s most famous dishes.  A saffron rice dish traditionally made with whatever proteins available (snails, rabbit, chicken, mussels) its name refers to the wide shallow pan that it is prepared in, usually outside, at lunchtime with a big group of family or friends. 

The slightly burnt rice around the edges is called socarrat and is considered by aficionados to be the best part. 

Don’t EVER add chorizo (unless, like Jamie Oliver, you want to risk a diplomatic incident).  

Paella: Six reasons you have probably been doing it wrong 

Catalonia: Calçots


Photo: Gerard Romans Camps / Flickr

Calçots are a seasonal vegetable similar to leeks or spring onions grown in the area surrounding Barcelona and Tarragona. They are normally available from January until April and by far the best way to try them is cooked on a barbecue accompanied by Romesco sauce, local wine and a group of friends. Eating them is a messy experience

Recipe: How to make, eat and enjoy calçots

Andalusia: Salmorejo


Photo: Brent Miller/ Flickr

Another difficult choice here. Should it be those delicious light shrimp fritters that you find in bars in Cadiz? Or a strong flavoured Rabo de Toro from a bull just killed in the ring? 

The Local has chosen instead the simple salmorejo, a thick version of gazpacho that is the prefect refreshing dish during Andalusia’s stifling summers. Originally made famous by Cordoba, you’ll find it served across Andalusia during the heat of the summer garnished with grated boiled egg and crumbs of iberian ham .

Basque Country: Marmitako


Nuria Farregut/ Flickr

We could just say pintxos and leave it at that but the Basque version of tapas encompasses so many wonderful dishes that it really would be cheating. Instead we have narrowed it down to the classic Basque dish of Marmitako.

A hearty tuna and potato stew is ubiquitous across the Basque Country from Bilbao to San Sebastian. As well as the obligatory ingredients of chunks of potatoes and pieces of tuna, it includes onions, green and red peppers, choicero (sun-dried peppers), tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil.

Cantabria: Anchovies

Photo: klublub/Depositphotos

If your only experience of an anchovy was a a shriveled salty dried strip on top of a pizza then you are in for a treat in Spain. 

Here, the best anchoas come from Santoña on the Atlantic coast in Cantabria and are often sold marinated in extra virgin olive oil and conserved in tins.

The best anchovies are firm and flexible to the touch, with a colour ranging from reddish brown to light caramel, and an aroma and flavour in which there is a perfect balance of oil, salt and fish.

Castile-Leon: Morcilla


Valakirka/Flickr

The vast central northern region of Castile-Leon is famous for its slow roasted piglet (asado cochinillo) and roasted sucking lamb (cordero lechal)  but as it is so hard to choose between the two, we have instead opted for morcilla as the must-try dish for the purpose of this list. (although seriously, don’t miss either the roast piglet or the roast lamb).

Morcilla is a blood sausage (black pudding) and appears in all sorts of dishes; spread on a piece of toast as a tapa or a few slices served to accompany a beer, you will also see it in all manner of stews across Spain.

Choose between Morcilla de Burgos, which is chunky texture with a milder flavour or the Morcilla de Leon which has a stronger flavour and a smoother consistency.

Castilla-La Mancha: Pisto


LilianaFuchs/Flickr

You probably thought we were going to choose Manchego cheese, but as you are pretty unlikely to avoid it we thought it important to point you in the direction of pisto. 

This is a tasty traditional vegetable dish not dissimilar to the more internationally famous ratatouille which is served either cold as a starter or a tapa or warn as a side dish to accompany meat. 

It is believed that pisto was introduced to Spain by the Moors, who used to call it alboronia. 

And guess what? It’s the perfect accompaniment to a slice of Manchego cheese.

Extremadura: Jamon Iberico


Photo: Subbotina/Depositphotos

At the risk of annoying other Spanish ham producing areas – Jabugo (Huelva), Guijuelo (Salamanca) and Los Pedroches (Córdoba) – we are naming Jamon Iberico as the one dish you can’t leave Extremadura without trying.

Arguably the best of this most noble of Spanish cured meats is from Iberian pigs raised on sweet nutty acorns while running free in the dehesas of Extremadura. 

The meat is then salted and air-dried for at least 36 months to become the perfect accompaniment to a chilled dry sherry, crisp white or full bodied red.

Navarra: White asparagus


Photo: Cecilia/Flickr

The fertile lands of Navarra provide some of the best produce in Spain so it is with difficulty that we single out just one.

White asparagus is in fact exactly the same vegetable as green asparagus but the farmers in Navarra cover it with earth and keep it on the dark once it starts to shoot so that it never develops into the grassier tasting green variety.

Harvested in spring before being peeled and preserved in jars, you’ll often find one or two draped across a house salad or an entire plate of the soft white spears served with mayonnaise. 

Canary Islands: Papas arrugadas


Photo: Martín Alvarez Espinar
 

Of course you will find exceptional fish caught and served up fresh in restaurants across the Atlantic archipelago but it is the humble potato that we have chosen to showcase.

Small, wrinkled and of underwhelming appearance, these potatoes are actually a real delight when doused in sea salt and paired with sumptuous mojo verde and rojo sauces. A simple pairing of incredible taste and quality.

READ ALSO: Seven dishes for seven islands: the best food in Spain’s Canary Islands

Balearic Islands: Ensaimada


Photo: Ungryyoungman/Flickr

At last we come to something sweet. In the Balearic Islands you won’t want to miss out on the snail shaped light and fluffy bun called an ensaimada. 

In Mallorca it is served instead of croissant and the sweet fluffliness is highly addictive. You will find them in small sizes suitable just for one person and huge sharing versions the size of a dinner plate.

it is these deligts that you will encased in cardboard boxes and squeezed into overhead lockers on flights from the islands. 

Madrid: Bocadillo de Calamares


Photo: TrevorHuxham/Flickr

What could possibly be more Madrileño than the Calamari Sandwich? 

You’ll find food stands devoted to selling them during the annual San Isidro street festival but they’re also sold year round in dedicated establishments around Madrid’s Plaza Mayor. 

Soft sliced squid coated in fluffy batter and deep fried before being loaded into a hunk of crusty bread, this culinary delight is best washed down with cold caña of Mahou.

Aragon: Migas


Photo: MariaDurán/recetasgratis

This dish of breadcrumbs fried in olive oil with garlic, chunks of sausages and peppers is the most traditional of shepherding fare. Found in rural mountain areas across Spain, it is taken to another level in Aragon where people add grapes and the delicious succulent local sausage known as longaniza. 

It is often served with a fried egg on top. 

La Rioja: Torrijas


Photo: Vincenzo Caico / Flickr

This is a sweet Spanish version of French toast which is popularly served across Spain at Easter. But it appears on menus all year round in the region of La Rioja where it is known as Torrijas a la Riojana (Spanish-style French toast)

Made with slices of stale bread soaked in milk and flavoured with cinnamon or vanilla.  Then bathed in beaten egg, fried in oil and sprinkled with a mixture of sugar and powdered cinnamon and sometimes accompanied by a sauce such as custard, or a rich ice cream. It is a wonderful dessert for those with a sweet tooth. 

Murcia: Paparajote


Photo: Carmen Lopez/ Flickr

These fritters are so quintessentially Murcian that you’ll hardly ever find them outside the region. Paparajote are battered and fried lemon leaves which are traditionally served during spring festivals.

This dessert consists of lemon leaves coated in a light doughy batter and deep fried before being dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Thought to date from the Moorish period in the Middle Ages, eating them properly involves a certain amount of skill as the outer case is consumed while leaving behind the inedible leaf bitter flavour within.

We hope you have enjoyed this culinary tour around Spain. Do comment below if you have discovered a regional dish that mustn’t be missed on your travels across Spain.

READ ALSO: Quiz: How well do you know your Spanish food? 

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FOOD AND DRINK

OPINION: Why Spanish cakes and desserts aren’t among the best

Traditional Spanish baked goods and puddings just don't seem to be as good or as well-known as their European counterparts from France, Italy, the UK and Portugal, do you agree? Read on to discover the reasons why this might be.

Published: 20 September 2024 10:07 CEST
OPINION: Why Spanish cakes and desserts aren't among the best

Spain is known throughout the world for its cuisine – olive-oil drizzled plates of tapas, fragrant seafood paellas and delicate Basque pintxos, so many people come here ready to be wowed by the cakes and desserts too.

Unfortunately, they sometimes leave disappointed by the sweet offerings here in Spain. Foreign British residents often complain about the standard of pastries and cakes compared to back home, while other foreign residents such as Swedes, French and Portuguese tend to set up their own bakeries or prefer to shop at those owned by their fellow countrymen.

Firstly, it’s not that Spanish cakes and puddings are bad, it’s simply that they are not as delectable as those found in some other European countries. They are not as famous either when compared with Italy’s tiramisu and gelato, England’s Bakewell tarts and hearty fruit cakes, Portugal’s pasteis de nata or Sweden’s cinnamon buns.

READ ALSO: Taste your way around Oviedo – Spain’s Capital of Gastronomy 2024 

Firstly, while Spain does have a lot of cakes and pastries there’s not much variety to them. For example, the Roscón de Reyes over Christmas, the Mona de Pascua at Easter and Catalan cocas eaten for Sant Joan are all essentially the same – sweet bread, perhaps with some candied fruit on top. Other traditional sweet bread include ensaimadas from Mallorca.

The Spanish Roscón de Reyes is typical Christmas dessert. Phtoo: Zarateman / Wikimedia Commons

Secondly, Spanish cuisine is celebrated for its simplicity – produce is the star of the show without much adulteration or mixing a lot of ingredients into one dish. Cakes are like that too – they don’t go in for elaborate cakes with lots of fillings and toppings like in the UK, they are simpler and often just filled with cream.

Cakes and pastries are usually quite plain in flavours too – you won’t often find Spanish coffee cakes, carrot cakes, lemon or ginger or the cardamom and cinnamon buns typical in northern Europe.

Usually, it’s just plain vanilla and maybe Nutella chocolate spread in some of the pastries. The exception of this is almond and aniseed, often used by nuns in their biscuits. But again, it’s not a very strong almond flavour like Italy’s amaretto cookies, it’s very subtle. Magdalenas, Spain’s version of a muffin, are again usually only found in one plain flavour – perhaps with a very subtle hint of lemon.

READ ALSO: 14 unusual foods you won’t believe are eaten in Spain 

It may seem odd because Spain has a lot of really good fruit, nuts and other produce that would taste great in a dessert, but Huelva’s strawberries, Extremadura’s figs, Valencia’s oranges and Asturian apples rarely feature in desserts, with the exception of ice cream, which Spaniards actually do really well.

People would rather eat these fruits on their own – unadulterated and without added extras like much of their other ingredients such as meat and seafood.

Even chocolate isn’t used a lot in desserts or cakes – apart from churros con chocolate or just the use of Nutella spread on top.

The next reason why Spanish repostería (confectionery and pastry-making) is not as elaborate as other European countries is that many of the most traditional pastries, biscuits and cakes were invented by nuns in Spain. This partly explains why they are so simple and often use up left over ingredients such as eggs. The nuns didn’t want to make overly complicated puddings that would take up a lot of time in their busy day. If you go to Andalusia, you can still buy many of these traditional biscuits and cakes from the nuns themselves in working convents.

Traditional almond cookies that were made by nuns in Spain. Photo: Dioni Santidrian / Wikimedia Commons

Desserts in Spain may be slightly better than the cakes, but again there’s not a lot of variety or different flavours, most of them are custardy or creamy concoctions made with eggs and milk. These include arroz con leche – Spain’s version of rice pudding, which is arguably better than its UK counterpart and does also feature cinnamon, crema Catalana (like France’s crème brûlée) and flan (like crème caramel). Bienmesabe again, whether the Canarian or the Antequera versions are made with egg yolks and almonds. Flan is probably the most common option for a menú del día dessert all around the country and is rather uninspiring, when it comes to sweet treats. 

READ ALSO: Where can you get free tapas in Spain? 

Also, dessert can be even more simplified, for example a piece of fruit or a yoghurt is often offered as a pudding when it comes to the menús del día in Spain. As mentioned, fruit isn’t used much in desserts, it’s seen as a perfectly good dessert in itself. Why mush up a strawberry to put in Eton mess (an English pudding made with strawberries, cream and meringue), when you can have it in its purest form?

In fact, if you go to any of Spain’s big multicultural cities, it’s the international bakeries and dessert places which are the most popular, rather than the local ones. In Barcelona for example there’s the Swedish Manso’s Café, the Jewish-inspired Lady Babka and Demasié which offers American-style cinnamon buns and cookies.

There are of course exceptions, Baluard being one of the best Catalan-owned bakeries, but even here, breads and pastries and have a decidedly French taste to them.

Having said all that, sweet treats do tend to improve the further north you go – the Basque Country and Galicia being some of the best. Could this be to do with the influence from nearby France and Portugal?

Galicia produces arguably one of Spain’s best cakes, loved by almost all international residents and Spaniards alike – the tarta de Santiago.

Originating in the city of Santiago de Compostela, it’s a dense almond cake – similar to a frangipane or Bakewell tart minus the pastry and the jam.

Galicia’s tarta de Santiago is one of Spain’s best cakes. Photo: Katrin Gilger / Wikimedia Commons

The Basque Country too excels in its desserts more so than the rest of Spain. It’s baked burnt cheesecakes have become world famous. Again though, they’re very simple – they don’t have any fruit toppings or added flavours – they don’t even have a biscuit base like the New York counterparts.

They are, however, delicious and should be sampled whenever you find yourself in that part of Spain. La Viña in San Sebastián is often said to do the best Basque cheesecake in Spain and it’s not just about the hype, their cheesecakes really are that good.

Torrijas are another Basque exception, which are delicious. This is Spain’s version of French toast and is a thick slice of brioche style bread soaked in milk and egg and then deep fried. They’re often flavoured with cinnamon and lemon peel and are slightly caramelised.

But whether or not Spanish sweets and treats stack up against a British sticky toffee pudding, an American pumpkin pie or a French tarte tatin is entirely down to personal opinion.

What do you think? Are Spanish cakes and desserts better than some people think, or do you agree with this article? Have your say below in comments section.

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