Ajoaceite (or allioli) is the main Valencian sauce
The moment has come. You are going to load the car to the flag, take the A3 and go to your long-awaited vacation. Where? **To one of the beaches of Madrid, the Valencian Community. **
You've been coming here for years but every time you sit in a restaurant you feel a little weird. It's still not very clear to you why we call the emperor a mere or what is a figatell.
Don't despair! Here is a purebred Valencian who comes to reveal the plateau-valencian gastronomic translator so that this summer, you are the one who asks for the order and remains as the most knowledgeable of the entire table. Let's start!
As in any Spanish community, in the Valencian community we were not going to be different. That is why we call many things with Valencian words that if someone does not explain to you, it is difficult for you to understand.
You perfectly know dishes like Paella , the Fideua and other national delicacies such as horchata and the Valencia water. But, What if we delve a little deeper into the Valencian essence?
Gamba amb bleda, ask for it accompanied by dacsa cokes!
ALL I PEBRE
Did you know that in Valencia we have a freshwater lagoon? I sure do, it's called the lagoon and that is where the main ingredient of this dish lives, Eel.
And how could it be otherwise, the origin of this stew based on garlic, paprika, potatoes and eels, It arises from the subsistence cuisine of the fishermen of the area, who, faced with such an abundance of this product, decided to use it in their dishes.
All i pebre, a stew based on garlic, paprika, potatoes and eels
CASSALLA
“A cassalleta i mon anem”, goes the popular saying. Which does not mean anything other than "we take a casserole and we go".
Ok, but what is the cassalla? It is a digestif derived from the distillation of anise and about 40-50º. Come on, a drink of joy and company.
The most famous are the Anise Tennis Y the Cervero de Cullera. if you add soda and lime syrup, you will have found another of the typical drinks of the Valencian bars, the canary.
"A cassalleta i mon anem"
CLÓCHINAS
Naked eye They look like mussels, but no, they're not. Different in flavor, size and color (these are paler), our clóchinas are a true delicacy that the Mediterranean Sea offers us.
It is a scarce and seasonal good, so now that you are going to Valencia, take the opportunity to ask for them these months, because its consumption ends at the beginning of September.
DACSA COKE
We are not Mexicans, but as if we were. If you have also found this delicacy on the menu of restaurants, we will tell you that you are facing a typical preparation of the region of La Safor (Gandía), Oliva and some areas of the Marina Alta.
It is a kind of round cokes that are made with cornmeal and are filled with red pepper, hard-boiled egg, fried tomato and tuna.
Its origin surely goes back to our Moorish past, since dacsa would be the name of the cereal that comes from the Arabic word for millet 'adaza'.
They look like mussels, but no: they are clóchinas
ESGARRAET
You'll also find it with names like titaine –in the area of El Cabanyal–, espencat or escalivada. It is one of the jewels of Valencian gastronomy and we take it from appetizer.
It is a fresh dish made from roasted red pepper, garlic, olive oil and starfish, salted cod.
There are other variants including roasted eggplant (espencat) , the tonyina de sorra (tuna belly) in titaine and others that substitute cod for mojama.
LUNCH
The culture of lunch It is well spread throughout the community. And no, we are not referring to the lunch you make at the office where you have an apple and some nuts.
The Valencian lunch consists of getting between your chest and back a sandwich of epic dimensions, accompanied by olives, cacaus (peanuts), tramussos (lupine) and a glass of wine or cane.
If you're going to have lunch, forget about eating.
Esgarraet, also known as titaina, espencat or escalivada
FIGATELL
Figa-what? Surely you have read it in more than one letter from the areas of The Safor Y The High Navy and you have seen it on the shelves of supermarkets and butcher shops.
We could say that it is a Valencian hamburger. Not in vain, Paco Alonzo, the creator of La Wikipaella and the blog 'Paco a la Naranja', calls it “ the grandfather of the hamburger”.
To make it, not so noble parts of the pig are used, such as lean and liver and mix with parsley, cloves, salt and black pepper, and then wrap it with pork tripe.
The ideal way to eat it? On a slice of bread and if it is with alioli, much better.
Figatell, baptized by Paco Alonso as "the grandfather of the hamburger"
SHRIMP AMB BLEDA
Also typical of the region of La Safor, this dish is a delight with no more secrets than good Swiss chard and freshwater shrimp, fried with garlic and sweet paprika.
you can take it alone or accompanied by dacsa cokes, which raises its flavor to the maximum power.
Gamba amb bleda, a typical delicacy from the region of La Safor
SPICY POTATOES
Whenever you have ordered some bravas in the Valencian Community you have thought: why don't they have brava sauce? Here the potatoes are served with alioli and paprika, and in some cases with double the sauce
PICETA
You meet up with your Valencian friends to go on a picnic, but it's not entirely clear to you what you're meeting for. Our picaeta is nothing other than yours 'go for tapas' A few dishes here, others there, everything to share and voilà, you have dinner solved.
VALENCIAN POT
It resembles your beloved stew, but with slight and abundant differences. First, the ingredients. In our version, the main ingredients are potato, chick peas, cabbage, parsnip and charlotte (our name for the carrot), as well as chicken or hen meat and bacon.
And here comes the big difference, pilot them. Is about a kind of giant meatball made of pork, breadcrumbs, pine nuts and parsley, which is wrapped in a cabbage leaf and boiled with the rest of the ingredients. Why don't you have that in Madrid?
The Mercado de Colón and its surroundings: a good option to eat in the Valencian capital
SANG AMB CEBA
You may love it or you may not like it at all, the fact is that **sang amb ceba (onion-flavoured blood)** is one of the typical dishes of the Mediterranean basin.
It is usually done with cooked chicken or pork blood, to which is added onion, aromatic herbs and red pepper.
Eating a plate of blood may sound a little gore, but hey, you don't know how rich it is and think about the contribution of iron that you will make to your diet...
TORRÀ
said of the popular barbecue , or how to raid the butcher shop and buy botifarra (blood sausage), longanizas, chops and sausages, and go with your friends, either to a house, or to a picnic area with barbecue areas, to celebrate life and its gastronomic gifts.
Are you ready to eat –now that you understand it– the Valencian Community?
The authentic Valencian bravas