SHARE
COPY LINK
THE LOCAL LIST

GASTRONOMY

Six unmissable dishes from Toledo, Spain’s 2016 Capital of Gastronomy

Toledo has been chosen as Spain's Capital of Gastronomy for 2016 due to its "creative combination of cultural and gastronomical heritage". So what is so tasty about Toledo?

Six unmissable dishes from Toledo, Spain's 2016 Capital of Gastronomy
Photo: Alameda County Community Food Bank / Flickr

Headed to Toledo for the day? Beyond its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Toledo has a heap of great sweet and savoury bites to try. From intricate marzipan figures to hearty meat stews, Devour Spain gives the lowdown on what not to miss on a trip to Toledo.

Marzipan


Photo: Spanish Sabores.

Toledo is perhaps most famous for its marzipan. At Christmas time, shop windows fill up with elaborate almond paste figures including dragons and even a marzipan version of Toledo’s famous cathedral! With just almonds, sugar and eggs yolks, this sweet is really something special. Throughout the year, one of the most famous places to sample this delicacy is Confitería Santo Tome at Plaza de Zocodover, 7.

Saffron


Saffron comes from the stamens of the crocus flower. Photo: Dominique Faget / AFP

The bright red color and intense earthy flavor of saffron are famous throughout the culinary world. Toledo produces some of the best saffron around and is protected with a Denominación de Origen status. With small batch production and strict quality control guidelines, saffron from Toledo has an especially bright colour, and is perfect for making vibrant paellas and other Spanish dishes. Look for saffron labeled “DO Castilla La Mancha” at specialty shops throughout the city.

Venison


Photo: Spanish Sabores.

With its rugged terrain and extreme seasons, Toledo has a rich history of using game meats to prepare hearty stews. Ciervo en salsa or venison stew is a classic dish served in restaurants and homes throughout the region. Pieces of venison are slowly cooked with red wine and vegetables and flavored with rosemary and thyme.

Partridge Stew


A restaurant specializing in Toledo's famous dish. Photo: Antonio Marín Segovia / Flickr

Another excellent example of Toledo’s caza or game meat tradition is Perdiz a la Toledana. The local red partridges are simmered with thinly sliced onions, white wine and whole heads of garlic. The individual birds are then served with potatoes.

Sheep’s Milk Cheeses


Photo: Juse-Maria Moreno Garcia / Flickr

Queso de ovejaor aged sheep’s milk cheese is another typical and delicious product from Toledo. Look for unpasteurized cheeses with an almost flaky interior. In 2014 The World Cheese Awards included the sheep’s milk Queso de Toledo from the family-run Lordi Company, as one of the 62 best cheeses in the world. For a rustic Toledo meal, put together a picnic with some sheep’s milk cheese, a bit of jamón, a crunchy baguette and find a nice spot to look out over the Tajo River!

Carcamusas


Photo: Maurizio Manetti / Flickr

Before leaving Toledo, try a tapa of carcamusas for a warming, meaty bite! Made with slow cooked pork, peas, tomatoes and white wine, it’s perfect for a winter day. The stew is traditionally served in a small clay dish called a cazuela and is eaten with chunks of crusty bread. Try it like a local Toledano, standing up at the bar with a glass of red wine. A classic place to try carcamusas is at Bar Ludeña, Plaza Magdalena, 10.

Devour Spain was founded by Spanish food lovers as a way to connect hungry travellers with the local, family run businesses that make amazing food. Offering fun and delicious food tours and tapas tours in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville. Follow them on InstagramPinterestFacebook and Twitter for Spanish food news, tips and recipes.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

FOOD AND DRINK

Why do they pour cider like that in Spain’s Asturias?

The green northern region’s drink of choice is cider but it’s the method waiters have of pouring it from a great height that catches the attention of ‘out-ciders’.

Why do they pour cider like that in Spain's Asturias?

They say Asturian blood is 50 percent water and 50 percent cider, and given the 40 million bottles produced every year in the region, it doesn’t seem too hard to believe.

However, it’s the method of serving cider in Asturias which really captures the imagination. 

The bottle will either come attached to a contraption which sucks up the cider and splurts it into a wide but thin-rimmed glass.

Or the waiter will come out every few minutes to grab your bottle and glass, lift the former high up with one arm and the latter down low around waist height before pouring some of the cider into the glass from at an arm’s length. 

There’s even a verb for this action – escanciar – to decant.  

The objective is for the cider to be shaken and aerated so that its natural carbon dioxide ‘awakens’.

When it is poured from above and hits the glass, carbon dioxide bubbles are produced that make the aroma of the cider come alive.

It’s good and normal for there to be splashback when pouring Asturian cider, but the aim is still to get most of it in the glass. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

These bubbles go away quickly so once served, the customer should quickly drink the culín (small bottom) up in one swig. 

The action of escanciar imitates how cider would be traditionally served when it went directly from big oak barrels to the glass, as cider has been the drink of choice in Asturians since before Roman times. 

READ ALSO: Why Spaniards’ habit of drinking alcohol every day is surprisingly healthy

This is after all natural cider which doesn’t come with the sugar, additives and pre-carbonated mixes of brands such as Strongbow, Magners or Kopparberg.

“It took me some time to get the hang of pouring cider, I missed the mark a lot, and my arm used to get very tired at first,” a Latin American waitress at a bar in Gijón told The Local Spain. 

Many sidrerías (cider houses) and restaurants have cylindrical tubes on wheels where escanciadores (the waiters in charge of pouring cider) can put the glass in to avoid making a mess on the floor or splashing customers, as there is always some splatter even if they don’t completely miss the mark. 

A waiter pours cider for customers at a cider bar in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo (Photo by RAFA RIVAS / AFP)

The more old-school chigres (cider house in Asturian) prefer to have sawdust all over the floor to absorb the spilt cider.

To pour, tirar (throw) or escanciar (decant) cider like an Asturian, you should tilt the bottle slowly from above and aim for the cider to hit the top part of the inside side of the glass, which has to be held at a 45-degree angle. It’s this that brings out the effervescence out in la sidra natural.  

So when you visit the beautiful region of Asturias and you tuck into their famously ample servings of fabada asturiana (Asturian bean stew) or cachopo (meat, cheese and ham all together in breadcrumbs), washed down with one or two bottles of sidra, now you’ll understand what’s behind this eye-catching tradition.

READ ALSO: Eight fascinating facts about Spain’s Asturias region

SHOW COMMENTS