Inland Spain's Regional Cuisine

Game dishes, soups, pork products, vegetable stews, roasts, and even offal: inland Spain's cuisine boasts rich and varied produce that is reflected in hearty, tasty recipes filled with history and tradition.

It's the destination of choice for those wanting to enjoy a good oven-roasted lamb or suckling pig, cooked to perfection with tender meat and crispy skin. Hare, rabbit, and partridge often feature at their tables, with game being another of their hallmarks. Fresh meat from Ávila and Salamanca, as well as suckling lamb from Segovia, all have Protected Geographical Indication status.

The region is also at the forefront of mushroom production, and the province of Soria is known for the quality and quantity of its black truffles. Not for nothing does this Autonomous Community host more than 350 mushroom-related events a year!

These ingredients are used in delicious stews, combined with pork products and other meat. This is true of "cocido," a stew with regional variations throughout Castile and León. One of them is "Maragato," which is from the La Maragatería area of León and is eaten back to front: first the meat, then the vegetables, and finally the soup.

As a result of its cold winters, this region also has several kinds of soup, including "Castellana" (garlic) soup, "Zamorana" soup (made from garlic, ripe tomatoes, and chilies), and Órbigo trout soup, which is typical of El Bierzo (León). Trout is a highly-prized fish in this region.

Bierzo sausage (which is cooked and eaten with potatoes), cured meat from León, and chorizo from Cantimpalos all boast quality stamps, and many others are also revered, including blood sausage from Burgos and "farinato" sausage from Salamanca. Salamanca in particular produces some highly acclaimed sausages, in Guijuelo, where they also produce extremely high-quality ham.

Sausages also feature in one of Castile and León's quintessential country recipes: "hornazo," which is a type of pie. It is thicker and fuller than the Galician version, and has its origins mainly in Ávila, Segovia, and Salamanca.

Above all, however, it is a wine region, with well-known denominations such as Ribera del Duero and Rueda. But there are many others, including Arlanza, Arribes, Bierzo, Cigales, Sierra de Salamanca, Toro, and Cebreros—a huge variety, with each wine reflecting its area's own identity.

The book mentions roast partridge, "olla podrida" or "rotten pot" (a type of stew), cheeses, and wineskins: "An olla of rather more beef than mutton, a salad on most nights, scraps on Saturdays, lentils on Fridays, and a pigeon or so extra on Sundays" wrote Cervantes in his 1605 novel, which is now a world classic.

Among the most popular vegetables it produces are eggplants from Almagro (Ciudad Real) and black garlic from Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca), both of which have quality stamps. "Pisto" is one of the region's finest vegetable dishes: it is made with tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, and can be served hot or cold.

"Asadillo" (made from roasted red peppers, garlic, tomato, and oil) is another example of a popular vegetable-based dish. Extra virgin olive oil (with various denominations of origin) and saffron are the jewels in the crown of La Mancha's cuisine.

Cheese, bread, and wine are also referred to in the pages of Don Quixote. The quality of the region's sheep's and goat's cheese, as well as its wine, is certified by their quality stamps. Bread also forms part of traditional recipes such as garlic soup, "migas" (a dish made from breadcrumbs), and Manchegan gazpacho, which is very different to the Andalusian version since it is made with "torta cenceña" (unleavened bread) and eaten with game.

Game meat features heavily in the cuisine of Castile-La Mancha, especially small game. White beans with partridge, rice with hare, and the region's gazpachos are just a few examples of how this highly-prized resource is used in Manchegan cookery.

Rabbit is one of the ingredients in a stew known as "tojunto," which is typical of Ciudad Real, while partridge is the best kind of meat for a Toledan-style "escabeche" or marinade. Game is also the main ingredient in "morteruelo" from Cuenca, alongside pork liver, breadcrumbs, and spices, resulting in a pâté-like spread.

Tripe and "cocido" stew are 2 recipes with "a la madrileña" (Madrid-style) added to their names. The stew is made with chickpeas, different types of meat, vegetables, and sausage, and can be enjoyed in some of the city's oldest taverns, where the ingredients are served as separate courses.

Madrid has more than a dozen of these restaurants, which are over 100 years old, and it is here that people can enjoy the most authentic and traditional of Madrid's cuisine, with recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Madrid also has one of the finest selections of international cuisine. The city's hospitality has led many people from elsewhere to make it their home, and it is difficult to find a foreign cuisine that is not well represented there.

It also has a significant livestock industry, concentrated around the area with the Protected Geographical Indication "Sierra de Guadarrama Meat."

There is also evidence that olive oil was produced in the region from the 13th century onward, and it now has almost 25,000 hectares of olive groves. The result is oils that are balanced, low in acidity, and slightly bitter and spicy.

Pepe Rodríguez in Toledo, Fran Martínez in Albacete, Miguel Cobo in Burgos, Víctor Gutiérrez in Salamanca, Óscar García in Soria, and Víctor Martín in Valladolid are just a few of the chefs who have managed to get the region's gastronomy and produce into the top restaurant guides.

As a gastronomic melting-pot, Madrid offers cutting-edge cuisine that reflects its cultural influences. David Muñoz took on the challenge of reinventing Madrid's "cocido" stew in 3 courses of pure fusion, including a potato dim sum with bone marrow, cabbage, and broth. Juanjo López at La Tasquita de Enfrente and Mario Sandoval at Coque are 2 more examples of Madrid chefs who have managed to take the essence of this stew to the tables of gourmet restaurants.

The best-known cheeses are from La Serena and the Torta del Casar, both of which have Protected Designations of Origin, and Ibores cheese. The region's hams also have quality seals, with Dehesa de Extremadura hams being among the most popular in Spain. Extremadura is also a land of wine and cava—the perfect accompaniment to these 2 gastronomic jewels.

The Valle del Jerte also produces one of the best varieties of cherry in the world, which also has a Protected Designation of Origin.

Not only does Extremadura boast one of the world's best Iberian hams, but it also offers a variety of exquisite cuts, such as the "pluma" (pork belly), "secreto" (pork fillet), or "presa" (pork loin). Other meats on offer here include game (partridge, hare, and venison) and lamb, which can be either roasted or cooked in a stew. The region is also well-known for its wine.

Extremaduran cooking might have Arab, Christian, and Jewish influences, but it has left its own distinctive mark elsewhere, not least of all on French gastronomy. During the Napoleonic Wars, the convent of San Benito de Alcántara was captured and the parchments within were used to make cartridges. However, one was saved as it contained a local recipe book that Escoffier declared to be "the best trophy, the only worthwhile thing that France achieved in that war."