Spain Food Nation

Mar 09 2023

GREAT BRITISH CHEFS - The ultimate foodie guide to Andalusia

Spain's southernmost region Andalusia is home to diverse landscapes, vibrant cities and fantastic food and drink. Here, we take a closer look at a stunning area

Published in GREAT BRITISH CHEFS

FEATURES

As Spain's most southerly region, Andalusia is known for its warm climate, long coastline – boasting some of the most popular beaches in Europe – and Moorish architecture. It is home to cities including Seville, Cordoba, Málaga and Granada, and is the birthplace of flamenco music and dance.

(...) The size of the region means its variety when it comes to food and drink is not a surprise, with fantastic seafood and excellent produce. Many of its dishes use some of the best olive oil in the world. Ansalusia is home to thirteen different protected geographical areas producing extra virgin olive oil (...)

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The Ultimate Foodie Guide to Andalusia - Spain’s southernmost region of Andalusia is known for its stunning landscapes, busy cities and vibrant flamenco. But, from olive oil to seafood, it is also rich with world-class produce. We explore a region with an exceptional natural larder.

(...) Andalusians are renowned deep-fryers. Most famous are the pescadito, tiny fried fish, of Cádiz, and across Spain fritura andaluza means a variety of seafood simply dipped in flour and skilfully deep-fried using good quality oil. Equally famous dishes from the hottest region in Spain are the cold soups, including gazpacho, salmorejo from Córdoba and ajoblanco from Málaga and Granada (...)

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Ingredient Focus: Wild Almadraba Bluefin Tuna - The Spanish town of Barbate in Cádiz is famed for its bluefin tuna, caught using the unique almadraba method, which ensures meat of the highest quality. Rachel McCormack travels to Cádiz to find out more.

(...) Both the city and the province of Cádiz are the geographical link between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and one of its most important industries, recorded even before the arrival of the Phoenicians, has been the capture and processing of Atlantic bluefin tuna. This bluefin tuna lives in the Eastern Atlantic but returns to the Mediterranean to spawn in May and June and passes through the Cádiz coastal waters. This is the moment that the tuna are in peak condition and when they are caught in Cádiz (...)

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Ingredient Focus: Wild Almadraba Bluefin Tuna

The Wine Regions of Spain: Málaga - Rachel McCormack visits a vineyard in Málaga’s Axarquía mountains to learn more about its award-winning sweet wine and the history of such a thriving wine region.

(...) The vineyards here are on land that is so steep that all the grapes have to be picked and carried by hand. ‘You can’t even get a donkey down there,’ he says, pointing to a vineyard on a slope that would give a black run on a ski resort envy. ‘The pickers have to load their grapes onto their backs and transport them, so our grapes are very precious.’ The grape is Moscatel de Alejandría (Alexandria Muscat), one of two grapes permitted to make Málaga wine (...)

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Dani Carnero, Chef at Kaleja - Dani Carnero began his career working in some of Spain’s greatest kitchens, including under Ferran Adrià at El Bulli and has since gone on to open a number of restaurants of his own in Málaga, including the Michelin-starred Kaleja. There, he aims to showcase the traditional cookery style of Málaga, using the exquisite local produce to do so.

(...) With Kaleja, Dani wants diners to experience the traditional Málaga that, until recently, had been almost forgotten. The cooking is long and slow and often done directly on fire or its embers. Dani calls it candela cooking, explaining that it’s a very Málagan tradition (...)

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The Ultimate Málaga Food Guide - The food and drink culture in Málaga has blossomed over the last two decades and today it is home to vibrant restaurants and tapas bars and excellent local produce. Rachel McCormack visits the city to find out more.

(...) While meat from across Spain is available in Málaga’s restaurants, one of the specialities of the province is the highly-prized goat meat from the native Málaga breed. Its milk is used for high quality cheeses, including El Albarejo and El Pastor Del Valle. Like most of the rest of Andalusia, ham and other pork charcuterie is highly regarded in Málaga, with protected designation of origin (PDO) ham from Trevélez in Granada, Iberico ham from PDO Jabugo, and other PDO pork products from across Spain taking pride of place (...)

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RECIPES

Moraga de sardina - In this recipe from Dani Carnero, fresh sardines are cooked on Spanish pan de aceite, and served with a side of sweet onion broth, macerated tomatoes and an oyster water foam. This recipe tastes best cooked over an open fire, but can also be replicated using a grill.

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Pickled leeks with chicken wing schmaltz - This leek dish from Malaga-based chef Dani Carnero consists of lightly pickled leeks served on top of smoky, paprika-infused schmaltz and garnished with labneh. Try and get the highest quality chicken wings you can for this - their fat will have a much better flavour.

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Buttered raw squid with lime - In this delicate starter dish from chef Dani Carnero, raw squid is mixed with melted butter and lime juice, and served garnished with a sliver of caper berry. Make sure to use extremely fresh squid, as it will be eaten raw.

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Maimones - This recipe by chef Dani Carnero is inspired by a garlic and bread soup from Malaga called maimones. The broth is cooked very slowly over embers in the restaurant for at least 24 hours. At home, just cook it for as long as you can.

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Flame-roasted peppers - This extremely simple recipe from Spanish Malaga-based chef Dani Carnero simply combines roasted red peppers, egg yolks and olive oil. The cooking at Carnero's restaurant is all done over live fire, and roasting these peppers over a wood fire gives the whole dish a delicious extra dimension.

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