“¿Un poco de sidra, señor?” The waiter lifts the bottle to head-level and a stream of cider, smelling of freshly pressed apples, splashes into the glass he holds in the other hand. Already on the table are the platters of sizzling chorizo, the slabs of blue cabrales cheese, the plates of brine-cured ham …
Each of Spain’s 17 “autonomous communities” has its own distinctive eating habits but some, you might say, are more distinctive than others. The region of Asturias, tucked between Galicia and Cantabria on the north coast, has a reputation in Spain for simple, hearty eating and, above all, for its fabulous raw materials – notably fish from its rich Atlantic waters, vegetables from its well-watered gardens, and cheese and meat from its lush mountain pastures.
Traditional Asturian cooking has its roots in the landscape of this still predominantly agricultural community. Take fabada, Asturias’ signature dish and an edible symbol of the region. Pork and beans: nothing could be simpler, yet there’s more to this glorious dish than meets the eye. For a start, the legumes in question are not just any old bean, but fabes, the big white bean you’ll see growing in vegetable patches all over the principality, whose thin skin (meaning greater digestibility) and creamy texture are without rival. The meats used are Asturian morcilla and chorizo, traditionally smoked to aid conservation in this damp northern climate, and a good chunk of bacon. A pinch of saffron, and hours of unhurried simmering. It sounds simple, but fabada is a great deal more than the sum of its parts.
Fabada, Asturias’ signature dish
It also stands or falls, like any number of Asturian dishes, on the freshness and quality of its ingredients. Pitu de caleya, a casseroled chicken like a Spanish version of coq au vin, is only worth making with a rooster that has lived and pecked happily in the open air. Arroz con leche, the classic local take on rice pudding, wouldn’t be the same without full-cream fresh milk from the dairy cows that live like queens on Asturias’ rolling pastureland. To be truly authentic, pixin frito – fried monkfish chunks – needs fish that has been landed just that morning – but the superlative quality of Asturian seafood in general is par for the course. Seaside restaurants such as Güeyu Mar (behind the beach at Playa de Vega) and El Rompeolas in Tazones specialise in wild, line-caught fish, confirming this coastal strip as one of the prime seafood destinations in the whole of Spain.
Proper Asturian food is nothing if not democratic: there’s good eating to be done here at every price-level and moment of the day. If it’s innovative modern cuisine you’re after, the region has a total of eight Michelin stars of which its best restaurant, Casa Marcial, in Parres, has two. Here, chef and owner Nacho Manzano has taken his childhood home – yes, the house he actually grew up in – and converted it into a temple of new Asturian cuisine, where tradition and outstanding local produce happily coexist with the chef’s up-to-date culinary sensibility. On the long menu here, ham croquetas and llámpares a la sidra (limpets cooked in cider) jostle with innovative creations such as fabes roxes (red beans) with beef and olives, or sea anemones with nettles, lambs’ brains and fennel purée.
At Casa Marcial, chef Nacho Manzano combines tradition with innovative creations
Several rungs down from these lofty heights are the traditional eating-houses where you might find rib-sticking regional classics such as pote asturiano (a take-no-prisoners stew of cabbage, beans and mixed meats) and arroz con leche on the daily menu. Then come the cider-houses with their typical range of raciones – cheeses, chorizo in cider, pixin – and the rural tiendas-bar (grocery shops that also serve drinks) where you might want to pop in for a slice of ham and a beer. The tapas habit is as big as anywhere in Spain, and if fabada is the Sunday-lunch special among Asturian dishes, the cachopo, a tender slice of fillet steak filled with ham and cheese, bread-crumbed and fried in olive oil, is the universal choice for laid-back snacking at any time of day or night.
And if there’s one thing that unites asturianos of all ages and conditions, it’s a sweet tooth. Among the universe of pastries and confectionaries, some, like the popular casadielles, a sugary mini-turnover stuffed with walnut paste, can be found in all good confiterias. But every town and city has its speciality, from the carbayones of Oviedo (almond paste in puff pastry), to the charlotas of Gijón (cherry and chocolate sponge) and the letizias of Ribadesella. This last is a buttery biscuit named after Queen Letizia of Spain, who was born in Oviedo and became Princess of Asturias after marrying the heir to the Spanish throne, King Felipe VI.
The butter in those biscuits is bound to be local, because Asturias is dairy central. The verdant pastures of the principality are the source of the milk that half of Spain consumes in its café con leche, but the region’s true pride and joy are its cheeses. With an estimated 40 different types produced within its borders, four of which have Denominación de Origen Protegida status, few places in the world can boast such a variety over such a modest surface area. Highlights are Gamonéu (a crumbly raw-milk blue cheese of superb quality) and Afuega’l Pitu (creamy with a kick of piquancy; the name means something like “fires in the throat”), but the king of Asturian cheeses is surely Cabrales. Hailing from the Picos de Europa where it’s aged in damp caves, this veined blue cow’s-milk cheese is certainly a match for roquefort and stilton – and might be stronger-smelling than either.
What should you drink with a good cabrales? This powerful cheese poses a challenge for would-be wine matchers, but luckily Asturias has the perfect accompaniment, and it happens to be another iconic local product. La sidra is central to the lifestyle of a region where apple orchards replace vineyards and sidrerías are the equivalent of wineries, but with rustic restaurants attached.
Sidra, poured escanciado
For a full-on experience of local fermented-apple culture at its height, it’s worth spending an evening on the cider-crazy Calle Gascona in Oviedo. But nowhere in Asturias are you very far from a sidreria.
The cider-house rules are the same wherever you go. Rule one: let your waiter do the serving, unless you fancy your prowess in the art of escanciado (cider pouring). Rule two: order a cachopo, a bowl of fresh clams and some cheese to go with it. And rule three: be sure to gulp the cider down in one, leaving a little in the bottom of the glass, which you should tip out on the floor or into the receptacle provided. The practice is thought to derive from the Celtic belief in giving something back to Mother Nature – but it might just as well be a tribute to Asturias itself, the generous provider of all this deliciousness.
Hungry? Find out more about the region’s famous food and drink at Tourism Asturias
