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Amidst the alpine scenery of white limestone karst, green hills flecked white with roaming sheep and goats, picturesque trails wind between shepherd’s huts and villages.
The Picos de Europa is a haven of tranquility in northern Spain, known for its sumptuous, hearty cuisine full of flavours from the surrounding hills. Local specialities include Fabada Asturiana, chickpea stew, and the famous blue cheese “Queso Cabrales”. Ingredients are sourced locally – from farms a few miles away, from market stall groaning under the weight of local produce.
Cheeses of Picos de Europa
The most famous Asturian cheese is the Cabrales cheese, a bleu cheese made in Arenas De Cabrales. Asturias produces a large number of different cheeses, which nowadays are more popular than ever.
During Franco’s regime, the artisanal cheesemakers had to either stop producing cheese, or go underground. Fortunately, they have come back strong, and you’ll find a wide variety of different cheeses, because of the different methods employed by the individual towns and cheesemakers.
Bean pot
Another region favourite is Fabada, the worlds’ most famous bean pot, which originates from the wild mountains of Asturias. The beans are flavoured with all the local specialities like lacón, which is the cured front leg of a pig and oak-smoked fresh sausages.
The Hotel Torrecerredo
The Hotel Torrecerredo, our small family-run hotel with spectacular views of the surrounding peaks, celebrates their abundance of local produce with aplomb. Whether you’re on the garden terrace sipping local wine, or relaxing in the panoramic restaurant with views of the highest peaks, everything tastes better when you’re in the mountains.
Walking the Picos de EuropaEach day the hotel offers two different set menus, one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian, accompanied by local wine, all included in the price of your adventure.
If you want to have an authentic Asturian experience, no trip to this rustic green paradise would be complete without a visit to a sidreria. Asturias is apple country, and the rugged people of the mountain have created a version of apple cider fit to put hair on your chest.
Sidra (cider) is neither sweet nor spiced and is a potent, slightly vinegary, unfiltered, rustic drink. The more you drink of it the better it tastes!
Find out more about our tours to Picos de Europa below.
