Spanish food  - Andalucia Food
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Spanish food  - Spanish food  - Andalucia Food

Spanish food - Andalucia

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Andalucia has a varied habitat. The area around Jerez is dominated by sherry bodegas, and sherry is not only enjoyed as a drink but is used to flavour dishes such as rinones al jerez (kidneys in sherry). Just an hours drive from the beaches we arrive at seemingly endless olive groves. Olive oil is used extensively in Andalucian cooking, and marinated green olives are a favourite apéritif. Driving a little further we reach the mountains of Huelva, where the renowned Jabugo hams are cured.

Gazpacho


The famous chilled soup gazpacho is ideally suited to the heat of the Andalucian summer. It is made from breadcrumbs and pureed summer vegetables, usually tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers and flavored with garlic, vinegar, olive oil and seasoning. Traditionally ground with a pestle and mortar and left to chill in the cellar, today the hand blender and refrigerator makes life that bit easier. The oil gives the soup a thick creamy texture, and the gazpacho is commonly eaten with toasted bread. A variation on the gazpacho is solmorejo from Cordoba, another chilled soup where diced tomatoes is the sole vegetable used. Ajo blanco is another cold soup from Malaga which is made from breadcrumbs pureed garlic, oil vinegar and seasoning.

Rabo de toro (bull's tail)


One of the Andalucia's best known dishes is rabo del toro, bulls tail with a tomato based sauce found in Cordoba. Moorish influences can be seen in dishes like pinchos, lamb kebabs. It is also evident through the use of nuts or dried fruit in savory dishes like calderetas, a lamb stew with almonds, or cordera a la moruna, a lamb dish with raisins and favored with cinnamon and cumin. Away from the coast we can find game based dishes, such as perdices rellanas, stuffed partridge filled with a serrano ham, anchovy and bread stuffing. Serrano ham is also used with croquettes, a popular tapa. For the adventurous sacromonte is a omelette dish from Granada that contains sweetbreads and red peppers, and is said to have gypsy origins.

Cazuela Malaguena

Unsurprisingly with a coastline taking in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and stretching over 800 kilometers, Andalucia has a strong tradition of seafood. In the Costa del Sol fresh sardines, skewered and grilled over a fire, are sold along the beachfront. A popular tapa found all over Andalucia is pescaditos, anchovies and other tiny fish which are coated in batter and deep fried. Cazuela malaguena is a soup from Malaga made from clams and fideos, a Spanish noodle similar to vermicelli. Remojon is a Lenten salad from the north of the province made from salted cod, oranges and olives.

Mojama

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Mojama is a exquisite delicacy found in the Costa de Luz that is yet another culinary legacy of the Moors. Fresh tuna is cut into strips, rubbed in salt and left to dry in the sun. The winds coming off the coast in the Costa del Luz aids the drying process. When cured, the mojama has a dark reddish colour. Many Spaniards eat mojama sliced thinly, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and left to marinate for an hour. The addition of some tomato, toasted almonds, crusty bread and a glass of wine make for a simple but very tasty dish. It can also be cubed and added to a green salad or grated over a plate of spaghetti and dressed with a little olive oil. A quick simple snack is to toast some bread (barra or baguette) rub very lightly with garlic, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with a thin slice of mojama.

Polvorones


One of the more quaint aspects of Andalucian cuisine is the many convent pastry shops that sell confectionery to the public. The tradition arose from charitable donations off egg yolks made to the nuns by sherry bodegas, who used the egg whites to clarify the wine. Although not as numerous as in bygone years, these nunnery bakeries still number around fifty in the province. The most famous of these, San Leandro in Seville, sells delicious yemas made from egg yolk to a 400 year old recipe. Santa Ines, also in Seville, sells bollitos de Santa Ines, a sweet pastry ball. There are other convents at Ronda, Moron de la Frontera, Alcala de Guadaira and Bormujos. Some of the nunneries are closed orders, forbidden contact with the public. In these the nun fulfills the order hidden behind a wooden revolving door on which the money is placed and the pastries received. Their products are particularly in demand at Easter and Christmas time, when polvorones (dry shortbread) and mantecado (lard cakes) are traditionally eaten.

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Ajo Blanco (White Garlic Soup)
 
Spanish recipes Ajo Blanco (White Garlic Soup)
 
Spanish food recipes  Ajo Blanco (White Garlic Soup)
 
Spanish food - Ajo Blanco (White Garlic Soup)