Asturias – Food again! (Yum yum)

I cannot repeat enough times how great the food is in Asturias! It’s just so good up here that I have to write another blog about it and introduce you to some more.

Let´s start with a very famous dish that I have already mentioned but I need to write about it in detail: the cachopo. The name in Asturias refers to two large steaks and jamón and cheese in between. They coat the whole thing so it’s breaded and crispy and serve it hot, with the melted cheese pouring out while you cut it up on a bed of chips. This is the original recipe. From this many other kinds of cachopo evolved and only by changing the type of cheese you use you can have 40 different varieties. For the steak you can use fish, chicken or pork and the stuffing can range from cheese, mushrooms, seafood or even asparagus, the possibilities are endless.

Cachopo is probably the most popular dish at the moment and the people of Asturias have whole conversations about where have they had the latest, which type, any new variations and most of all, the size. Cachopo is HUGE, so big that the restaurants in Oviedo compete with each other who can serve the biggest ones. The largest steak served was 50m wide!

The dish is actually so popular that there is a group called the Brotherhood of Cachopo or The Cachopers in the town of Aviles who go around on Vespas to taste this precious dish. There are many blogs, Facebook sites and food festivals dedicated to the celebration of this meal.

It originates from Asturias but due to its success in the last few years it is now available all over Spain, why, only in Madrid there are at least 30 restaurants! Why is that? Apart from being the most scrumptious meal you ever eat the price is also tempting, we had an ‘original’ for 18 euros and it was enough for us for two full meals! It means 3-4 people can stuff themselves silly with steak for less then 4 euros each (maybe only 2 with Americans).

We tried it at Casa Pedro on Calle Asturias that is while it might not rated as the best restaurant in Oviedo it’s definitely one of the best cachopo restaurants in town according to more than one websites.

The next dish on the list is the Fabada. I’ve already talked about the Fabada con Chorizo here however there’s another variation on the menus in Asturias and it is the Fabada con Almejas. The meal is exactly the same, a bean stew made of the big ‘faba’ beans, however instead of the overwhelming taste of chorizo in this there are shells. They give it a certain fishy taste and we actually prefer this variation to the chorizo one.

Next up is the zamburiñas. These shells can only be found in Northern Spain (and Madrid, of course) as they don’t inhabit the Mediterranian sea. They are actually very tasty!

The most typical Asturian dessert is the Arroz con leche or rice with milk, best known as rice pudding. As everybody is familiar with this dish I show you something more special: the tocinillo. When you ask the waiter he will say it’s a flan but it’s not true. The texture is more like a panacotta and it’s served with ice cream. Usually you only get a tiny portion because it’s just so SWEET I could feel my teeth getting a sugar attack! If you have a sweet tooth then this is definitely a dessert for you!

Finally a tip for breakfast. It is quite common at the Spanish restaurants to serve a breakfast menu for a few euros that consists of coffee, a pastry, usually croissant and zumo natural or fresh orange juice. It already sounds tempting, doesn’t it? It gives you just the right amount of sugar, caffeine and health to start your day. But here in Asturias we were given an option to get our croissants ‘a la plancha’ or grilled. You get the still warm halves, coat them with butter and jam and bite into pure deliciousness.

Yum yum!

Asturias – Somiedo

Somiedo is a national park in Southern Asturias. As everybody goes to hike in the Picos the rest of the national parks are underestimated even though I think they have lots to offer to everybody who loves walking.

One of the most popular hiking routes here is the one that starts from the village of Valle de Lago. It´s 8km away from Pola de Somiedo, the Park´s biggest town and the road that leads to the village is steep with gorgeous views over the valley. 

At the end of Valle de Lago there´s a car park where you can leave your car. The path will take you to Lago de Valle, a lake with glacier origins that you can find after 3km at 1200m height and is the biggest lake in Asturias. The path is easy and picturesque and with only 300m elevation it´s ideal for families, too.

One of the features of the Somiedo National Park is the teitos, these little shelters with thatched roof and very low walls. Being built on the side of the hills half sunk in the ground and moss growing on the roof they completely blend into their environment.They were used by people who took the cows to high pasture since the medieval times. There are less and less of these little huts and Somiedo is proud to have them.

Interestingly, the people who live in the park belong to two groups that are very distinct, culturally and socially as well. One of them, the appellate vaqueros, live in a closed nomadic society and their cultural and mythological traditions are still alive.

We took the advice of the lady in the tourist office in Pola de Somiedo and instead of doing the 14km walk to the Lakes of Saliencia and back (making it all together 28km), we did the 3km walk to Lago the Valle and back, then drove to the other end of the track which is right at the border of Asturias and Castilla y León. We left the car in the car park then went to see the Lakes of Saliencia.

These lakes also have glacier origins and hide in valleys that take your breath away. I dare to say that these lakes, valleys and mountains are actually better than the ones in the Picos the Europe. There are still scars in the mountains form the mining of the iron and that´s what gives it its red colour.

We didn´t have much time so we only managed to see two of the lakes. Here´s the first one, Lake Cave.

The second one, Lake Calabazosa.

On the way home we passed through a bit of Castilla y León. The difference between the two regions is quite striking. It seems like the vegetation itself has it own identity and as soon as it grows in León it becomes yellow. We drove through the mountain pass called Puerta de Ventana and the views over León were spectacular.

Oviedo – Pista Finlandesa

When we lived in Barcelona I found a running track, the Carretera de les Aigües, that lead you along a side of a mountain and offered great views about the city. There is something very similar in Oviedo, too, it´s called the Finnish Track, or Pista Finlandesa, that runs along the side of Mount Naranco. Not sure where did the name come from.

The whole area is given to recreational sport. There’s a running track, a walking track and a huge area for BMX bikes.

On the side of the running track there is exercise equipment with little signs that give you training suggestions.

The flat running track runs for 2.4km then it stops! I found that very frustrating as it’s almost a perfect 5k run but no, you still have to run an extra 200m after finishing the track that you don’t have any way to measure.

At the beginning there are distances drawn on the side of the path in every 500m, then after a random distance of 1.2km there’s a sign on the road after every 100.

The real challenge however starts after the 2.4km sign as if you’re up for it there’s a steep path that goes all the way up to the top of the mountain, to the ‘Chequered Jesus’. (You can read about the mountain itself here.)

There are many people who come here for a walk, run or to walk their dogs. There are benches on the side to have a rest on, two shelters (although you really don’t want a storm to catch you up here) and three fountains, on km 1, 2.5 and 4.4.

And the views…magnificent all the way. Take your camera!

You can reach it via Paso de los Monumentos near town, or via Av. de Pando in the Milán-Pumarin area. Walk to the water tank then keep going until you reach the forest.