Within the Asturian cuisine, Gijón occupies a leading role, either for its signature cuisine or for its particular maritime seal in the preparation of the most traditional dishes of the Principality. Undoubtedly, the gastronomy of Gijón finds its first source of inspiration, and its raw materials, in the Cantabrian sea that bathes its coasts, being fish and seafood their culinary stars.
When sitting at the table your restaurantsWith a good tablecloth and a professional service for decades, we continue to see in the letters that the fruit of fishing and shellfish is the most repeated: fried of pixin, hake or cod, fish and seafood soups, octopus with skates: a stew in which the pulpín de pedréu (small rock octopus) reaches a splendid taste over low heat; squid afogaos ("drowned" because they are cooked with the lid on); and those two exquisite species such as tiñosu (cabracho) and golondru (cuckoo or perlón), in pot; or the unquestionable specialty of the ventrisca de bonito, a summer dish that has its origin in the marine neighborhood of Cimadevilla; typical of the summer are also the squid of potera (caught with hook); and we do not forget the monkfish with bugre (lobster), fried or grilled mullets and a long list of recipes with a dominant seafood, almost always enriched with clams and andaricas (nécoras), and without more dressings than the basic ones: garlic, onion , olive oil, perjil, paprika, white wine and little else. Also abounds the seafood that is eaten without more preparations than a good cooking: prawns, crayfish, barnacles, razor clams, spider crabs, ñoclas (sea oxen), the popular llampares (limpets) and the oricios (sea urchins), one of the greatest gastronomic pleasures that the sea offers and that in Gijón they have been tasting since the beginning of time.
Everything makes our mouth water and from the cetáreas and fishmongers jumps to the counters, bars and tables of a branch, that of the restoration, that in Gijón have an almost capital relevance. Poach, stew, blanch, confit. A tasty vocabulary that comes from the kitchen and that in this city finds its own dialect, enriching the record of a kitchen like the Asturian, which practically speaks well everyone who knows it. But in addition to the sea, in the Gijón hotel industry the products of the land and the air are also styled, concreting in classic pots, menestras, rice or beans, recipes with roxa meat, as well as Asturian desserts and a pastry in which the Charlota shines with its own light, a cake prepared with a base and base of biscuits, with chocolate, candied cherries and a long inventory of ingredients; or the Tarta Gijonesa, a dessert with a generic name that, among other things, mixes almonds and nougat. Without forgetting famous Asturian desserts such as rice pudding, apple cakes, frixuelos, casadielles, hazelnut cakes ...
Asturian recipe books
If you want to know Asturian cuisine or where to eat well, we recommend you buy the book "Recipes to love Asturias" and "Les fartures", two interesting and very well documented books.
Gijón's picnic areas and snack bars
In recent decades, Gijón's gastronomy has been enriched by a popular way of enjoying food, a formula that has always been one of the essences of Asturian culture. The espichas They combine a party or celebration, good food based on tapas, appetizers in abundance and lots of cider, which on these occasions is usually from a barrel or a pipe and not from a bottle. Fried foods, chorizos, tortillas, sausages and salted meats, boiled eggs, a long etcetera arranged on the long tables of a cider mill (the equivalent, one might say, of a wine cellar), where barrels and large spaces abound. In any case, we would not be entirely objective if we identified the llagares and “simple” food, since many of them today offer all kinds of menus, and some even host wedding banquets.
In the vicinity of the Universidad Laboral, also near the Botanical Garden, more specifically between the areas known as Magdalena and Maizales, there are numerous picnic areas, several cider factories and cider mills. In the parishes of Cabueñes, Cefontes or Castiello, where the landscape becomes completely rural, with meadows, bushes (natural hedges) and farmhouses, surrounded by fruit trees, these cider mills of Gijón find their greatest density.
Gastronomic events in Gijón
Throughout the year there are various events and initiatives that bring together Gijón residents and visitors around the table. We will tell you about some of them.
Gijón de Sidras 2024
Make room in your diaries…
Gijón de pinchos 2024
From the 17th to the 26th of…
«Gijón Gourmet» offers traditional cuisine with modern touches in which flavour and raw materials are the most important elements.
Gijón Gastronómico
Within Asturian cuisine, …
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
