Ajonjolí: Seed also known as sesame (Sesamum indicum). Originally from India and Africa, it’s one of the most common ingredients in the Arabic pastries made in Al-Andalus – a tradition that’s been passed down to the present day.
Albariza: Also known as “moronita”, it’s the white soil that characterises the undulating topography of Marco de Jerez (Jerez region) hills. From a geological point of view, it’s a marl (soft rock formed by sediments) with remains of diatoms (microscopic unicellular algae). All this is a consequence of the fact that some 60 million years ago, what is now Andalusia was submerged under the sea. The albarizas are very poor soils which, nevertheless, have magnificent physical properties for the cultivation of vines.
Albinas: Small, temporary estuary or lagoon, formed by seawater on low, sandy coasts. They disappear in the summer, when the water evaporates, leaving salt mountains on the ground, also known as Albinas.
Alfajor: Originally from the Al-Andalus gastronomy, it’s a typical Christmas sweet and a part of the Andalusian tradition. It’s made with almond paste, walnuts and honey. Alfajor, which is produced in the town of Medina Sidonia, is protected by a PGI.
Almadraba: This is a fishing technique based on a complex labyrinthine structure of nets that’s used on the Andalusian coasts to catch bluefin tuna as it passes through the Strait of Gibraltar. It’s a thousand-year-old ritual that is repeated every year off the coast of Cádiz between April and June. The term comes from Arabic, although its use as a fishing system seems to date back to pre-Roman times. The almadraba has two essential parts: “raberas” and “cuadro”. The “cuadro”, a rectangular structure made up of nets that are open to the bottom, is in turn divided into various compartments: chamber, buche, bordonal and copo, whose function is to hold and group the tuna caught for extraction.
Amarguillo: Medina Sidonia’s typical speciality, it’s a sweet made with marzipan emulsified with egg and a touch of bitter almonds, to which it owes its name.
Ijar tuna: Tuna’s flank, or belly, is a part of the bluefin tuna’s cutting up, located in its lower part or belly, in the area next to the head. It has an intense flavour, a mixed texture of fat and juice, compared to other parts of the wild almadraba tuna’s carving up. This part of the fish is usually marketed canned or salted.
Bienmesabe: This is the name given in Cádiz to one of its most typical tapas: marinated dogfish. It’s a very simple preparation, which consists of seasoning small pieces of dogfish, leaving them to rest for at least 8 hours so that they take on the taste of the marinade, flouring them and frying them for consumption.
Cabello de ángel: This sweet is also known as Cidra, because it’s made with the pulp of the winter squash or Cidra pumpkin. To make it, the pulp is boiled in a highly concentrated sugar solution until it dissolves into a sort of fine, whitish or slightly golden threads. It’s used to fill various sweets typical of the province.
Cañaillas: Also known as sea snails, they’re a very popular shellfish on the Andalusian coast, belonging to the category of univalve molluscs or gastropods. They’ve got a robust shell of a yellowish colour that stands out for having an elongated end. It’s got a peculiar flavour and texture.
Carne mechá: This is Andalusian gastronomy’s typical recipe made with pork loin head seasoned with salt and a mixture of spices, cooked in pork lard. It’s a cold meat item produced by the corresponding companies from Cádiz with excellent results. The adjective mechá is an abbreviation of the local language for mechada (stuffed).
Chicharrones: This is a type of traditional cold meat from Cádiz made with pork belly, seasoned with various spices, and finally cooked with salt and spices. It’s typical of the area to cut them very thinly and eat them with a pinch of coarse salt and lemon.
Choco: A cephalopod mollusc (Sepia Officinalis) of small size, no more than 40 cm, which lives in shallow areas of the ocean. Its consumption is very typical in the province of Cádiz in many recipes.
No results found.
Estero: The estuaries of the Bay of Cádiz have their origin in the formation of marshes. They’re low, marshy lands that flood the waters of the sea area and are crossed by arms of shallow seawater, known as caños. In these estuaries or small saltwater lagoons, rich in biodiversity, salt extraction is combined with fish farming.
No results found.
Garum: This was a fish seasoning widely consumed in ancient Rome. It was mainly made from fish guts, but also from offcuts or small whole fish. These ingredients were mixed with salt and left to ferment naturally for months. Garum from Cádiz was particularly appreciated and was exported to Rome.
No results found.
No results found.
No results found.
No results found.
Lechín: The Lechín variety occupies practically 50% of the cultivated area of the olive groves protected by the D.O.P. Aceites Sierra de Cádiz. It’s a vigorous variety with a semi-sunny growth habit, suitable for very chalky soils such as those found in the area. It’s productive and ripens early.
Levantá: This is the moment when the nets in the copo (one of the rooms in the labyrinth of nets in almadraba, where the tuna is kept) are raised little by little, and the trapped tuna emerge to the surface, and their flapping turn the water into foam, giving the impression that the water is boiling. The most experienced fishermen then jump into the water with harpoons, where they select the largest fish. It’s an intense and exciting moment.
Manteca colorá: Orange-coloured lard cooked with pieces of pork (sometimes minced), paprika, which gives it its colour, and other spices, usually oregano and bay leaf. Colorá is the Andalusian abbreviation for colorada (colourful), referring to its colour. It’s usually part of the traditional Cádiz breakfast, served on toasted bread.
Marco de Jerez: This is the geographical area located in the northwest of the province of Cádiz, made up of the production area and the ageing lands where the grapes are grown, and the sherry wines are produced. It’s made up of the towns of Chiclana de la Frontera, Chipiona, El Puerto de Santa María, Jerez de la Frontera, Trebujena, Puerto Real, Rota, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Lebrija, the latter belonging to the province of Seville. The territory is practically bounded by the rivers Guadalquivir, Guadalete and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a privileged region, where the wine speciality is a key element in the history of its towns and in the cultural identity of its inhabitants.
Matalahúva: Popularly known as Anís, it’s a wild herb of the apiaceae family (Pimpinella Anisum L.) that grows in many regions of Spain. Although its origin is Asian, its seed is widely used in Cádiz confectionery, especially in the preparation of Christmas sweets. Its aroma and flavour are very special.
Mayetos: Mayetería is a type of traditional smallholding farming typical of the Cádiz towns of Sanlúcar, Rota and Trebujena. The farmer who practises mayetería is called mayeto. Among them are the winegrowers, who make their own wines and thus preserve the rich heritage of old and historic vineyards that are still preserved in the area. In recent years, their wines are in the process of being revalued by connoisseurs.
Mojama: Salted tuna obtained from the noble part of tuna called lomo (loin) of the Thunnus albacares (yellowfin tuna) and Thunnus thynnus species, commercially known as bluefin tuna. The loins of both two upper and lower quarters are cured by seasoning and air-drying. It has a dark brown exterior. When cut, the colour is maroon, the texture is compact and smooth, not very fibrous, with a mild smell and a pleasant, slightly salty blue fish flavour. Drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil, it’s an exquisite tapa.
Mosto: This must from the Jerez region is the first wine made after the grape harvest, young white Palomino wine, which has been vatted for about forty days, until it reaches about 12 degrees of alcohol, and which forms the basis of the local wines. The must is closely related to the gastronomic culture that surrounds the world of the region’s vineyards, and is usually tasted, along with typical dishes, in the vineyards themselves, when the cold weather sets in from November to February/March.
No results found.
No results found.
Ortiguillas: Known in Spain as common sea anemone and also known in Andalusia as ortiga de mar (sea nettle), it’s a sea anemone typical of the Cádiz coast with small tentacles with pinkish tips and liliaceous colours, which attaches itself to the rocks at the bottom of the sea. With an intense marine flavour and unusual texture, its taste is enhanced by the crunchy finish provided by the breading in its most common preparation, which is frying.
Palomino: It’s an autochthonous variety of the Jerez region, where more than 90% of the vineyard corresponds to this variety. It’s a late sprouting and ripening variety. It has a good productivity. It’s also very resistant to drought and knows how to live in adverse conditions. The bunches are large and pyramidal in shape. The grapes are spherical but irregular, medium-sized and yellowish-green in colour.
Pan de Cádiz: Also known as Turrón de Cádiz, this is a typical sweet of the province, proper of the Christmas season. It’s made with marzipan and fruit jams. It’s traditionally filled with egg yolk cream or sweet potato jam.
Pestiños: This is a traditional so-called de sartén (made in a pan) Andalusian sweet, typical of the Christmas and Easter season. It’s made with flour dough, fried in olive oil and dipped in honey. It’s now consumed nationwide.
Piñonate: This is a traditional sweet of Andalusian origin, which can be made in different ways, and which has pine nuts as one of its main ingredients.
No results found.
Regañás: Typical of Andalusia, this is a flat-shaped dry bread with a long shelf life. It’s prepared with low water content and high heat baking, which results in a very crusty bread perfect for long term storage, similar to picos. It has a long history, as it was distributed to the crews of ships confined to eat this hard bread unwillingly (a regañadientes in Spanish) – and that’s where the name come from.
Retinto: Retinta breed is one of the three pure and indigenous breeds of cattle in Spain. With a “hinged” morphology, it’s a breed well adapted to the environment where it lives. It’s known for its robustness, strong horns and, above all, the reddish colour of its coat, which gives it its name. The natural diet, coupled with the genetic characteristics of the Retinta itself, are the basis for the excellent quality of the meat it produces, with little fat.
Ronqueo: This is the traditional cutting of bluefin tuna, the term being derived from the noise made by the knife when it rubs against the backbone (ronqueo in Spanish means snoring). This manual cut is used to extract the different parts of the tuna that can be used both for fresh consumption and for the production of by-products. The cutting of the bluefin tuna is done in parts, depending on the degree of fat content of the muscle.
Sal de hielo: Also known as Flor de Sal (Fleur de Sel) is sea salt from the Bay of Cádiz, whose qualities are the result of the particular climatic conditions of the area and the proximity of the ocean. It’s a salt of excellent quality, harvested in a traditional way during the summer evenings. Certified as organic, it doesn’t contain any additives and has a very unique flavour, texture and aroma.
Salicornia: Also known as sea asparagus, salicornia is a fleshy, halophilic plant that grows in areas where salt water is concentrated, including salt marshes. Salicornias have a strong salty taste, which corresponds to their name, as they look like small, salty-flavoured horns. Their tasty, crunchy texture is high in protein, carbohydrates, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.
Sarda: Also called Bacoreta is a tuna (Euthynnus Alletteratus) with a robust body. It has small dark-coloured spots between the pectoral and ventral fins that look like footprints. Its flavour, prepared in salt, is very reminiscent of anchovies. It’s usually presented filleted and bathed in oil.
Criaderas and soleras: This is an ageing method of Sherry Wines and Brandy de Jerez that’s used in the Marco de Jerez Denominations of Origin. It’s a dynamic system for wine ageing. Each solera system is made up of several criaderas or levels formed by a certain number of casks (barrels). The level containing the most aged wine is placed on the floor, which is why it’s called solera (suelo in Spanish means floor). On top of this other levels of lesser ageing (criaderas) are placed and which are numbered according to their age order (1st criadera, 2nd criadera…etc.). From the solera, the cask that’s in contact with the ground, a certain amount of liquid is extracted periodically, a maximum of one third. This vacuum produced in the solera is filled with wine from the next ageing level, i.e. with wine from the 1st criadera. The partial vacuum created in the 1st criadera is refilled with wine from the 2nd criadera and so on until the youngest level is reached, which in turn is filled with wine from vintages, also called sobretablas.
Tagarninas: It’s a wild plant that is widely used in Cádiz cuisine. Its scientific name is Scolymus Hispanicus. It grows in the meadows and forests, although today it’s also cultivated in the fields. Its stalk is used in many culinary preparations and typical dishes of the province, and it’s also widely consumed in preserves and pâtés.
Tarantelo: Semi-fat part of the bluefin tuna located above the belly. Triangular in shape, it’s located near the white back and is the part of the wild tuna with a perfectly balanced fat content.
Tejas: This is a sweet from El Puerto de Santa María. Made in a traditional way, the traditional teja is prepared with a base of sliced almonds and a sweet dough, forming a golden and crunchy teja (tile) when it’s baked. There’s currently a wide variety of flavours and presentations.
Tintilla de Rota: This is a native grape variety from Cádiz, from the town of Rota, to be exact. After almost disappearing, this variety is once again gaining prominence in the production of great red wines under the PGI Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz. It’s a late-sprouting and late-ripening grape variety, not very vigorous. Tintilla de Rota has an upright vine. The clusters are small and slender. It’s a late variety, acidic and with a good alcoholic content. The single varietal wines are fresh, with good structure in general, but with round and pleasant tannins.
Torta parda: A typical speciality of Medina Sidonia, it’s a sweet made with almond dough, presented in the shape of a basket and filled with cabello de ángel jam.
Tortillitas de camarones: Originally from the province of Cádiz, this is one of its most typical tapas. It consists of an omelette made with wheat flour, chickpea flour, water, salt, spring onion or onion, parsley and shrimps. It’s made into a flat liquid dough and fried in a frying pan in plenty of olive oil.
No results found.
No results found.
No results found.
No results found.
No results found.
Zurrapa: This is a charcuterie preparation of pork loin fried in lard and salt which is frayed and mixed with certain spices such as garlic, oregano, paprika, bay leaf, etc. Liver zurrapa can also be found. It’s usually covered with lard. It has the consistency of a spreadable paste, similar to pâté, but more fibrous.