The profile of the Cabo de Gata lighthouse at sunset
The road that leads to the edge of the supernatural place called Cabo de Gata and on one side and the other of the road, with that sea always in front, a sea that seems to be above the earth, the twisted pitacos stir, defiant prickly pears stretch and drags a mantle of sand that shapes the beautiful geographical irregularity of this desert . Sometimes it seems that the earth comes out of hell to let itself be roasted in the sun and that the Mediterranean it lets itself be carried by the wind, coming and going from the earth with its eternal song of white foam.
The winds rule this place, Levante and Poniente . The winds change and the winds transform the Park , and also to a traveler who knows that he has to let himself be carried away by them if he wants to enjoy one hundred percent of this land. The Cabo de Gata , the whim of Aeolus. And it is that wind that manages the aromas of the kitchens of the Park . In the morning, Cabo de Gata smells of prickly pears, freshly baked bread and virgin Aberquina rain splashed by that crystal salt from Fabriquilla -phantasmagorical salt mine at the foot of the Cabo de Gata lighthouse-.
Then comes the first bite of the day, which is made almost like a blessing on one of those plastic tables at the La Ola de The Isleta del Moro : bread with tomato and oil, coffee and natural juice ; the best, the views of the sea and the saline wind. There are flavors from the traditional Almeria recipe book that you cannot miss out on Cabo de Gata : the coldest days and even, although strange, of rain and annoying wind, the Park takes refuge around the stove while slow stews such as crumbs or the gurullos . Gurullos: of Muslim heritage, it is a pasta made by hand with durum wheat flour, water and salt, which is used to give body and accompaniment to stews.
The white houses of Níjar, in Cabo de Gata
You have to go up a narrow and winding road that starts from Nijjar and leads to Egg , over there, Enriqueta serves the best gurullos in the park in a room that looks more like the living room of the house, somewhat disheveled. What would the Cape be without its cuttlefish -squid- in sauce, without its bartender -baked vegetables-, without grilled forkbeard -white rock fish-, without meat in sauce or without battered anchovies? Tapas in Almería, more than a custom, is an obligation. You ask for a wine -wine from the land like The Sacristan's Tits or from the nearby Alpujarra, like the delicious Dark Ravine - or a southern beer and the question is always the same, what about a tapa? then they show you a most tempting tapas card.
Tapas in flip flops and pareo is a desert luxury ; but so is 'get handsome' when evening falls and the cicadas begin to invade the silence, one goes long to go to one of the best tables in the Cabo de Gata . We have to go to Rodalquilar, a Javi's Ticket Office , to taste his stuffed anchovies, which he calls wellington; or to Black ones and get a little table by the sea in El Manteca, its rice dishes are famous and with good reason –advisable even at noon-; or go to the Islet of the Moor to pay homage to the sea in that humble and noisy room of the Hogar de los Pensionistas, in the upper part of the town, there is no grilled fish like the one prepared here by the retired sailors of this little corner that is still a sailor.
If there is a full moon, the night has to take us to the tables arranged on the terrace of the hippie and, culinary speaking, little interesting restaurant in La Loma, but the landscape and scenery is so impressive that everything else is superfluous. On summer nights there are often open-air concerts. Be careful, here you go with mosquito repellent. The beach bars are the great treasure of this land. The Alquian beach bar , where every morning the catch of the day is displayed in a display case and the diners, the vast majority from Almeria, choose on a whim. At the bar or at the table, it is worth eating here.
EITHER the rice bar that Fina rides every year in summer in full Playazo Beach of Rodalquilar . The blessed sun paella in this, we could call it, a pop up beach bar, because it lasts as long as bathers last: from July to September. Eating in Almería is a surprise that arrives at the table in small portions, perhaps that is its secret to receive when it is not expected, to captivate when it is not called.