La Regenta and the Old Quarter of Oviedo, Marino González, Tierra Astur y el Bulevar de la Sidra Plus Carbayones at Camilo de Blas. Sunset in a Glass: Adventures of a Food and Wine Road Warrior in Spain & The Pre-Post COVID 3500 Kms. Road Warrior Adventure in June 2021.

 

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La Regenta.

Oviedo, the capital of the principado de Asturias, is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cities in northern Spain.  The old quarter is charming, easily walkable and full of historical references, not the least of which is an impressive cathedral.  This old quarter--Oviedo was called "Vetusta" (antiquated or ancient)--was the prowling grounds of the fictional (?) La Regenta, Ana Ozores, the very attractive and obviously sexually frustrated wife of an aging retired magistrate, or regent.    La Regenta is Spain's equivalent of Gustave Flaubert's Emma Bovary and one of Spain's greatest novels, all 700 pages of it.  

 

When I go to Oviedo, I usually stay at the Gran Hotel Regente (the cost is not grand), which is just across the street from the old pedestrian-only Parte Vieja (old quarter)  and I always visit the bronze statue of La Regenta, whom I refer to as "mi novia," my girlfriend.

 

 

The most dominate building in the old quarter is the Cathedral, whose beginning dates to the late 8th-Century, but in its current several times restored and added to countenance dates from the late 14th to the 16th century, when the tower was added.  Within the old quarter are many historical buildings, including a block of business and dwellings with colorful painted façades, a fine market, restaurants, bars, shops and statuary. plenty to keep you busy for a morning or an afternoon.  

 

Cathedral of Oviedo.

A good place to begin your exploration of Oviedo is to have breakfast at Camilo de Blas, a marvelous century-old pastry shop with lots of choices, including their signature carbayones, an Asturian puff pastry confection made with almonds, brandy, egg yolks, butter and egg whites.   You can select your patries and take them next door to the coffee shop.  

 

Carbayones, an Asturian puff pastry confection made with almonds, brandy, egg yolks, butter and egg whites.  

For lunch, you should return to the edge of Oviedo´s Old Quarter to the Bulevar de la Sidra and eat at one of Marino González´s Tierra Astur sidrerías, or cider houses, the one at the top of the street or at the other end of this cider house-filled street, Tierra Astur Parrilla, which specializes not only in cider, Asturian cheeses, artisanal and tapas, but grilled meats and grilled fish as well.   (I will have a report on the Tierra Astur restaurants, four of the six of them, shortly.)

 

Oviedo, calle Gascona, el Bulevar de la Sidra, Cider Boulevard, with Tierra Astur at the left foreground. 

 

Marino González, the padrino of Asturian cheeses and artisanal producets, at his Tierra Astur sidrería, cider house, on calle Gascona, el Bulevar de la Sidra.

 

This charming young Morrocan woman Mina Samy somehow found her way
to Asturias in northern Spain and pours Asturian Trabanco sidra (hard apple cider) like the pro that she is at Marino Gonzalez’s Terra Astur Restaurant on calle Gascona, el Bulevar de la Sidra, Cider Boulevard, in Oviedo, Asturias.
 

 

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Constructive comments are welcome and encouraged.

 

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Text and photographs copyright by Gerry Dawes©2021.  Using photographs without crediting Gerry Dawes©2021 on Facebook.  Publication without my written permission is not authorized.

 

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  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

 

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

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In 2019, again ranked in the Top 50 Gastronomy Blogs and Websites for Gastronomists & Gastronomes in 2019 by Feedspot. (Last Updated Oct 23, 2019) 

"The Best Gastronomy blogs selected from thousands of Food blogs, Culture blogs and Food Science blogs in our index using search and social metrics. We’ve carefully selected these websites because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information."  

36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

 
About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

Gerry Dawes was the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com