What to eat Andalusia? culinary specialties and gastronomy

As in the rest of Spain, tapas play a key role in Andalusian cuisine. This region shares with Extremadura the production of much of what we call jamón ibérico, which is also produced in southern Portugal. The term is broad, and includes many specialties, including the jamón known as "pata negra", whose name refers to the color of the hooves of Iberian pigs, which are black. There are three qualities. Bellota corresponds to free-range pigs that feed mainly on acorns, producing the most prized ham. Recebo pigs are semi-free-range and eat grass, acorns and cereals. Finally, cebo pigs are fed exclusively on cereals. In Spain, there are four Denominations of Origin (DO) for jamón ibérico: Jamón de Jabugo, Jamón de Guijuelo, Dehesa de Extremadura and Los Pedroches. Jamón serrano is a mountain ham, serrano referring to the Sierra Nevada mountain range that crosses southeastern Andalusia. The most highly prized is Jamón Serrano de Trevélez, produced in a town at over 1,700 m altitude, where the very dry mountain air ensures optimal maturation of the hams, which are hung in secadores for between 6 and 12 months.

Other embutidos - meaning " cured meats " - can also be found in Andalusia, such as the unmissable chorizo and salchichón. But also morcón, a thick sausage flavored with garlic and paprika. Lomo embuchado, with its low fat content, is similar to cured filet mignon. Zurrapa de lomo is a little like our rillettes, but flavored with pimentón, which gives a bright orange color to the layer of lard that Spaniards love to spread on bread. Among the cheeses on offer are a variety of mountain cheeses (from the sierras of Almería, Granada, Ronda and Grazalema), mainly from goat and sheep. Most come in the form of large, round tommes. Around Jaén, there's an excellent curado cheese with an interior soaked in olive oil. Other cold tapas include simple ingredients such as olives(aceitunas), anchovies(boquerones) or peppers(pimientos) marinated in olive oil.

Hot tapas include some interesting Andalusian specialties such as chicharrones, small cubes of fried pork bacon. Albondigas a la andaluza are beef balls in tomato sauce. You can also try croquetas de jamón, small breaded dumplings filled with cured ham - serrano or ibérico. Espinacas con garbanzos are simply a tasty mixture of spinach and chickpeas preserved in olive oil and garlic. Finally, boquerones fritos (fried anchovies) are always served with a wedge of lemon.

Andalusia is Spain's second largest autonomous community. While many of the region's most popular specialties are found here, such as gazpacho, the famous cold vegetable soup, the diversity of its landscapes offers a wide range of regional cuisines within Andalusia itself.

The province of Almería, for example, is famous for its enormous Garrucha prawns, often cited as one of the world's best shrimps. Many simple but tasty dishes are prepared here, such as olla de trigo (a stew of chickpeas and wheat topped with meat) or gurullos de Almería (small pasta shaped like grains of rice, flavored with saffron and served with rabbit). On the Atlantic side, the Province of Cadiz offers an almost unlimited choice. Almejas a la marinera (clams in tomato sauce), tortillitas des camarones (fried shrimp cakes), puntillitas fritas (fried baby squid), berza gaditana (white bean, vegetable and sausage stew) or riñones al jerez (kidneys in sherry) are common Cadiz dishes. The more mountainous Province of Cordoba offers a wide variety of meat and vegetable dishes. Salmorejo (thick gazpacho with chunks of cured ham) is surely Cordoba's best-known specialty. Other recipes include rabo de toro (bull's tail preserved in a wine sauce), cordero a la miel (lamb in honey sauce) or flamenquín (breaded ham roll stuffed with cheese, usually served with French fries). While the province of Granada boasts some of Spain's highest peaks, it also stretches to the edge of the Mediterranean, offering a wide variety of dishes. Plato alpujarreño (a mixed dish of sausages, chorizo, grilled black pudding and potatoes), truchas rellanas de jamón (grilled trout stuffed with cured ham) and tortilla de Sacromonte (giblet omelette) are typical of Sierra Nevada cuisine.Ajoblanco (cold soup with garlic and almonds) is a very popular starter. Completely ocean-facing, the Province of Huelva boasts some fine seafood specialties, including the highly prized Huelva white prawns . You can also enjoy arroz caldoso marinero (rice served with a rich seafood broth) or chocos con habas (cuttlefish with broad beans). Crossed by the Guadalquivir River, the Province of Jaén offers specialties similar to Castilian cuisine. These include carne de monte en adobo (wild boar in sauce), morcilla de Jaén (a sausage similar to black pudding, often grilled) and perdiz escabechada (partridge in a vinegar and vegetable sauce). Stretching along the Mediterranean, the province of Málaga offers many fish and seafood specialties, such as fritura malagueña (a mixed fried dish) or cazuela de fideos (a seafood and pasta broth). Other more rustic dishes include puchero (a kind of stew with chickpeas) or callos a la malagueña (tripe in tomato sauce). The province of Seville is the largest and most populous in Andalusia. Popular starters include huevos a la flamenca (boiled eggs with chorizo and cured ham) or revueltos de espárragos (scrambled eggs with asparagus). Ternera a la sevillana (veal in olive sauce) or cocido (chickpea stew with chorizo and cured ham) are popular main courses.

Many traditional Andalusian sweets and desserts come in the form of cookies and doughnuts. Among the best-known specialties are piñonates, small balls of dough made with almonds, sesame seeds and pine nuts, and mantecados de Estepa, shortbread cookies flavored with cinnamon, lemon zest or even cocoa. Closely related to these are polvorones with almonds, also from the Seville region. The lard gives them a very crumbly texture, hence their name: polvo, which means "dust". Roscos de Loja are shaped like rings and generously coated with a white glaze. From the Seville region, Utrera mostachones are soft lemon cookies. Other more substantial sweets include bizcochos borrachos (a kind of baba), torrijas (cinnamon French toast), dulce de membrillo (quince paste), cortadillos de cidra (crumbly cookies with lemon filling) and tocinillo de cielo (egg and caramel pudding). Pan de Càdiz is a nourishing confection made with candied fruit and marzipan. And let's not forget churros. In Spain, it's common to have thick hot chocolatewith churros for breakfast.

Many specialties are also served during religious holidays, such as roscos fritos, crown-shaped sugar-coated doughnuts eaten during Holy Week. Or pestiños, deep-fried tubes of dough flavored with sesame and soaked in honey, generally prepared for Christmas and Easter. Some cookies and other pastries can be purchased in Andalusian convents. This tradition dates back to the Middle Ages, when winegrowers used egg whites to clarify their wines. They then donated the egg yolks to convents. In exchange, the nuns would make pastries that they would sell on. These included yemas de San Leandro, soft almond cookies made at the convent in Seville. In the same city, you can find Santa Inés bollitos, flavored with sesame seeds. Note that some congregations have taken a vow of isolation and are not in contact with the outside world. To buy the pastries, you have to use a torno, a kind of pass-through to place your order. You deposit your money, and in exchange, the door turns with the pastries, without your meeting the sisters' eyes.

For eight centuries, the Moorish occupation of the peninsula left an indelible cultural mark. Although the Christian reconquest was gradually organized, Andalusia was by far the region most marked by this period, its name coming from the Arabic Al-Andalus. It was the very last region in Spain to be recaptured during the Reconquista, which ended with the fall of the Emirate of Granada in 1492.

This cultural imprint is of course reflected in the cuisine, starting with the introduction of new products. Many Spanish recipes today contain ingredients such as saffron, apricots, artichokes, carob, eggplant, grapefruit, almonds, carrots, coriander and rice. Most of these foods originated in Asia or the Middle East. The introduction of sugar cane, originally from India, by the Arabs was to radically change the concept of desserts in Spain and, more broadly, in Europe.

What's more, the Arabs had mastered irrigation techniques in arid zones, and introduced them to Spain, modernizing cultivation and improving fruit and vegetable yields. Certain preservation techniques were also refined, such as the salting of fish, particularly tuna, known in Spain as mojama, but derived from the Arabic musama. This salt-cured fish, still eaten today, is cut into very thin strips and served as tapas with olive oil. Another Moorish invention is fish fried in a thin coating of flour. The use of vinegar to preserve foodstuffs is still common today, for example with anchovies or boquerones en vinagre.

Many recipes still bear this influence, notably the sobriquet " moruno " (Moorish), such as pinchitos morunos, marinated chicken kebabs with saffron, cumin and coriander, cordero a la moruna, a leg of lamb with dried fruit and cinnamon. Or sopa moruna, a spicy chickpea and lamb soup reminiscent of North African chorba.

While there's no doubt that Spain holds a central position among olive oil producers, we don't always realize that this country alone controls half the world's production of the precious liquid. And Andalusia supplies over 75% of the olive oil produced in Spain. In short, a single Spanish region produces more than a third of the world's olive oil!

The province of Jaén is the largest production region, and its oils are often considered the best in the world. There are no fewer than 14 Denominación de Origen Protegida production areas in Andalusia, almost as many as all the other regions of Spain combined: Antequera, Baena, Campiñas de Jaén, Estepa, Jaén Sierra Sur, Lucena, Montes de Granada Montoro-Adamuz, Poniente de Granada, Priego de Córdoba, Sierra de Cádiz, Sierra de Cazorla, Sierra de Segura and Sierra Mágina. The towns of Úbeda and Baeza are packed with stores selling top-quality olive oils, and there's even a Museum of Olive Culture on the outskirts of Baeza. The town of Martos, known as the "olive orchard of Spain", has its own variety of olive called marteña, from which Picual oil is produced. The town also hosts the Olive Festival on December 8. Other Andalusian varieties include verdial andhojiblanca.

Olives ripen between November and February. They are traditionally picked with a stick, using a technique known as vareo, which involves beating the branches to remove the ripest olives. Today, machines replace the stick and vibrate the trunks, allowing the olives to fall off on their own. The olives are then collected in a net and fed into a press. The puréed pulp and pits are passed through a centrifuge to separate the oil from the pomace, which remains in the drum. Heat helps to extract the oil, but also alters it, which is why the term " first cold pressing " is used for quality oils. Andalusia also produces a very rare and therefore very expensive olive oil called " flor de aceite ", where the oil is not pressed or centrifuged, but flows naturally from the pomace by gravity alone. The yield is very low, but this technique preserves all the aromas, fatty acids and vitamins.

If there's one wine that's inextricably linked with Andalusia, it's sherry, or Jerez in Spanish. Originally from the province of Cadiz, this wine takes its name, of Arabic origin, from the town of Jerez de la Frontera. After the period from Antiquity to the Middle Ages, during which the wine was produced in the classical manner, production shifted to a more complex fermentation process, the result of which would appeal to customers in Northern Europe. The wines were exported in even greater quantities from the ^18th century onwards, under the impetus of British merchants who named the beverage sherry, as they were unable to pronounce " jerez ". Limestone, clay and sand provide ideal conditions for the vineyards, not to mention the climatic conditions of this area bordering the Atlantic, which is both very hot and humid thanks to the winds brought in by the ocean. The three grape varieties used are pedro-ximénez, moscatel and palomino. Fermentation is classic, but the barrels are not completely filled, as once fermentation is complete, it is fortified to 15.5% with neutral brandy. The final process, solera, involves blending young wines with older ones, to homogenize production. From the driest to the sweetest, sherry wines cover a wide spectrum, including Finos and Manzanillas with delicate, fine aromas, while Olorosos present a more pronounced aromatic profile.

There are, of course, many other famous Andalusian wines, such as Moscatel from Málaga, Montilla-Moriles from Cordoba and Condado from Huelva, which is produced between the Guadalquivir and the border with Portugal. Otherwise, chances are you'll go for a Rioja, if you're asking for a red, or a Ribera del Duero if you want a white. The tinto de verano, made with red wine, lemonade and lemon, served chilled, is the perfect summer cocktail. Last but not least, mosto is a grape juice that is not fully fermented, and is perfect as an aperitif with a few ice cubes and a slice of orange. Thanks to its sugarcane-growing climate, Andalusia has a small rum production. One of the leading breweries, Ron Montero, was founded in 1963 in the Motril region between Granada and Malaga.