Top 5 Foodie Destinations in Spain

When it comes to Spanish food, people immediately think of paella and tapas. But Spain is a vast country with varying geography and climate. Thus, it has a diverse food culture that’s more varied than most people think. For instance, the seafood reigns in the North, while Central Spain is all about meats and stews. 

If you’re heading to Spain and want to enjoy a full foodie experience, you should visit at least a few different places to try some of the best foods that the country has to offer. Not sure where to go? Check out the list below.

Catalonia 

Catalan cuisines rely heavily on ingredients popular in the Mediterranean, including fresh veggies, fish, and seafood. The foods in the region are seasonal and straightforward. But it’s the quality ingredients that reign. For instance, fish is served with nothing but a burst of lemon and plenty of salt, along with herbs, spices, and creamy sauces. 

The Catalonia region is vast and home to four provinces – Tarragona, Girona, Lleida, and Barcelona. If you can only afford to visit one province on your foodie trip to Catalonia, make it Barcelona. It’s where you can try all the mouth-watering specialities that the Catalonia region is known for. One of them is escalivada, a salad consisting of slow-roasted local veggies. It usually consists of eggplants, potatoes, peppers, onions, and artichokes, roasted over charcoal then dressed with vinegar and olive oil. 

If you’d rather go for meat-based dishes, try Botifarra or the Catalan sausage. Typically accompanied with white beans, this seasoned pork sausage is grilled and served on its own.

Ibiza 

Ibiza has a colourful history with food, influenced by many different cultures in over a hundred years. The island’s vibrant culinary landscape has lured more visitors than its nightlife scene over the recent years. Mouth-watering dishes are being served across the island, from the innovative Michelin-starred restaurants to the more pocket-friendly ones. Regardless of your preferences, you are guaranteed to have a good time. 

Before you hit the clubs to party in Ibiza, swing by one of the island’s top restaurants for a taste of sumptuous seafood that the Balearic Island is known for. If you want to carb-up with paella, the Paella de Marisco or seafood paella is the way to go. Another traditional Spanish food you should try in Ibiza is the Bullit de peix, a stew prepared with various fish, cooked alongside potatoes and tons of local spices. For desserts, try flaó, a round pastry filled with goat’s cheese, honey, and almond. 

If you want to enjoy a more relaxing holiday, consider staying in any of the luxury villas in Ibiza, away from the island’s nightlife scene. The villas come with a kitchen, so you can go to the market and cook yourself. 

Valencia

If paella is on your list of foods to taste when going on a foodie trip to Spain, you should head to Valencia, where the dish originated. This famous rice dish is usually made of spiced rice mixed with either chicken or seafood and lots of vegetables cooked in a giant skillet. Although you will find paella across Spain, the Valencian paella is the most authentic of them all. 

Of course, there’s more to Valencia than the paella. In fact, the city’s food scene is its biggest draw and one of the main reasons visitors would flock here. Its local markets and restaurants are often bursting with traditional Valencian food, from horchata to fideuà, and, of course, paella. 

As a coastal city, seafood and fish is plentiful in Valencia. One of the seafood dishes you should try is fideuà, served with noodles instead of rice. Its ingredients consist of different types of white seafood, such as cuttlefish, squid, and monkfish. Other versions have crayfish and shrimps, too. They are all cooked in a fish stocked and seasoned with lemon juice.

Mallorca

Mallorcan cuisine is often based on fish, pork, and vegetables, cooked with a generous amount of olive oil and garlic. These hearty fares are steeped in tradition, although local restaurants are now more inventive with their cuisines, combining culinary traditions with foods from different Spanish regions into fusion dishes.

Spaniards love their rice that almost every region has its own typical rice dish, and Mallorca is no exception. Arros Brut, a traditional rice dish cooked with vegetables and meat, should be on top of your foodie experiences to try here. It’s basically a delicious mix of meat and veggies, and the rice is cooked with excess water to achieve a soupy texture. Lechona Asada is a traditional Mallorcan dish that consists of a roasted piglet marinated for 24 hours with brandy and several other herbs and spices before cooking in the oven for a long time. Sure, it takes a while to prepare, but the incredibly delicious and juicy meat is worth the wait! Especially if you are renting a large private Majorcan villa equipped with a kitchen, and hire a private chef. 

For dessert, grab an bite of ensaimada from one of the local bakeries, a delicious pastry with origins dating back to the 17th century. It’s a spiral-shaped pastry made with lard, and served with different toppings, such as cream, chocolate, and powder sugar.

Madrid

Go to Madrid for its iconic sandwich, the bocadillo de calamares, a delicious sandwich filled with fried squid. Even if you are not a huge seafood fan, this is one of those Spanish dishes you are guaranteed to love. If you come here during winter, warm up with another local speciality, the cocido madrileño. It’s a traditional Madrid pork stew, usually cooked with veggies, chickpeas, and chorizo (sausage). The cocido madrileño is one of Spain’s most popular meat-based stews, usually served in winter. 

Those with a sweet tooth will surely enjoy exploring Madrid, where there are plenty of delectable treats to satisfy your cravings for sweets. Rosquillas, for instance, are much like doughnuts but with a firmer texture. You will find these fluffy pastries at any bakery in Madrid, especially if you come here during the Saint Isidor festival in May. Meanwhile, milhojas is a pastry with several layers of custard and cream sandwiched between two crusts.

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