Andalucia Impressions Eating out in Andalucía: typical dishes

I'm not even sure that an Anglo-Italian should be expressing an opinion on Spanish food but this is perhaps true of all these impressions.

First of all, whatever you eat is going to be a lot cheaper than in the north of Italy where you are unlikely to get change from €20 for a pizza and beer for two, yes, were talking about bread, tomato and cheese actually, does it have to be so expensive?

Here is a list of our favourites

Rabo de toro, oxtail
This slow cooked meat falls off the bone into the delicious sauce. A sort of stewed meat it is absolutely delicious and always tender. Available pretty much everywhere in Andalucía from Cadiz to Cordoba.

Carne de Retinto, Retinto beef

From a breed of cattle typical of Andalucía,  reared in the pastures in the sierras and forests of Cádiz, where they live freely feeding on a diet of grass, acorns, shrubs and branches. I'm not a great meat eater but this meat is spectacularly tender and full of flavour. I've eaten Angus but this is something else, the best sirloin steak I have ever eaten in Meson Casa Diego in Antequera.

Tortillita de camarones

Typical of Cadiz but available all over Andalucía it's a thin round fritter made of chickpea flour and tiny whole shrimps. Salty, fishy, crispy and totally irresistible, order one while you're deciding what else to eat, perfect with a caña.

Berenjenas con miel, fried aubergines with honey

A typical tapas but there are lots of different versions, all worth trying, there doesn't seem to be a standard recipe. Our favourites were in Meson Patio Andaluz in Arcos de la Frontera. A cascade of melt-in-the-mouth.

Callos, tripe

A typical stew of tripe with chickpeas or other beans available on most menus, warming filling and nourishing, a wholesome choice. 

Chipirones fritos - fried cuttlefish

Deep fried baby squid or very small cut­tle­fish, piping hot and freshly fried to order, crunchy and moreish, irresistible if you like fried fish.

Patatas bravas

Potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce in various different versions and available absolutely everywhere.

Mojama con almendras fritas

Mojama is salt-cured tuna sliced fine and served with fried salted almonds. This is a dangerous dish to try, while you may manage without mojama back home, fried salted almonds will sneak into your luggage and provoke intense cravings whenever you catch sight of the jar, and even more so when you have, sob, finished them.

Cazón en adobo, marinated dogfish

The fish is marinated and then deep-fried, so, rich, moist and tasty inside and salty and crunchy outside, resist it if you can.

Queso de cabra, goat cheese

Often fried and combined with honey in some way, once again no standard version but all worth trying.

Other tapas which are common in Andalucía:

Boquerones fritos - fried sardines

Albóndigas - meatballs, but also sometimes in fish or vegetable versions

Ensaladilla rusa - Russian salad, inexplicably popular!

Habas - baby broad beans, stewed, often with ham

Croquetas - croquettes of absolutely everything from potatoes to chicken to cheese