What to eat in Cadiz? Food is an essential part of the Cadiz experience. Find out more about the widespread “tapas” culture, very popular in Cadiz, and get acquainted with a few types of beverages that will quench your thirst.
What to eat in Cadiz: tapas culture
Whenever you think about Spain and its gastronomy, the first idea that comes to one’s mind is tapas. Just as you would think about pasta for Italy and curry for India, tapas are a synonym for Spain.
You are probably wondering what they are. Tapas are “little dishes” or snack-size foods that can be eaten all around Spain. The combinations of ingredients are infinite and you’ll find as many tapas in Spain as you can imagine.
Eating tapas is part of Spanish culture and a way of socializing. You will come across great tapas from Galicia up in the north to the Canary Islands in Africa, opposite Morocco.
While not having the fame of other Spanish cities like Seville or Granada, Cadiz has a fantastic tapas culture with an extensive variety of dishes and ingredients.
What to eat in Cadiz: de tapas
Given that tapas are such a quintessential Cadiz tradition, you should learn right away how to go de tapas – literally “bar hopping”, also known as tapear.
Tapear is a social ritual. But a very informal one. So expect bars to be busy often and people eating standing up by the bar or at small tables. Tapas bars are noisy, crowded and have a vivid atmosphere.
In addition to this, the weather generally allows lots of bars to have tables outside (what we usually call a terraza) where you can eat, watch and enjoy the hustle and bustle of life in the city. In spring, summer and fall the old town of Cadiz becomes a gathering area for both locals and tourists.
A tip for vegetarians
Vegetarians are hard to find in Spain. As a consequence, the food has not been adapted in this regard. Even those tapas that look “undoubtedly” vegetarian will have some meat or fish. To give you some examples, the classic ensaladilla (potato salad) comes with prawns and the grilled mushrooms are served with dices of jamón serrano. Not really veggie, huh?
The best solution is to ask the waiter for tapas without meat or fish. In Spanish that would be: “Soy vegetariano. ¿Qué tapas tiene sin carne ni pescado?” Or, you can always put aside the non-vegetarian stuff!
What to eat in Cadiz: breakfast time
Unlike any other region of Spain, breakfast is considered a very important meal in Andalusia. While most Spaniards have a plain coffee with maybe a toast with jam or a couple of cookies, Andalusians follow a particular breakfast ritual.
Gaditanos are not an exception – they usually have a pre-breakfast snack at 7:30, followed by a filling bar breakfast at 10:00. Breakfast is what most Gaditanos enjoy without fail, and you will soon notice it as you see people having a coffee with a typical tostada.
A tostada, toasted bread in Spanish, is much more than a piece of toasted bread with some butter and jam. Every ingredient can be carefully chosen among a wide selection and sizes go from media (half of an individual piece of bread) to entera (the whole piece).
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to order the best tostada on earth.
Most bars offer several white and whole breads. The tastiest ones are the mollete, which is kind of round and soft but crunchy on the outside and the andaluza which looks like a long bread roll, but crispier.
Next, come the tomatoes. Choose among tomate triturado ground to the pulp or tomate en rodajas (sliced). And don’t forget to add a sprinkling of salt to enhance the taste.
If you are a vegetarian, you could leave it as it is. But if you are not, go for the full tostada and ask for some jamón serrano or jamón york (the traditional pink sliced ham) on top it to indulge yourself and get plenty of energy for the day ahead.
As soon as you get your tostada comes the crucial part: the aceite (oil). Don’t add just a little sprinkling, pour it generously over the bread. And if you want the bread to fully absorb the oil, drill a few holes with a knife first and pour the oil afterwards. Nothing beats bread with a vibrant green extra virgin olive oil coat. Alternatively, you can try a stronger variant – olive oil infused with garlic cloves.
This is just an example but the choices are endless – jamón york con mantequilla (pink ham with butter), queso (cheese), carne mechada (sliced pork meat), paté (pork pâté), pavo (sliced turkey), atún (tuna)…
What to eat in Cadiz: typical dishes
Besides the tapas, among the many typical dishes of Cordoba there are four delights that you should know.
- Salmorejo. A cold soup from Cordoba that is served as an entrée. It is prepared with bread crumbs, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and tomato. It is usually served with boiled egg slices and small pieces of jamón serrano. It looks similar to the famous gazpacho, but its taste is completely different.
- Flamenquín. It consists of slices of jamón serrano wrapped in pork loin, coated with egg and bread crumbs and then deep-fried. It is usually served with french fries and mayonnaise.
- Berenjenas con miel (eggplants with honey). Eggplants sliced and battered and served with cane honey.
- Pastel cordobés. It is the best-known dessert in the city and it consists of puff pastry with a filling of citron known as cabello de ángel (angel’s hair) – a transparent threaded jam made from pumpkin pulp and white sugar. The top of the pastry is sprinkled with chopped roasted almonds, castor sugar and cinnamon.
- Tuna. One of the kings of the local cuisine is the tuna, present in numerous dishes elaborated in Cadiz and prepared in many different ways. Among all types of tuna, what stands out most is the atún de almadraba, a tuna that is fished in the waters of the coast of Cadiz using traditional methods. The atún rojo (red tuna) is the most valued species.
- Tortillas de camarón. They are the most famous tapa of Cadiz, with more than 500 years of antiquity. It is a fried dough made from wheat flour and chickpeas, parsley, chives and small prawns.
- Cazón en adobo. Seasoned and fried dogfish is a typical tapa of Cadiz and it is served traditionally in the city’s freidurías and in many bars and restaurants. In addition to the cazón, the freidurías serve many other species of fish prepared in a similar way.
- Papas aliñás. It is the perfect dish during the summer as it is made of boiled potatoes boiled seasoned with onion and parsley, and can be accompanied by tuna. The dish is always served cold.
What to eat in Cadiz: drinks
While you may have the preconceived idea that everyone in Spain drinks sangría and strong red wines, the truth is that the variety of beverages is larger and far more nuanced than you can imagine.
The following list provides information about some typical drinks that you can order while in Cordoba, all year round:
- Cerveza (beer): beer is so popular in Spain that the country is Europe’s 4th-largest producer of lager, and 10th in the world. Most Spaniards treat beer like a soft drink and consume it all year round. The most popular brand of lager in Cordoba is the Andalusian Cruzcampo. You can also try other local beers such as Califa.
- Clara: beer with some gaseosa, a mild flavored low-sugar carbonated lemonade. For a sweeter version try it with limón (lemon soft drink).
- Wine: Cadiz has two denominations of origin: Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda and world famous Jerez-Xérès-Sherry.
- Fino: sherry is only made in Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, all of them located in the Cadiz area. There are several varieties but Spaniards prefer the bone-dry, crystal-clear fino, generally consumed before lunch. Other types of Sherry include oloroso, amontillado, palo cortado, and sweet Pedro Ximénez.
- Manzanilla: made exclusively in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, manzanilla is even drier and paler than other sherries.
- Sangría: it consists of red wine, sugar, orange juice (or orange soft drink), chopped peach, orange and lemon and plenty of ice cubes. It used to be a very popular summer drink because it’s refreshing, cheap and easy to prepare. Nowadays, it is usually ordered by tourists at bars and restaurants where it is often served in large pitchers.
- Tinto con blanca: often drunk in summer, this popular beverage is softer than sangría and is made with table red wine and gaseosa, as well as plenty of ice cubes. For a sweeter version try it with limón (lemon soft drink). Tinto con blanca is known in other parts of Spain as tinto de verano.
- Granizado: a semi-frozen soft drink, usually made with crushed ice and citric juice (the most popular being lemon juice). You can get one at ice-cream shops and bars during summertime.
Do you need more information on Cadiz?
This article is part of a complete guide about Cadiz where you can read all the information you need to plan your trip to this amazing destination in Spain.
Here is a complete summary of all the guide:
1. When to visit Cadiz
2. How many days to spend in Cadiz
3. How to get to Cadiz
4. How to move around Cadiz
5. Cadiz hotels: where to stay in Cadiz
6. What to eat in Cadiz
7. What to do in Cadiz
Find out more with ‘Cadiz In One Day’
‘Cadiz In One Day’ is a complete 40+ pages guide featuring exclusive content, relevant websites, rich designed maps and dozens of photos, allowing you to explore Cadiz before you set a foot in Spain.
It contains a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of a full day self-guided walk with all the directions and practical information necessary to go from one highlight to the next.
Everything that you will read is based on practical and organized Cadiz first-hand advice. The self-guided walk has been personally tested to make sure that you can do it on your own. So all you have to do is download it to start reading immediately, all with one click.