The evolution of the times has allowed Ribadesella to have today a rich and varied cuisine, in the style of northern peninsular cuisine, highly appreciated throughout the world. In addition, you can eat well in Ribadesella in a good number of restaurants that combine traditional food and new cuisine with excellent results.
Cantabrian fish and shellfish
The watchword of local gastronomy is seafood cuisine, stocked with the products of the Cantabrian neighbor. The local fleet supplies it with an excellent raw material, among which we must highlight, the «pinchu hake», named for having been fished with a hook and not with a net, preserving its fine texture intact. But other exquisite fish such as sea bass do not detract from it, the bream, the «xáragu», the «pixín», the king, the sole or the mullet, and without forgetting the delicious eel, all of them usual in the town and only dependent on the time of year or the luck of the fishermen. It can be eaten in the oven, in the pan or on the grill, although some of them are starting to be eaten in a casserole, with a cider brandy sauce.
It also deserves attention the pretty one, summer leader, which is eaten sliced, or stewed in a kettle, with peppers and potatoes, as well as the appetizing "roll" typical of Ribadesella, made with shredded bonito and seasoned according to a simple and traditional formula. Summer is also the time of the exquisite squid and the popular ones sardines and "bocartes", which share a leading role in the casual gastronomy with products from Pedral such as the «lamps», the periwinkles, the barnacles, the octopus o the prodigious "arcinos", which from the humblest origins are conquering haute cuisine today.
We must also talk about local seafood, from the barnacles on the cliffs, from the tasty "andaricas" (nécoras) and the good ones sea crabs or nursery. And you have to reserve a place of honor for the Sella elver, the most delicate fruit of seafood cuisine. It can be eaten sautéed with garlic and chilli, although its consumption is being introduced as a filling with fish or potatoes.
Eat cachopo in Ribadesella
Without the role of fish, meat also has its importance. The juicy Beef "carne roxa" It is excellent for chops and for typical recipes such as «la carne governa» -stew- or in rolls, stuffed with bacon, egg, peppers or olives. They are also appreciated scallops in cider, brandy or Cabrales cheese sauce. In larger game the abundant wild boar takes the palm, and in poultry the "Village pitu", a variety of brown meat chickens that is raised with care in the country houses. And how not to mention the pig, basic for the pot or the fabada. The local black pudding, dry and scented with onion, gives the very fine "beans" a touch that distinguishes them from all the cooked on the peninsula. It also comes from the pig the «pantrucu» or «emberzau», which is eaten fresh, sliced and fried.
Typical desserts from Ribadesella and… Asturias
In the cheese chapter, Ribadesella is supplied by its famous neighbors of Cabrales, Beyos, Gamoneu, Vidiago, or Pría, the rice pudding "requemau", the fried milk o «Les joyueles» typical of Carnival, in addition to apple and pear compotes, homemade sweet or roasted and sugared apples.
Liqueurs
The top of any meal must be a glass of the good spirits and spirits that are distilled in this council: "The serranos". The cider brandy produced by this century-old winery has received quality recognition from the European Union, to the pride of Ribadesella and the entire Principality of Asturias.
Information:
You can find more information about Ribadesella at: www.ribadesella.com
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
