Food in Costa Blanca
- Wine tip: Spanish wines are graded by the length of time they have been aged, the best wines carry gran reserve labels; these have been aged both in oak and in the bottle
- Food tip: When buying food in supermarkets and local stores, look out for denominacion de Origen on speciality goods, this certifies their authenticity and is a good indication of quality.
A life in Spain... food for thought
One of the truly great things about the Costa Blanca is its cuisine. Meals here aren't prepared from cook books, they are passed down from generation to generation. Each village has their own take on certain meals... all linked back to someone perfecting the dish centuries ago. For instance, the Costa Blanca's love of salazones (dried and salted fish) has its origins in the Greek and Roman cultures that walked the shores here two millennia ago. The best thing is that ingredients are local and always oh so fresh.
Appetizers
Like much of Spain, tapas are king in Costa Blanca. As you'd expect on the coast of the Mediterranean, seafood proliferates. The most loved tapas are bonito, marrajo and mojama, which are all varieties of salazones. That said, each city and village seems to have its own tapas specialty... in Dénia it's gamba roja (delicious red shrimps), while in Torrevieja its pulpo seco (dried octopus), calamar de potera (squid) and sepia a la plancha (grilled cuttlefish ).
Main Dishes
The Costa Blanca is justifiably famous for its rice dishes - there are more than 300 hundred of them! Dry rice dishes that are prepared in large flat pans are known as paellas, while rice stews are caldosas. Like tapas, each region within the Costa Blanca is known for their particular rice specialties. In Alicante, it's arroz a la alicantina, a rice dish peppered with meat, fish and shellfish (it's sublime). Arroz y costra is Orihuela's most typical rice dish - it's similar to paella, but baked in a deep clay dish with an outer crust of egg. Many of the smaller villages in the Vinapoló Valley, like Hondón de las Nieves prepare their paella with snails and rabbit (paella de conejo y caracoles). It sounds perfectly horrible, but tastes totally terrific. Other inland areas use the fresh vegetables from their fertile fields to prepare huertana paella (vegetable paella).
Stews and boiled dishes known as ollas and olletas are also incredibly popular throughout the Costa Blanca. Most contain pork, sausages (some of the Costa Blanca's inland villages produce sublime sausages), calabashes, grains of wheat, chickpeas, beans and/or rice. Another particularly lovely stew is concido con pelotas (stew with minced meatballs wrapped in cabbage leaves). In the small village of Los Montesinos, they prepare calabaza y boniatos asados (a gorgeous dish of roasted pumpkin and sweet potato).
Desserts
Turrón. Turrón. Turrón. Costa Blanca is famous for it! It's made from honey, sugar and egg white (and let's not forget all those almonds!). Alicante's Turrón is much harder than the traditional turrón from Jijona. Turrón is best accompanied with Fondillón, a local dessert wine. If you have a craving for some incredible ice cream, head for the village of Ibi which is famous for it.
Less renowned but equally lovely are fresh picked orchard fruits (perhaps with some Ibi ice cream!). In Dénia, amadi (a deliciously sweet pumpkin pudding) is another heavenly desert option. A popular desert throughout the Costa Blanca is the traditionally prepared arroz con leche (creamy rice pudding).
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