Melted pleasure from Extremadura
This is an appetizer of a list that could be made in each of its regions. Good boy's word.
1) Potato or pumpkin blood sausage
This is the umpteenth wonder that can be done with pork. It is a blood sausage that looks like a sausage because of its orange color ( fault of the Vera paprika ) and that has this name for being made with the blood of the pig. Although it seems forceful, the touch of the potato and/or pumpkin softens a sausage that is eaten, above all, spread on bread There is the spicy option (if this paprika is used), a version that is appreciated when a good wine is at hand. As a sport, there will always be "go to miajones" , name by which the montadito made with this ingredient is known and which has the absolute monopoly of pintxo in these latitudes.
Chorizos and black pudding from Extremadura
**2) Cheese (beyond the Casar cake) **
With the cheese in Extremadura, a mini report very similar to this could be made, but avoiding the ** torta del Casar. ** Little can be added to this dish. You have to enjoy it with toasted bread, empty it greedily and take advantage of its rind to fill it with minced meat to get the most out of it. It is so. But, in addition, this cattle land has a sampler of cheeses in which to lose a lifetime. To begin with, there are **the cheeses of La Serena**, a lesser-known alternative to the famous cake that shares its creaminess and the need for a spoon (eating the cheese by the spoonful is the height of cheese gluttony). But there is even more, from the artisanal goat cheese curls to the personal weakness of the undersigned here: Ibores cheese . A product that perfectly blends the peculiar flavor of fermented goat's milk, the influence of Vera paprika (with which it is coated) and surprising smoothness. 100% charismatic.
Beyond the Torta del Casar
3) Cod
It sounds paradoxical to talk about cod in a region without a coast or outlet to the sea. But the Portuguese influence and, above all, the reminiscences of the mesta explain this contradiction . The primitive shepherds consumed a lot of this fish since it was perfectly preserved during the transumancy. The good thing about this delicacy in Extremadura is that they have been able to reinvent it and use it in a thousand ways with original and shocking recipes , without falling into the typical use given to it by Portuguese lands (see cod in bra ) nor in the nakedness of the dishes of the Cantabrian coast. A couple of examples: in a grill man like ** El chozo de mesta **, the biggest surprise is the exquisite cod rolls. No matter how much they try to persuade Segundo, his owner, he will never confess what accompanies this fish inside the roll. The second example can be found in the restaurant ** Bizcocho de Trujillo **. Yes, it is difficult not to succumb to the meat seeing its carnivorous menu, but with the loin of cod au gratin with muslin They manage to conquer the most demanding.
4) Acorn liqueur
Here's to that magnificent traditional custom of ending a copious meal with the arrival of decanters overflowing with digestive concoction. Far from convincing diners with the classic herb pomace and pacharán, in these lands they continue to trick them with more native products. Acorn liquor is the living image that this fruit is not only used to feed cool pigs. It has all the nuances that are claimed for a post-dinner drink: It has a pleasant and sweet taste, it enters alone (beware of melopeas), it is consumed cold and has a long and sweet aftertaste..
5) Stew
Take all the good stuff (lamb/kid, paprika, oil, onion, liver, etc.) that Extremadura has, put it in a clay pot and let the flavors mix over low heat. This is stew, a dish that arose from the cold, the weather and the need to warm your hands over the fire and your stomach with the broth. Today it is no longer necessary to have a hard time to enjoy it since every restaurant in Extremadura offers a good lamb or kid stew . It may be a sin for all those faithful to the Dukan diet, but what is a crime is not to dip your toe in this explosion of nuances, in this tribute to the most rural and gluttonous ego.
Extremadura gastronomy NOT without Vera paprika
*If a sixth had to be added, it would be the Vera paprika. But, as you will have verified, it is an omnipresent ingredient in the rest of gastronomy. Eye, without him, nothing would be the same.
*You may also be interested...
- Five things to eat in Galicia (and they are not seafood)
- Culinary topics that are not true
- All gastro rallies
- 25 gastronomic plans for Easter
- All articles by Javier Zori del Amo
In the meadows of Extremadura everything is created (and destroyed in our stomach)