Spain Food Nation

Dec 11 2022

GREAT BRITISH CHEFS - The Complete Foodie Guide to La Rioja and Navarra

Despite being two of Spain’s smallest provinces, both La Rioja and Navarra have a rich food and wine heritage and their capitals in particular should be high up the list of places for a foodie to visit in Spain. We take a closer look at the produce and culinary traditions of these two Northern Spanish regions.

Published in GREAT BRITISH CHEFS

FEATURES

The northern autonomous regions of La Rioja and Navarra are two of Spain's smallest yet they still have a huge amount to offer by way of incredible tapas and world-famous wine.

(...) Navarra and its next-door neighbour the Rioja region are two of Spain’s smallest provinces and form a cultural and climatic bridge between the coastal areas and the heart of Spanish Castille. These landlocked regions are famous for both their culture and produce the world over; Pamplona’s San Fermin festival, immortalised in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, continues to be a massive draw for people around the world and the Rioja region is so famous for its wine that for many across the world until recently Spanish wine was Riojan (...)

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Logroño - A tapas-lover's paradise - The capital of La Rioja, Logroño, has wine production at its core. However, its tapas scene is equally impressive.

(...) The most famous place for food for visitors and Logroñéses alike is the Calle Laurel. A street full of tapas bars all serving tiny menus advertised on the outside of the bar, people have a small glass of Rioja wine and a tapa mostly standing outside leaning on a tall table, before moving on to the next spot. Calle Laurel is busy every night of the week but a Saturday night at the Laurel really should be on every foodie’s bucket list. The street is packed with people of all ages eating tiny tapas, each place having their own speciality (...)

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The Wine Regions of Spain: La Rioja - One of Spain’s most famous wine regions, La Rioja may be best known for producing red wines but it’s also increasingly earning a reputation for its whites.

(...) The most famous place for food for visitors and Logroñeses alike is the Calle Laurel. A street full of tapas bars all serving tiny menus advertised on the outside of the bar, people have a small glass of Rioja wine and a tapa mostly standing outside leaning on a tall table, before moving on to the next spot. Calle Laurel is busy every night of the week but a Saturday night at the Laurel really should be on every foodie’s bucket list. The street is packed with people of all ages eating tiny tapas, each place having their own speciality (...)

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Ingredient Focus: Piquillo Peppers - Piquillo peppers may be sold in jars across the whole of Spain, yet the majority of them hail from the small town of Lodosa in Navarra

(...) Named piquillo after the small turned up point at the end of the pepper, piquillo peppers from Lodosa have had a geographic protection since 1986 which, as the current head of the PDO of piquillo pepper from Lodosa, farmer Jesus Aguirre explains, is a guarantee of quality for the end consumer. ‘Each pepper we pick’ he says standing in the middle of a field of mid-thigh height piquillo plants, ‘has to be a certain shape, colour and size or it doesn’t qualify as a piquillo from Lodosa.(...)

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RECIPES

Piquillo Peppers with Black Pudding and Rice Recipe - The famous Spanish piquillo peppers are perfect stuffed with a mixture of black pudding, tomatoes and paella rice. Piquillo peppers are very mild and have a slightly smoky flavour, as they are roasted before being skinned, so don't worry about them being too hot.

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Pochas with clams - Pochas are an immature green-white bean popular in Rioja, Navarre and the Basque Country. This warming stew is one of the most popular ways to enjoy them in Rioja - braised with seafood and chorizo.

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Menestra - Menestra, or menestra de verduras, is a light, comforting Spanish Serrano or Iberico ham and vegetable stew popular in La Rioja and Navarra. It is a very flexible dish and can be made with any vegetables that are in season, so feel free to swap out the veg depending on what you have in.

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Lamb chops with rosemary and roasted grapes - A nod to the Spanish tradition of cooking lamb chops over burning grape vines, this quick dish combines fried lamb chops with roasted red grapes for pops of sweet flavour. They would pair beautifully with roast potatoes or simply some crusty bread.

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Rioja poached pears and blackberries with bay leaf custard - This is a simple twist on the classic dessert of pears poached in spiced red wine using Rioja, in season blackberries and a bay-infused custard.

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