Asturian Food and Drink

Asturian food The outstanding quality and the great variety of raw material in Asturias is the basis of its gastronomy. The cold waters of the Cantabrian Sea (The Bay of Biscay) provide excellent fish, shellfish, monkfish, hake, barnacles and sea-urchins.

Free-range cows and chickens provide good quality meat whilst the land still produces gm-free fresh vegetables and of course beans which are the basis of a typical Asturian dish fabada.

Asturias is renowned for having the some of the best cheeses in Europe, there are 42 different kinds of craft cheese, with Cabrales Cheese being perhaps the most typical. Milk from Asturias is of the highest quality and is also considered one of the best in Europe. The typical drink to accompany all this good food is cider which must be poured from a height into a large glass thin glass.

Traditional Dishes

Some of the most notable Asturian dishes are:

Fabada La Fabada . This is a stew made with white beans, black pudding ,Spanish sausage and pork. See recipe.
El pote Asturiano. This is a veggie varation of “fabada” except the basic ingredient is cabbage instead of meat. Tortos with picadillo

Tortos con Picadillo. These are a sort of pancakes made from cornflour and wheat with spicy pork mince meat dashed on top.
Fritos de pixin or rape as it is known in Asturias. These delicacies are small pieces of monkfish, breaded and fried.

Chorizo a la sidra. This is Spanish sausage (chorizo) browned and then cooked in cider. Cider is par excellence the Asturian drink and is used in many recipes.

Cheeses

There are 42 different varieties of cheese in Asturias these are just some of them:

Cabrales Cheese Queso de Cabrales, this is probably the most well-known. Afuega´l pitu, Peñamellera, Vidiago,Beyos, and Gamonedo are other popular choices.

In many restaurants you will find a dish that actually consists of a variety of different local cheeses called Tabla de Quesos, this is a great option to try small amounts of different cheses so you can sample a few in just one meal.

See more on Asturias cheeses.