The dishes prepared in the Guadalhorce valley have been based on horticultural products since the dawn of time. The fertile soil has been feeding this rural region with fresh produce for centuries. Cabbage, porra and hearty soups are some of the meals you can have.

All dishes are to be eaten with peasant bread, baked in a wood-fired oven. It is an ever-present ingredient in the Guadalhorce valley, alongside vegetables, citrus and season fruits. In the sweet department, the region is under the influence of Moorish traditions, using honey, almonds and olive oil for desserts.

Garden flavours

Álora a village with an interesting historical heritage, stretches to the gorge of Los Gaitanes. The gorge carved in the rock by the river Guadalhorce is the home of sopas perotas, a soup made with bread, tomato, onion, peppers and spices.

The key to this traditional country soup lies in its fresh ingredients. Other soups worth trying are sopa aplastá in Pizarra and caldo poncima in Alhaurín de la Torre. If you are coming to the latter in Easter, try rice with chestnuts and honey for dessert.

Restaurants, farmhouses and inns offer menus full of hearty dishes for a genuine Guadalhorce valley experience. Your culinary tour of the region should also include sopa hervía, gazpacho and patatas viudas (potato stew without meat).

Oranges and almonds

In the blooming season, orange trees fill the air with orange blossom smells across this region of Málaga Province. They are so common in the Guadalhorce valley that there is even a festival dedicated to oranges, held in Coín.

Citrus fruit is also used to make mojete soup (orange and codfish) in Alhaurín el Grande and sopas cachorreñas (soup with bread and bitter orange), in Cártama, both prepared with fish, vegetables and olive oil. Local pork products are delicious too.

After horse riding in Almogía or paragliding in Valle de Abdalajís, a helping of migas, porra or chanfaina will certainly help you replenish your energy reserves. And if you want to have sweet memories of your visit, try dried fig and almond doughnuts, borrachuelos con batata (cider and sweet potato pastries) or roscos de puerta horno (baked doughnuts) They are all delicious choices!