Eating Out in Granada

Eating out in Granada is a wonderful, eclectic experience

There is a great variety of local dishes on offer in Granada's restaurants - some of which you will come across practically wherever you eat, others take a bit more work but are well worth looking out for. Some of the recipes featured below are those that you can learn how to prepare on our Spanish Cookery Class, which is available either in the beautiful Lecrín Valley or in downtown Granada.

   

Tapas – a great Spanish invention

What was the inspiration for the custom of serving a snack with every drink you order in a bar or café? – The word tapa literally means "a lid". Peasants going out to toil in the fields would take with them a jug of wine sealed by a piece of bread on which would be a slice of cheese or ham, covered by muslin. This food became known as the tapa, and since peasants also frequented bars the practice caught on there, and since Granada is home to over 60,000 students the idea of charging for the tapa is unthinkable! Hence, free tapas in Granada.

In Spanish the verb to tapear means to spend an evening going from bar to bar trying out the tapas in each – and very pleasant it is, too. Depending on where you frequent you may find that the emphasis is on quantity (thick bocadillos and roscas of ham and cheese, chips on the side, is a favourite of bars catering to the university students) or quality, sometimes both, and occasionally neither. Some establishments allow you to choose ( – often only a few choices per group, so allegiances must be formed with your drinking partners as to which tapa you want to order), but the general rule is to serve one particular tapa with each round of drinks, the quality escalating as an incentive to stay there all evening. Join us on a Tapas Tour and you will discover exactly what we are talking about! It's not only a great way to see Granada at night, you will also pick up many useful ideas and suggestions for the rest of your stay in Granada.

Some of the tapas you may encounter in Granada are:

• Albóndigas – Meat balls (pork, breadcrumbs and herbs) often in a tomato sauce
• Aceitunas – Olives, of which there are all sorts.
• Boquerones – Marinated fillets of minnow-size fish (literally "big mouthfuls")
• Berenjenas – Lightly-fried slices of aubergine, often served with molasses
• Calamares – Fried squid rings – and a slice of lemon
• Caracoles – Spicy snails! A speciality of bars in the Albaicín area
• Chorizo – Pork sausage flavoured with paprika & spices
• Gambas – Prawns - often fried in garlic (al ajillo)
• Jamón – Ham, king of the tapa, usually slices of mountain-cured jamón serrano
• Lomo – Pork loin, prince of the tapa.
• Migas – Quintessential peasant food: fried breadcrumbs with left-overs.
• Morcilla – Black pudding, Spanish-style
• Patatas pobre – Slow-fried potatoes with green peppers - from the Alpujarra
• Pinchitos – Kebab skewers of pork or lamb
• Piquillos – Red peppers, often stuffed with cod (relleno de bacalao)
• Pisto – Stew of tomatoes, peppers, aubergine, courgettes
• Salchichón – Cured sausage
• Tortilla – The famous Spanish omelette: eggs, potatoes and onions

Granada’s cuisine: as varied as the province itself

The variety of local cuisine in Granada and its province is attributable to two principal factors. One is the huge range of food grown in the many different climatic zones of the province. From the terraced fields of the high Alpujarra to the Tropical Coast, Granada has something of everything. Wheat, olives, almonds, mountain-cured hams and meats, market garden vegetables, cherries, apricots, apples, sugar cane, avocadoes and all manner of tropical fruits are grown here; goats, sheep, poultry and pigs provide fresh meat; and the Mediterranean yields a large array of fresh fish and seafood.

The other key influence in the rich diversity of Granada's cooking is the region's long-lived contact with the Arab world. Indeed, many of the crops cultivated in the area owe their existence on Spanish (and European) soil to the more than seven centuries of Moorish dominion. Among those brought from the Middle East and North Africa were rice, sugar cane, figs, dates, almonds, apricots, lemons and oranges (- the bitter variety, known as "Seville Oranges"; the sweet variety were only introduced into Spain in the 16th century, from China), together with many vegetables previously unknown, such as artichokes, aubergines and spinach, and spices such as cinnamon, cumin and saffron. Perhaps the most emblematic import of all was the pomegranate, a fruit which has come to symbolise Granada – and which some claim (wrongly!) to be the derivation of the city's name.

Local specialities you should try

In homage to the great culinary innovator of 10th century al-Andalus, al-Ziryab, credited with having first introduced to Europe a fashion for eating meals in a set sequence, we present some local delicacies you may find in Granada, starting with the soups and moving on through to the desserts.

Sopa de Ajo

The typical poor man's dish, this now respectable soup consists of nothing more than bread, olive oil, garlic and water. Garlic soup, though, is far better than the sum of its parts, and is a unique contribution to the world's culinary delights. Found all over Andalucia, with many local variations, it is one of the dishes associated with Granada.

Remojón

A salad of cod, black olives, oranges, spring onions and tomatoes in a vinaigrette marinade. One of the specialities of the Lecrin Valley, home to our Food & Wine Activity Weekends!

Pescaito Frito

Literally "little fried fishes". Wonderful when eaten on the beach on a bright, sunny winter's day, washed down with a glass of beer.

Moraga de sardines

Sardines prepared with white wine, garlic, olive oil, parsley and lemon juice.

Habas con Jamón

Broad beans are a favourite winter crop, as they are frost-resistant. From February onwards they are served in this traditional dish with pieces of jamón serrano (mountain-cured ham): a delicious combination.

Tortilla Sacromonte

This omelette is named after the Abbey of Sacromonte in Granada, where it is the dish of honour in the festivities for San Cecilio, on the first Sunday of February. WARNING: the authentic version contains lamb's brains and testicles (.), although the restaurants of Granada are usually savvy enough to replace these ingredients with chopped ham and kidneys.

Alboronja

A typical dish of Moclín, a small village with an imposing ruined Arabic castle, to the north of Granada. It combines chicken, almonds, garlic and white beans.

Choto al ajillo

Kid (or lamb) braised in white wine and lots of garlic.

Granadina de Ternera

Veal cutlets wrapped in jamón serrano, fried with mushrooms, sherry and garlic.

Olla de San Antón

A big casserole of lima beans, black pudding, pig's head or ear, bacon, dripping, thistles - whatever comes to hand in the cold weeks of mid-January when villagers gather together to celebrate the fiesta of San Antón. – Also acts as a rather late hangover cure after Christmas and the New Year.

Piononos

From the town of Santa Fe, on the outskirts of Granada, come these delicious desserts, based on sponge cake, cream, burnt sugar, cinnamon – and a jealously guarded secret ingredient! One explanation for their strange name is that someone once remarked "these are as good as Pius Noveno" - Pius IX, a 19th century pope of legendary good works.

Torta Real

A speciality of Motril, the main coastal port of Granada Province. It is based on almonds - a star ingredient in desserts here, influenced as they were by the Moors.

Tocino de Cielo

This curiously-named dessert - "heavenly bacon" - comes from Guadix, a city of cave dwellings and some fine monuments, and is based on egg yolks, as with so many Spanish desserts.