MATADOR NETWORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SPANISH TOURISM BOARD
Where the Landscape Writes the Menu
Paella and sangria by the sea is the Spain most people picture, and it’s a perfectly wonderful meal. It’s also just one dish in a country with roughly 5,000 miles of coast, peaks that push past 10,000 feet, and two island chains with kitchens of their own.
On Galicia’s Costa da Morte, percebeiros gather goose barnacles by hand as Atlantic waves break over the rocks. In La Rioja, near the monasteries where Spanish was first written down, nearly every bar roasts lamb chops over vine cuttings.
These are the lesser-traveled, lesser-tasted sides of Spain.
How Spain Ate Before the Fridge
Half the Spanish snack board you’d build at home started as a fix for food going bad. Basque crews salted cod so it would survive the trip back from Newfoundland, and a Sicilian salter turned Santoña into an anchovy-canning town in the 1880s.
The fixes outlasted the problem and became the cornerstones of some of Spain’s best-known dishes.
|
Where it grows + why it lasted
Five stops, from cave cheese to sea salt
|
|
|
Cabrales Asturias · Blue cheese
Covaciella’s World Heritage cave is closed to protect its paintings (there’s a replica in nearby Carreña), but you can still taste what the caves produce: Cabrales, a strong blue cheese aged underground.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Castile-La Mancha South of Madrid · Manchego
On these dry plains, shepherds pressed curds into baskets of woven esparto grass, leaving a zigzag pattern called pleita on the rind. Many producers still reproduce it, and it’s one way to spot real Manchego at the cheese counter.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Córdoba Andalusia · Salmorejo
Gazpacho’s thicker cousin comes from this city, where extra day-old bread makes it creamier (and once kept stale loaves from going to waste).
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Cartagena Murcia · Arroz de caldero
Here’s a coastal rice dish that isn’t paella: cauldron rice, made with ñoras (a local sweet pepper) and fish that also flavors the stock. Eat it after a morning strolling past Cartagena’s Sea Wall and Roman Theater.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Ses Salines Formentera · Sea salt
It’s easy to spend days moving between Formentera’s small beaches and miss its salt flats. Go toward the end of summer to see the surface turn a pale pink.
View on map →
|
|
|
❝
Getting there: Córdoba is under two hours from Madrid by high-speed train, and Formentera is about 30 minutes by ferry from Ibiza.
What to Eat in Spain, Month by Month
In Segovia, some restaurants carve roast suckling pig with the edge of a plate, then smash it on the floor. In Valencia, call a seafood paella “paella valenciana” and prepare for a lengthy discussion.
Every region has a dish it takes this seriously, and most of them come with a season.
|
When to go + what to pour
Five seasons worth planning a trip around
|
|
|
Extremadura Jamón ibérico · October to March
During the montanera, the final months of their lives, Iberian pigs eat acorns and grass on the dehesa (open pasture dotted with holm and cork oaks). The acorns leave fine streaks of fat through the ham, which many restaurants serve by the platter.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Valls Calçots · January
Every January, Valls throws its Gran Festa de la Calçotada, grilling bundles of sweet green onions over burning vine cuttings. Peel away the blackened layers, dip into romesco, then lean your head back and dangle the calçot into your mouth.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Astigarraga Cider · Mid-January to April
Reserve a spot at a sagardotegi (cider house) just outside San Sebastián and take a seat at the long communal table for tortilla de bacalao and grilled txuleta (bone-in rib steak). When someone calls out “Txotx!” a barrel is being opened, so grab your glass and line up.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Jerez de la Frontera Sherry · Spring
Spend an evening in a tabanco, the old-school taverns Jerez is known for, with a copita (tulip-shaped Sherry glass) in hand and flamenco on the stage.
View on map →
|
|
|
|
Cambados Albariño · August
Each August, this historic town celebrates the Festa do Albariño, when wineries pour their newest vintages alongside food and music. Pair the fragrant, citrusy white with scallops, mussels, and clams from the rías (coastal inlets) that give Rías Baixas its name.
View on map →
|
|
|
❝
Plan it: Let the wine pick the region. In Lanzarote, vines grow from hollows dug into volcanic ash, and in Rueda, the Verdejo is picked after dark.
EXPLORE THE WORLD WITH MATADOR
FOLLOW US HERE
