The cuisine of the autonomous community of Valencia, that in Spain, is part of the Mediterranean cuisine, in which olive oil, vegetables, fish and seafood are a significant place. In Valencia, there are differences between the traditional food of the inhabitants of the coast, who more often consume seafood, and the population of the interior of the region, where meat is preferred, but one characteristic features all the components of this cuisine: Fig.
Famous Valencian Dishes
Rice has been cultivated in Valencia since the Moorish times and is used in many typical dishes, among which, undoubtedly, the most famous is the paella. There is not one dozen recipes for paella, but the original way of cooking included rice, chicken, rabbit meat, green beans, snails, beans and saffron, giving the dish a distinctive color. For centuries, the traditional recipe has received many options, and modern cuisine offers so-called "sea" paella with seafood and "mountain" paella, for the preparation of which use different meats, sausages and mushrooms.
Other rice dishes typical of Valencia:
- Arroz a banda - a dish based on fish soup with garlic sauce and fish heads prevalent on the coast of the province of Alicante.
- Arroz negro - rice with fish, shrimp, garlic sauce and squid ink, giving the dish a black color.
- Arroz al horno - baked in the oven with chickpeas, potatoes, tomatoes, parsley and various sausages from pork.
- Arroz con costra - the dish is prepared in a clay pot on charcoal. Its main ingredients are rice, rabbit meat, white and red sausages, saffron, garlic and tomatoes, which are covered with eggs from above.
- Arroz aceglas - during Lent, this dish contains rice, chard, beans and potatoes, at the rest of the day, add cod and snails.
One of the culinary customs of Valencia - in winter, cook food in pots. As an option, you can consider puchero, a classic Christmas dish. The puchero consists of stewed meat on bones, chickpeas, potatoes and some other vegetables. In addition, in this region are very common stew of fish and seafood, salted fish, vegetables, steamed, and salads. Sequet de peix, or fish in sauce, is a typical fish ragout of Valencia, including stewed fish, potatoes and paprika with saffron.
Traditional sweet pastries have a strong Muslim flavor due to almonds and honey. The most common dessert is navideo turrn, an almond Christmas nougat that is produced in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia. In these provinces also make excellent white wines, liqueurs and other alcoholic beverages from grapes of varieties of macabeos, parelada, chardonnay, garchna, trepathy, monastrel, merlot.