Travel guide 06: Málaga, Sun and Gastronomy

Simple ingredients are the basic feature of Málaga’s cuisine, but this does not mean dishes are poor. Quite on the contrary: in this region, meals are extremely varied and healthy, which is by no means accidental but the result of using top-quality products like olive oil (the staple of Málaga’s cuisine and Mediterranean diet), meat, vegetables, fruit and, above all, fish.  

MÁLAGA, SUN AND GASTRONOMY collects in a single volume all the traditional recipes from Málaga, some of which have become internationally popular, travelling beyond Málaga and Andalusia. Some of them are gazpacho (cold vegetable soup), hyper-typical ajoblanco (a variant of gazpacho with almonds and muscatel grapes), fried food, espeto (grilled sardines skewered in reeds stuck into the sand), and of course, the gastronomic miniatures par excellence: tapas.

Less well-known but equally tasty dishes which are also included in the guide are porra antequerana (similar to ajoblanco), porridge, Málaga stew (better to eat in winter), saffron dogfish, and eggs “a lo bestia” (fried eggs over a sauce made with sausages, black pudding, pork loin, bread and garlic).

As for desserts, the guide includes sweets with very telling names, like Antequera bienmesabe (literally, “it tastes good”), pastry soaked in Málaga wine, olive oil cakes or pestiños (honey-coated pastry), as well as alfajores (a type of cake), wine doughnuts, and other typical convent sweets.

The recipes for all these dishes, and many others as well, can be found in this 58-page-long guide. Each recipe is accompanied by a photograph and a detailed, step-by-step preparation. In addition, to fill readers’ bellies and also quench their thirst for knowledge, historical reviews, related anecdotes and suggestions for matching wines are included.