Spain Archives - Hungry Travelers

Spain

Saffron, Spain’s gastronomic gold, shines at La Melguiza

Posted on May 2, 2025May 2, 2025 by Pat and David

Ask Spaniards where the world's best saffron comes from and they'll proudly tell you Spain. Ask David Saenz Condado and he'll tell you why. Saenz is the proprietor of a smart little Madrid boutique called La Melguiza (c/de Santiago, 12; +34 91-547-9323, lamelguiza.es). Just a block and a half from the Mercado San Miguel off Plaza Mayor, the shop promises ‶tesoros de azafrán.″ It delivers those treasures in spades with containers of saffron as well as saffron honey, saffron chocolate, saffron hard candies, and saffron body products. (The shop also offers sweet, smoked, and hot Spanish paprikas.) For the uninitiated, saffron is the world's most expensive spice. It consists of the dried stigmas of the fall-blooming flower of crocus sativa. Fortunately, only a few threads...Read More

Walk the Camino? Piece of cake!

Posted on April 17, 2025April 17, 2025 by Pat and David

We first tasted a tarta de Santiago at a little restaurant in Santiago de Compostela. We were seated outdoors at a small sunny table enjoying the midday menu del día. The food was homey but good: a Galician tuna empanada and simple roast chicken. Even better, we could watch a steady stream of pilgrims leave the Pilgrim's Office where they certified the conclusion of their journey and headed to the cathedral (at right) that holds the purported remains of the apostle St. James. Their sense of joy, relief (and maybe even disbelief) was palpable. When it came time for dessert, we felt there was really only one right choice. We bypassed the flan option in favor of the city's signature tarta de Santiago. From the...Read More

Pour a spicy Spanish twist with Thanksgiving dinner

Posted on November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 by Pat and David

We know everyone is suggesting that you pour a Pinot Noir from Oregon with the festive November meal. It's like the new article of faith that turkey and dressing go best with a soft red. Maybe we're traditionalists, but — barring a smoke pit — turkey is a subtle fowl, and fowl (unless we're talking wild duck) generally pairs best with a white wine. But in keeping with the revisionist thinking, we're on board with a spicy, assertive white. Specifically, we're recommending the 2023 Lagar de Cervera Albariño. When we think of spicy whites, three grapes come to mind: Gewürztraminer, Muscat, and Albariño. We've tried all three with autumn dishes, and while we like Muscat with apple and pumpkin pies, it's often a toss-up between...Read More

What to eat at the Málaga airport (AGP)

Posted on October 26, 2022October 20, 2022 by Pat and David

Many of Spain's leading chefs have a way of remembering their roots — and wanting to appeal to a wider audience. It could be a financial stretch to feast at the French dining room Babette or the grill house Leña, both at Puente Romana resort in Marbella. But you can at least get a taste of star chef Dani García's cuisine at the airport. BiBo Dani García (+34 607 528 879) is open every day from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. in the passenger-only zone of the first floor departures area at Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport (AGP). We've been following García since his first high profile job leading the kitchen at Tragabuches in Ronda. That was literally decades ago, but he's always remained a champion...Read More

Table wines return to the Málaga region

Posted on October 23, 2022October 20, 2022 by Pat and David

There' s a quiet wine revolution brewing in the Axarquía hills between Málaga and Nerja along Spain's southern coast. And it's based on a grape that either the Greeks or the Carthaginians brought here roughly 3,000 years ago. Locals call it Moscatel de Alejandría, though much of the international wine industry knows the grape as Muscat of Alexandria. North African in origin, it requires an incredibly dry climate because the grapes are very prone to mold. That makes it perfect for the mountains just inland from the Málaga coast. It's usually associated with dessert wines. But Moscatel can be coaxed to produce a delicious table wine. Just ask Clara Verheij, the winemaker at Bodegas Bentomiz (Finca El Almendro, Pago Cuesta Robano, Sayalonga; +34 633 049...Read More

Chiringuitos champion fresh fish of the Costa del Sol

Posted on October 19, 2022October 14, 2022 by Pat and David

We sing the song of chiringuitos. They are the kitchens of summer along the Costa del Sol. When the sun shines and Spaniards and tourists alike bask in the light, chiringuitos are ready to feed you at the end of day. Historically, a chiringuito was a casual beach bar, maybe even a makeshift operation. But from Marbella east to Málaga, they have evolved into permanent structures that line the beach. One of our favorites in Torremolinos is Restaurante Los Pescadores Playa (Paseo Marítimo Bajondillo, R5, Torremolinos; +34 95 205 83 37; lospescadoresplaya.es). The photo at the top of the post shows a slice of the indoor dining room at the midday meal on a Sunday. When we're looking for a good restaurant for dinner, we...Read More

The elegant simplicity of fish on a stick

Posted on October 14, 2022October 14, 2022 by Pat and David

We spent a good part of last month in Spain working on a book update. That's our excuse for the lapse in posting here. This trip involved an extended stay in Málaga. It was the perfect time to get reacquainted with the fish of the Costa del Sol — and with the delights of eating on the beach. The photo above shows the espartero of Restaurante Andrés Maricuchi (Paseo Marítimo el Pedregal, 14, Málaga; +34 952 20 06 12; andresmaricuchi.com). He's broiling fish on a stake against wood coals burning in a rowboat filled with sand on Pedregalejo beach. To be specific, he's broiling sardines because that's we ordered just minutes before. Maricuchi is one of a long line of beach restaurants in this former...Read More

Noodling around with fideuà in Gandía

Posted on June 18, 2022June 16, 2022 by Pat and David

While we were living in Valencia, we took advantage of the cercanías (essentially the regional commuter rail) to explore beyond the metropolis. One Costa Blanca city on our bucket list (and on the train line) was Gandía. The big attraction is the ducal palace of the Borja family, who rose to fame (or infamy) when they changed the spelling to Borgia and took over the papacy. The Palau Ducal (Carrer del Duc Alfons el Vell, 1, Gandía; +34 962 871 465; palauducal.com) is a sprawling Gothic fortified palace complex where Sant Francesc de Borja was born in 1510. He later became one of the most important figures in the history of the Society of Jesus. Thanks to the stewardship of the Jesuits, the building is...Read More

Valencia loves its tiger nut ‘milk’ with fartons

Posted on June 11, 2022June 7, 2022 by Pat and David

Valencia is famous for more than its rice dishes. Locals have been making a milky drink from the tiny tubers of Cyperus esculentus since the 13th century. Deeply chilled, it's the perfect refreshment on a warm day. The tubers are often tiger nuts because they're striped and have a hard shell. In Spanish, they're chufa and properly speaking, the vegan milk made from them is horchata de chufa. No one in Valencia bothers with such distinctions. The drink is horchata or orxata, pronounced the same despite the difference between Castellano and Valenciano spellings. The center of chufa cultivation is Alboraya, a marshy section of Valencia that was once its own town. You can buy tiger nuts on the street or in any public market, but...Read More

Modern times at the Mercado Colón

Posted on June 3, 2022June 3, 2022 by Pat and David

Valencia may not have the sheer number of buildings in the Modernisme style as Barcelona, but it does boast its own regional wrinkle of Art Nouveau. Valencianos reserved their most flamboyant structures of modernismo valenciano for the essentials of daily life. That includes the main post office, the train station, and two of the city markets. Had the city not built a neoclassical bullring a few decades earlier, the Plaza de Toros probably would have been Art Nouveau too. We've already written extensively about the Mercado Central, but the even more refined example of modernismo valenciano is Francisco Mora Berenguer's Mercado Colón. Mora studied under Domènech i Montaner, arguably second only to Gaudí among Barcelona's Modernisme architects. The Valenciano architect drew on some of the...Read More