Extremaduran cuisine

Extremadura, Spain is known for its different ways of preparing the Iberian pork and mutton. The main characteristics of the traditional Extremaduran cuisine are its simplicity, its lack of clutter and its low cost. It is also a cuisine reflecting a generous spirit, for many of its preparations used to be cooked in large pots to share with visitors, friends, and neighbors. The resulting dishes are eaten with local bread.

The preferred spices in Extremaduran cuisine are paprika (''pimentón''), garlic, bay leaves, pennyroyal, and anise. The Northeastern ''comarca'' of La Vera produces '' pimentón de la Vera'', smoked paprika highly valued all over Spain and extensively used in Extremaduran cuisine. Olive oil is used for frying and as an ingredient in many dishes. Maybe due to Portuguese influence, some limited use of coriander leaves (unusual for other regions of mainland Spain outside the Canary Islands) can be found for some specific dishes such as ''repápalos'' or pickled cod (''escabeche de bacalao''), though often with the possibility of using parsley as an alternative and not with the same extensive use as in Portugal.

Wine is produced mainly in the territory of the Ribera del Guadiana '' denominación de origen''. The region is also known for its '' vino de pitarra'' tradition, home-made wine made in small earthenware vessels.

The Jerte Valley is known for its cherry production, especially in the local ''picota del Jerte'' variety, highly regarded all over Spain and with a '' denominación de origen''.

Representative dishes

Among the pork or mutton-based dishes, some well-known ones are the ''callos con manos de cerdo'' (tripe with pig's feet), ''caldereta de cordero'' (mutton stew), ''cabrito en cuchifrito'', ''frite de cordero'' (mutton fry) and the ''cabrito a la hortelana'' (kid and vegetable stew).

The ''chanfaina'' in Extremadura has nothing to do with similarly named dishes in the Iberian Peninsula, like the Catalan ''Xanfaina'', which is a Spanish version of the Occitan Ratatouille, and which would be considered a kind of pisto in Extremadura. The Extremaduran ''chanfaina'' is a rich stew of mutton liver, brain, heart, and kidneys cooked with a mixture of bay leaves, garlic, bread crumbs and boiled eggs.

Traditional Extremaduran gastronomy includes other meats, like hen ''(gallina)'', which is one of the main ingredients of the emblematic ''cocido extremeño'' stew, ''arroz con liebre'' (rice with hare) and ''ancas de ranas fritas'' (fried frog legs). It also includes local fishes like ''tencas fritas '' (fried tench) and ''truchas con jamón'' (trout with ham), and even a certain large lizard usually prepared in ''guisado'', made by frying slices of lizard in olive oil, after which they were stewed over a slow fire. In spite of being eaten in a variety of preparations and even served at restaurants in the past, also including ''entomatá de lagarto'' (lizard in tomato sauce) or ''lagarto en salsa verde'' (lizard in green sauce), currently lizards are a protected species and trapping them is prohibited.

Concerning fish, some cod preparations are known, and tench is among the most traditional freshwater fish, including fish and vegetable dishes such as ''moje de peces'' or ''escarapuche''.

Among the basic popular dishes the ones based on chick peas are dominant. Other main ingredients are ''habichuelas'' (beans), potatoes, pumpkin, chestnuts, onions and bell peppers. Some famous dishes of Extremadura are ''cocido extremeño'', ''potaje de garbanzos y judías blancas'' (chick pea and bean soup), ''sopa blanca de ajos'' (white garlic soup), ''potaje de castañas secas'' (chestnut soup), ''olla con asaura'' (a stew with offal and blood), and ''gazpacho extremeño'' (variants of gazpacho, sometimes with ham or pennyroyal mint).

Soups often have a stale bread base and include a variety of both hot and cold ones, such as ''sopa de ajo'', ''sopa de tomate'' (bread-based soup with tomato, peppers and egg), ''sopa de poleo'' (pennyroyal mint soup), ''sopa de pan con aceitunas'' (bread soup with olives), ''sopa de espárragos trigueros'' (wild asparagus soup), ''sopa de antruejo'' (bread-based soup with a lot of pork), ''sopa de habas'' (broadbean soup) and others. It is traditional to eat such soups having figs at the same time as a side dish, or even grapes. ''Sopas canas'' include at least milk, bread and garlic as a base. Pennyroyal mint is sometimes used to season gazpachos or soups such as ''sopa de poleo''. Extremaduran ''ajoblanco'' (''ajoblanco extremeño'') is a cold soup different from Andalusian ''ajoblanco'' since it contains egg yolk in the emulsion and it may contain vegetables such as tomatoes but no almonds.

Though rice is not as common as in some other Spanish regions, rice dishes with rabbit meat or pork are common, including ''arroz a la cacereña'' from Cáceres, which, after being cooked, is then covered in a crust of egg and cheese and then baked, in a way similar to Valencian '' arroz con costra''.

Vegetables are found in many dishes, even if there is very little in the way of actual vegetarian dishes in the traditional cuisine. Still, apart from ''gazpachos'', salads similar to Andalusian '' pipirrana'' (with a variety of local names such as ''picadillo'', ''cojondongo'' or ''rinrán'' ) are popular, as well as '' zorongollo'', a salad made with tomato and roast peppers reminiscent of Catalan ''escalivada''. As in La Mancha and Murcia, pisto is a traditional dish. Local tomato sauce is often known as ''tomatá'' or ''entomatá'' and it can be an accompaniment to many dishes.

Desert truffles, locally named ''criadillas'' or ''criadillas de tierra'', are eaten with scrambled eggs (''revuelto de criadillas'' ), fried with other ingredients or as an accompaniment in other dishes. Even if many other mushroom species grow in Extremadura and they have some culinary use nowadays, only a few other mushroom species apart from desert truffles were actually traditionally consumed, such as '' Amanita ponderosa'' (called '' gurumelo'', especially popular in Southern Extremadura), or ''Macrolepiota procera''.

Some of the ancestral dishes of Extremadura are today less commonly eaten, like ''migas'' (such as ''migas con torreznos'') and ''gachas''. Vegetables like cardoon and borage were traditionally widely used in soups.

Certain dishes of the Extremaduran cuisine show the influence of neighboring Portugal, like ''lentejas estofadas'' (stewed lentils) and ''sopa de perdices'' (partridge soup).

''Embutidos'' and pork products

Extremadura's Black Iberian pigs are usually left to roam in relative freedom and their main diet are the acorns falling from the local oak trees. This breed of pig is found exclusively in Southwestern Iberia, both in Spain and Portugal. Their meat is highly valued throughout Spain, especially their ham.

Extremaduran cuisine is abundant in pork; it is said that the region is one of the best for breeding pigs in Spain, thanks to the acorns that grow in its ''dehesas''.

Some Extremaduran ''embutidos'' (pork preserves and sausages) have a local flavor, like the ''morcilla «Felisa»'' (based on blood and onion), ''morcillas de cabezá'' (head innards morcillas), ''morcillas patateras'' (sausage containing mashed potato and pork fat and meat seasoned with paprika and garlic), as well as sausages prepared with pumpkin (''morcilla de calabaza''). Dry-cured pork products include ''chacinas'' and the local ham, ''longaniza'', ''chorizo'', ''salchichón

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