Manchego cuisine
Manchego cuisine (Manchegan cuisine or Castilian-Manchego cuisine) refers to the typical dishes and ingredients in the cuisine of the
The dishes and specialties of the region are generally sober and sensible, reflecting a modest, rural origin. They contain a limited number of ingredients that tend to be those most easily accessible by the locals. Dishes tend to be high in calories, ideal for the diets of laborers, farmers, and shepherds. The cuisine of this area was popularized by Miguel de Cervantes in his early-17th-century novel Don Quixote, in which a number of traditional dishes are mentioned.[1]
Staples
In La Mancha, traditional dishes include
Fruits and vegetables
Local ingredients
One of the local vegetables is the bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) plant, known colloquially as collejas. These plants are traditionally gathered in the mountains of La Mancha (as well as others parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia[2]) and used for a variety of dishes.[3]
Like most Spanish cuisine, many local dishes contain
Standalone products include
Vegetarian dishes
There are not many purely vegetarian dishes in the region. Some traditional vegetable-based dishes are
Meat and fish
There are many local meat dishes, which consist primarily of
La Mancha is a landlocked area with historically few bodies of freshwater to allow for the generalization of fish in its cuisine. The traditional fish is therefore bacalao (salt cod), which was historically imported from coastal areas and does not spoil. This can be found in some dishes, notably chickpeas with cod, eaten during Lent.
Cheeses
Queso manchego, or "cheese from La Mancha", is one of the most famous Spanish cheeses; more than 30% of Spain's cheese products are of this variety.[11] It is a cured cheese made from the milk of local manchega sheep (Ovis aries ligeriensis), also called ovejas manchegas) which abound in the pastures year-round.[12]
The mass of the cheese is fairly hard and dense, with an ivory-white color.[11] It has a characteristically tart taste when it is new due to the natural flavor of the sheep's milk, though as the cheese ages it slowly develops a savory quality,[11] which Carlos Yescas of the Oldways Cheese Coalition describes as "a delicate balance of buttery, tart, sweet, and nutty."[13] The cheese is also high in calcium, Vitamins A, D, and E, and natural protein.[14]
There are several varieties of queso manchego, differentiated by both curing time and individual tradition (some are submerged in olive oil while curing).[15]
Wines
Wine production is very important to the region, which has many
Entrées
- Arroz con liebre
- Atascaburras
- Caldereta manchega
- Cuchifritos
- Duelos y quebrantos
- Gachas
- Migas
- Valencia)
- Patatas al ajo cabañil
- Perdiz escabechada
- Pipirrana
- Pisto
- Sopa de ajo
- Zarajo
Desserts
- Almendrados
- Alajú
- Amarguillos
- Arrope
- Arroz con leche (rice pudding)
- Bienmesabe
- Buñuelos
- Copa imperial
- Dormido del corpus
- Hojuelas
- Leche frita
- Mantecados
- Mazapán / Mazapán de Toledo
- Miguelitos, of La Roda, speciality
- Pestiños
References
- ^ ISBN 978-8416624775.
- ^ "Silene vulgaris (Bladder Campion)". Gardenia.net. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- – via Research Gate.
- ISBN 978-8482408293.
- ^ "Receta de Atascaburras - Karlos Arguiñano". www.hogarmania.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ INFORMACION. "Estos son los restaurantes que participan en la Setmana Gastronòmica de la Nyora i el Llagostí". www.diarioinformacion.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
- ^ "Resolución de 17 de enero de 2011, de la Dirección General de Industria y Mercados Alimentarios, por la que se corrigen errores en la de 15 de febrero de 2010, por la que se concede la protección nacional transitoria a la modificación de la indicación geográfica protegida "Berenjena de Almagro"" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ISBN 978-8475833378.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
- ^ ISBN 978-0199330881.
- ^ "Oveja manchega – Queso Manchego". www.quesomanchego.es. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- ^ "An Introduction to Manchego-Style Cheese". www.seriouseats.com. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
- ^ "Propiedades – Queso Manchego". www.quesomanchego.es. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
- ISBN 978-8477892212.
External links
- "La cocina del Quijote",
- "Costumbres y cocina manchega",
- Consejo regulador del Queso Manchego