On Sanlúcar de Barrameda

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Sanlúcar  de Barrameda is a relatively undiscovered jewel among the smaller coastal Andalusian cities – and its catchphrase “Calidad de vida”, or “Quality of Life” is one of the truest I have ever come across. For further general information click on this wikipedia link.

A panoramic shot of the beach.

Sanlúcar is famous for its Manzanilla sherry – it’s 10 miles from 

A Chinese restaurant. Note 
the round window .This was to
regulate thetemperature in 
the wineries and is common to
all the"Cathedrals of Wine"in
the Jerez DO.

the city of Jerez and is one of the vertices of the Sherry 
Triangle.
For the past few decades, Sherry consumption worldwide 
has been in decline and the large number of abandoned 
wineries to be seen throughout the Denomination of Origin
are its silently eloquent witnesses. Some become 

restaurants and shops as this image attests, others are 
bulldozed to become blocks of flats.

Luckily for Sanlúcar, the city is also famous for its beaches, 

fresh fish, horticulture[1] and, therefore, cuisine.
Indeed, people come from other cities in Andalusia to enjoy 
dining in the local restaurants which range
 from the relatively expensive, but still good value, 
such as El Espejo to the down-to-earth family establishments that serve good, honest, 
fare; Casa Balbino, for example.

Inside the municipal food market.

A firm favourite here – indeed, in all 

of the province of Cádiz’ coastal towns are the famous tortillitas de camarones and tortillitas de bacalao. These are shrimp or cod fritters and are quite simple to make – see the rough recipe below.

My own effort. I used frozen pollock,

employing the meltwater in the batter
mix - a neat (Hairy Bikers) trick 
when battering fish. To accompany, 
fried green peppers.

Make a batter with the consistency of 

double cream, add finely-chopped 

sweet onion and parsley along with

 shrimps or finely-minced, salted cod 

that has been soaked overnight. 

Ladle the mixture one fritter at a time 

into very hot oil – not olive oil as it 

begins to smoke at a relatively low 

temperature. Fry until crispy and lacy. 

Enjoy with a chilled, dry, white wine. 

Obviously the wine of choice should be 

Manzanilla. 

Calidad de vida on a plate and on your palate!

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[1] The Patata de Sanlúcar for example, is grown on sandy soil (bajo navazo) relatively near to the beaches and is a firm favourite of gourmets throughout Spain – it can even be ordered online for next day delivery anywhere in the country!