ON THE ARTISAN CHEESE & HAM TRAIL THROUGH WESTERN SPAIN

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A Journey through Andalucía, Extremadura, Castilla y León and Asturias in Search of Iberian Ham, Wonderful Cheeses and More


Text & photographs copyright 2014 by Gerry Dawes

 
A few years ago, I embarked on an ambitious trip to Spain designed to accomplish several missions: My journey would begin in warm, southern Andalucía on the Atlantic Ocean and end in the cool northern coastal regions of the Cantabrian Sea and along the way I would visit some of Spain’s best cheese-producing regions in Extremadura and Castilla y León and end the trip in the so-called Parque Nacional de Quesos (National Park of Cheeses) in the northern provinces of Asturias and Cantabria. Along the way, I planned to sample Ibérico hams and embutidos (cured meats), which had just been approved for importation into the United States.

Driving southeast from Sevilla to Mazagón (Huelva), I arrived at the beautiful Parador de Turismo, which sits on a cliff above a long stretch of Atlantic beach. From Mazagón, I explored Palos de la Frontera, the village where Christopher Columbus recruited his crews and set sail on his first voyage, and the monastery of La Rábida, where Franciscan monks, Antonio de Marchena and Juan Pérez, had sheltered and encouraged Columbus, then helped him get his plan before Queen Isabela. Near Huelva, the provincial capital, a huge monument commemorating the discovery of the New World stands at the mouth of the rust red Río Tinto, from which Columbus sailed into the open sea on his way to immortalityTapas at Mazagón (Huelva)

 Monastery of Santa María de la Rábida where Columbus stayed, near Palos de la Frontera

Iglesia de San Jorge with its Moorish doorway, Palos (Huelva), where the edict was read to requisition the ships for Columbus's first voyage.

Near Huelva, the provincial capital, at the mouth of the rust red Río Tinto, from which Columbus sailed into the open sea on his way to immortality, stands a huge monument commemorating the discovery of the New World.

Replicas of Columbus's ships near Palos.

The next morning I drove north into Huelva’s Sierra de Aracena mountains to Jabugo, famous for its jamones Ibéricos de bellota made from Iberian pata negra (black foot) pigs, which roam free in the autumn months fattening up on acorns foraged beneath the cork oaks. I spent the morning visiting the Consorcio de Jabugo, a producer of the first-rate jamones. Julio Revilla, the firm’s President, showed me around his impressive production facility, where hundreds of the world’s best hams were aging under ideal conditions. Revilla explained that because of aging requirements (2½ years for hams), the jamones will not be available in the U.S. until 2008. In the plant’s dining room, Revilla invited me to lunch (salad, the Consorcio’s own Castilian cheese from Valladolid, plenty of their first-rate ham, chorizo and lomo (cured Ibérico loin), plus cuts of grilled, fresh Ibérico pork, for which a big demand is developing in Japan.

Julio Revilla, President of Consorcio de Jabugo, jamón Ibérico de bellota producers, at his stand at the Madrid Fusión gastronomic conference. ("Signature Jabugo hams. The Ibérico (pig), a singular breed. A place with a unique climate, Jabugo. And special treatment, the arte of Ibérico Ham Maestros.")  Photo: Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

After a stop at Aracena to pick up a Monte Robledo torta de cabra, a rare local small goats' milk cheese (tortas are usually made with sheeps' milk), I explored several little-known hill villages before reaching the intriguing Extremaduran town of Jerez de los Caballeros (Badajoz), hometown to both Hernando de Soto, discoverer of the Mississippi River, and Vasco Nuñez de Balbao, the first Western explorer to report seeing the Pacific Ocean. That evening, arriving in the lovely small city of Zafra, I stayed in the 15th-century fortified Dukes of Feria palace, now the Parador de Turismo. At dinner, served in the soaring, two-story Renaissance patio, I sampled the assertive and delicious Aracena goat torta, an intriguing cheese with hints of mushroom or truffle flavors.

Quesailla Arochena Curada, Artisanal raw goats' milk 'torta' cheese from Aracena (Huelva), Andalucía. 

Photograph by Gerry Dawes©2009.

The following day I drove through stark, hilly terrain to the remote de la Serena region (Badajoz) to seek out the legendary Torta de la Serena. With much the same characteristics as Torta del Casar, this exceptional, expensive cheese is - in springtime and early summer versions - creamy, buttery, and spreadable like Brie, but with more intriguing, rustic flavors. I visited two excellent producers making cheeses from the de la Serena Denominación de Origen Protegida (D.O.P.) A D.O.P. operates under rules similar to those governing wine regions and guarantees the origins and production methods of a cheese.

Francisco Murillo, the D.O.P.’s technical director, took me to the Sánchez Ruíz (Toril del Cardo brand) cheese factory near the rocky, hillside town of Benquerencia. Murillo showed me a small artisan plant surrounded by well-trod grounds where scores of merino sheep, the approved breed, rested beneath the shade of oak trees. Murillo explained that D.O.P. Tortas de la Serena are made only with leche cruda de oveja, raw sheeps' milk, and he also pointed out the cardo silvestre (Cynara cardunculus; wild thistle flowers) that produce the vegetable rennet used to coagulate the milk. Cheeses made from this rennet ~ a practice rooted in ancient Moorish and Jewish dietary laws ~ often have a Vacherin Mont d’Or-like creaminess and a pleasant bitter almond finish. Murillo also gave me a tour of Lácteos de Castuera, a modern production plant that still requires careful daily hand-turning of the cheeses and cleaning the planks they rest on while aging. He gave me three tortas de la Serena, each with a lace band around its rind and packaged in a small brown cazuela, a reusable ceramic baking dish.

After stopping in Medellín, where an imposing statue of explorer Hernan Cortés stands in the town square, I drove to the great monumental Roman city of Mérida and checked into the Parador, this one ensconced in a renovated convent on a charming plaza. After touring Mérida’s splendid Roman theater and amphitheater, fine Roman Museum (designed by Rafael Moneo) and awesome Roman bridge over the Guadiana River, I dined at the Parador. The simpática server offered me jamón Ibérico from the D.O. Dehesa de Extremadura, followed by a local cheese selection that included a Manchego-type sheeps' cheese; a creamy, log-shaped Doña Inés goats' cheese; an exceptional Torta de Barros (from south of Mérida; winner of the 2003 Salón Internacional Club de Gourmets Torta cheese competition); and several goat cheeses from Berrocales Trujillanos, including an excellent Ibores from Trujillo.

The next day, my itinerary included the little-known hilltop town of Montánchez. Also famous for its hams, Montánchez soars above the Extremaduran plain and has superb views from the hermitage below the castle ruins that crown the hill. After enjoying a picnic lunch of some Ibérico ham and chorizo, local cured olives, wine and fresh figs, and a Serena Torta, I drove to Trujillo, one of Spain’s most striking and history-steeped towns.

Trujillo was the hometown of Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, and Francisco Orellana, a kinsman of Pizarro who discovered the Amazon River. The town is filled with photographic opportunities including Pizarro’s great equestrian statue, the towering San Martín church on the storybook town square, a number of palaces including Pizarro’s, a castle on the hill and many distinguished buildings along steep, winding streets that offer dramatic vistas.

Previous paradores were good places to sample local cheeses. Trujillo was no exception, with good reason: The D.O.P. Ibores offices are located here and Trujillo is host to the most highly esteemed cheese competition in Spain, the annual Feria del Queso, where, in the Plaza Mayor on the first weekend in May, some 350 cheeses are available for judging, sampling and sale. At the parador, I was served a smooth, delicious Ibores goat cheese and a soft, rich tortita de Barros – cut in half and surrounded by toast rounds.

After a restful night, I set out for Cáceres to visit a Torta del Casar producer who came highly recommended by Toño Pérez, chef-owner of Átrio, a Michelin one-star restaurant that serves the best modern cuisine in Extremadura. Just southeast of Cáceres is EXLAJA, a modest, artisan quesería that produces a first-rate Torta del Casar ("Tiana"), a famous non-D.O.P. torta (El Castúo), a flavorful semi-curado and a characterful curado (aged one year). 

Now a D.O.P. recognized by the EU, Torta del Casar is a raw milk Merino sheep cheese that is also coagulated with wild thistle rennet. Similar in style to the French Vacherin Mont d’Or o Epoisses(both cows' milk cheeses), Torta del Casar can be semi-soft or ripened to the point that it becomes molten and can be scooped out with a piece of crusty country bread. Torta del Casar, which gets its name from its torta-shape (like a Spanish potato omelette, or tortilla), is quite expensive since it takes several sheep (two milkings a day) to get the gallon of milk required just to make a two-pound cheese.

Torta del Casar ewe's milk cheese from Extremadura. Coagulated with vegetable rennet made from the milk thistle plant, in accordance with dietary laws that conform to both Jewish and Moorish tenets. 

Photo: Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

I tasted several cheeses at EXLAJA, photographed some charmingly picturesque young lambs and the purple cardo silvestre flowers growing on the property, then drove into Cáceres, enjoying a superb lunch at Átrio – with Torta del Casar ice cream with membrillo strips and vanilla oil for dessert! After lunch I explored the historic old quarter of Cáceres, then drove north, stopping briefly in the town of Casar, from whence the cheese gets its name, to photograph a wonderful scene – the bell tower of the town church crowned with storks in their nests with a herd of sheep in the foreground. Further north, I stopped briefly in late evening at Guijuelo, a town south of Salamanca filled with Ibérico jamon and embutido processing plants, including those of Joselito, the most sought-after in Spain. I spent the night in Salamanca, a city famous for its historic university, its plateresque architecture and the most beautiful Plaza Mayor in Spain. Taking a temporary respite from cheese and ham sampling, I dined that evening on grilled shrimp and the region’s famous tostón, roast suckling pig.

The next day I drove to León, the last stop before continuing into the majestic, but challenging high mountains of the Picos de Europa and the National Park of Cheeses. On the way, I passed through Zamora, where the excellent D.O.P. Zamorano cheese is made from pasteurized milk from churra and castellano sheep. North of Zamora I stopped to visit the ruins of the once magnificent 12th-century Romanesque Cistercian monastery at Granja de Moreruela. Flanking the ruins, standing like soldiers at attention, were thousands of wild thistles, now dried and glowing golden in the rays of the evening sun.

Upon reaching León, I found it in the midst of fiesta, and its restaurants and bars packed. Volunteers worked steadily to create a huge carpet of flowers in front of León’s magnificent Gothic cathedral, but even the flower carpet was upstaged by the sight of the church’s superb stained glass windows lit from inside and glowing like iridescent jewels against the night sky.

The following morning, I headed north to another majestic cathedral, this time a natural one, the mighty Picos de Europa mountains. I had an appointment with Marino González, President of COASA ~ a group of some 40 artisan producers, including González, who is the prime mover behind promoting artisanal food products from the bounteous Asturian cornucopia. Marino led me to Posado de León, a small village in northeastern León province nestled in a valley beneath awesome mountains, which still had pockets of snow in early July. 

Here the Alonso brothers, Tómas and Javier, make Queso de Valdeón, one of the great blue cheeses of Europe. Made principally with cows milk (sometimes laced with a bit of sheeps and/or goats milk), the cheeses are injected with pencillum mold, aged under humid conditions, then wrapped in sycamore leaves before being sold. Valdeón is a wonderfully smooth and creamy cheese with all the character of a classic blue cheese, without the more aggressive traits of other blue cheeses.  
 

 
Tomás Alonso, one of the brothers who produce Valdeón, at their Quesos de Valdeón plant in 
Posadas de Valdeón, León province, Castilla y León. Photos by Gerry Dawes©2012; gerrydawes@aol.com

After visiting Valdeón, I followed Marino González through the dramatic 14-kilometer canyon, the Desfiladero de Los Beyos, and up into the hills to visit his family home, where his sister produces the highly regarded artisan cheese, Beyos. A historic cheese that was nearly extinct, this dense, compact, "peasant"-style, cows milk queso has a unique flinty texture and flavor. The firmness at first bite melts into a buttery, creamy, chalky paste, which makes it a cheese par excellence with cider or wine. I sampled the Beyos with Asturian cider that Marino poured from a height into wide-mouthed glasses. Versions of Beyos are also made with goats milk and mixed cow and goats milk.

For two days I stayed in the Cangas de Onís, an important Asturian tourist and market town in the foothills, visiting a number of cheese producers who work with Marino González, sampling Cabrales, Spain’s most famous D. O. P. blue cheese, a semi-soft blue (made mostly from raw cows milk) with a strong, spicy flavor, and Gamoneu, one of the few remaining naturally bluing blue cheeses. This is made from raw cows' milk (with some goats or sheeps milk mixed in) and has a creamy, pungent flavor. I watched a Gamoneu producer’s wife work the coagulating curds and whey up to her elbows, after which she stoked the apple wood fire that provides the smoky flavor to rows of aging cheese wheels.

At Arenas de Cabrales, I visited Marino González’s own artisan cheese plant and the dark, humid caves on the hill where hundreds of Cabrales cheeses were maturing. I also tasted such cheeses as Afuega L’Pitu, Peñamellera and Ovín, but recounting my cheese adventures in this National Park of Cheeses is alone the subject for another article.

As I was driving towards Cantabria, the thought occurred to me to attempt to reach Tresviso, a town hidden at the end of a corkscrew road up in the highest peaks of these mountains, where a powerful D.O.P. blue cheese, Picón Bejes-Tresviso, is made. But the road was too difficult in my rental car, and I soon retraced my route and headed for the Parador de Turismo Gil Blas at Santillana del Mar, a Medieval village near the sea, southwest of Santander. As luck would have it, the selection of cheeses that final night at the parador included several Cantabrian cheeses including a pungent, grey-blue cheese from Tresviso. It reminded me that on my next trip to Spain’s National Park of Cheeses, Tresviso will be high on my list of places to visit.

(Original version published in Foods From Spain News)

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About Gerry Dawes
 

Writing, Photography, & Specialized Tours of Spain & Tour Advice

For custom-designed tours of Spain, organized and lead by Gerry Dawes, and custom-planned Spanish wine, food, cultural and photographic itineraries, send inquiries to gerrydawes@aol.com.  

I have planned and led tours for such culinary stars as Chefs Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Mark Kiffin, Michael Lomonaco and Michael Chiarello and such personalities as baseball great Keith Hernandez and led on shorter excursions and have given detailed travel advice to many other well-known chefs and personalities such as Drew Nieporent, Norman Van Aken, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenberg, Christopher Gross, Rick Moonen, James Campbell Caruso and many others.

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“The American writer and town crier for all good Spanish things Gerry Dawes . . . the American connoisseur of all things Spanish . . .” Michael Paterniti, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and The World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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"Gerry Dawes, I can't thank you enough for opening up Spain to me." -- Michael Chiarello on Twitter. 

"Chiarello embarked on a crash course by traveling to Spain for 10 days in 2011 with Food Arts contributing authority Gerry Dawes, a noted expert on Spanish food and wine.  Coqueta's (Chiarello's new restaurant at Pier Five, San Francisco) chef de cuisine, Ryan McIlwraith, later joined Dawes for his own two week excursion, as well. Sampling both old and new, they visited wineries and marketplaces, as well as some of Spain's most revered dining establishments, including the Michelin three-star Arzak, Etxebarri, the temple to live fire-grilling; Tickets, the playful Barcelona tapas bar run by Ferran Adrià and his brother, Albert; and ABaC, where Catalan cooking goes avant-garde." - - Carolyn Jung, Food Arts, May 2013.

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"In his nearly thirty years of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

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Gerry 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 with Gerry Dawes  
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

A Taste of Madrid, Western Spain (Castilla y León and Extremadura), Andalucía & La Mancha Tour With Acclaimed Spain Expert Gerry Dawes & New York Times Food & Travel Writer Bryan Miller May 6 – May 17, 2020

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Madrid and Its Tapas Scene, Magical Segovia, Magnificent Roman Ruins, Jamón Ibérico, Extremaduran Cheese, Andalucian Seafood, Sherry & Don Quixote’s La Mancha Tour of Spain

Including the great cities and towns of Madrid, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cáceres, Mérida, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, El Puerto de Santa María, Sevilla, Córdoba, Toledo, and Chinchón

 Bryan Miller and Gerry Dawes

Join Acclaimed Spain Expert Gerry Dawes 
& Former New York Times Restaurant Reviewer Bryan Miller
  
Tour Designed, Organized and Guided by Gerry Dawes

Premio Nacional de Gastronómía 2003

(Spanish National Gastronomy Prize)


May 6 – May 17, 2020 (11 days, 10 nights)

 Chef-owner Fernando Hermoso with langostinos de Sanlúcar at Bar Bigote in  Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

 "I was a fan of Gerry Dawes long before we met and became friends. His writing led me to pursue my interest in Spanish food, wine and culture. His great journalism was and still is very informative and educational, but back 20-30 years ago Gerry was the only lifeline for those of us who wanted the real, authentic, accurate info on the rich and varied gastronomy of Spain. He gave us the lessons but also captured the passion and exuberance of the people who grow food, raise animals, cook, make wine, art and olive oil and cheese and on and on. . .” -- Chef James Campbell Caruso, La Boca & La Boca Taberna, Santa Fe

$4,995 per person; $5,995 single supplement
(without airfare)

(Tour terms and conditions sheet available to all prospective tour participants.)

(Note:  Chef James Campbell Caruso of La Boca Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico was originally scheduled to co-host this Taste of Spain Tour with Gerry Dawes, but had to withdraw due to a serious health problem a member of his family is experiencing, so former New York Times Restaurant Reviewer and food writer Bryan J. Miller will be joining us instead.)

 

About Gerry Dawes 

"My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless criss-crossings 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 of José Andrés ThinkFoodGroup, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

"Trust me everyone, I have traveled with this man, if Gerry Dawes tells you to eat somewhere it's like Bourdain, believe it!!" - - Chef Mark Kiffin, The Compound Restaurant, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"In his nearly thirty years (now fifty) of wandering the back roads of Spain," Gerry Dawes has built up a much stronger bank of experiences than I had to rely on when I started writing Iberia...His adventures far exceeded mine in both width and depth..." -- James A. Michener, author of Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections

Gerry Dawes received Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003.  He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish gastronomy, wine and cultural themes leads customized gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain.  He has shown Spain to many top American chefs such as Thomas Keller, Mark Miller, Michael Chiarello, Mark Kiffin, Norman Van Aken and many others.  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.

 About Bryan J. Miller

Bryan Miller.

Imagine being deep inside the real Spain with two maestros,  writer-photographer-lecturer Gerry Dawes, recipient of the Spanish National Gastronomy Prize and an acclaimed expert with an insider’s perspective on Spanish food, wine, culture and history, and the legendary former (and longest tenured) restaurant critic of The New York Times, Bryan Miller, who offers a top food writer’s perspective on Spanish cuisine, has traveled in Spain with Gerry Dawes on several occasions.   Gerry Dawes and Bryan Miller have teamed up to offer unique, custom-designed, insiders’ trips to Spain.

Bryan Miller reigned as the longest tenured New York Times Restaurant Reviewer for a decade and has also written hundreds of food, wine and travel articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer and other top publications and is the author of numerous books.  Among many awards, Miller  has  received The Associated Press and The James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards Best Feature Article Award and the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.  Bryan Miller lived in Spain and studied at the University of Salamanca. 
 

Itinerary
 (B, L, D, T = Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Tapas)
 

In our travels, we will be dining in restaurants specially selected by Gerry Dawes for their authenticity, quality and uniqueness and our meals will be accompanied by wines chosen by Gerry, one of the top experts on Spanish wines, to reflect the best aspects of each locale.  Participants on this trip will meet and interact with Spanish wine personalities and chefs, with whom Gerry Dawes in many cases has been acquainted for decades.  Although the emphasis will be on food and wine, there will be cultural activities and some spectacular countryside to see and photograph as well and down-time to relax and enjoy the company and camaraderie of our fellow travelers.  And, on this trip, we will have the benefit of the insights and knowledge of Chef James Campbell Caruso, who has specialized in Spanish cuisine for nearly thirty years and has been to Spain numerous times.


Day 00, Wed., May 6 USA to Madrid

Flights to Madrid from U. S.

Day 01, Thurs, May 7  Madrid (L, T)

Arrive in Madrid, Spain's capital, where we will rendezvous at our hotel, which will be near the Prado Museum. We will allow everyone to rest and freshen up, then we will meet at 2 p.m. for lunch at a restaurant owned by Spain’s greatest cortador de jamones, Ibérico ham carver (he travels the world demonstrating how to carve these exquisite expensive hams should be properly carved) and sample the best jamón, personally selected by this superstar personality.  This will be our first introduction to jamón Ibérico, the world's best hams from acorn-fed, pata negra (black foot breed) pigs.  The woman chef, mother of the cortador’s restaurant partner, is a great traditional cuisine cook, so jamón will just be the intro to our meal.

Florencio Sanchidrián, Spain's top professional ham carver.

After lunch, we will visit the Prado Museum with a professional guide.   

In the evening, we will stop at a couple of very special tapas places on the other side of Retiro Park.

Day 02, Fri, May 8  Madrid – Segovia – Ávila – Salamanca (B, L, D) 

From Madrid, we will drive up into the Guadarrama Mountains to Segovia, the roast suckling pig capital of Spain and home to an amazing 2,000-year old Roman aqueduct that still crosses the city.  For lunch, we will have exceptional roast suckling pig, so tender they cut it with the edge of a plate, in a restaurant that has been a must visit for celebrities and just plain folks for decades.  

200-year old Roman aqueduct that still spans the marvelous city of Segovia.

 Roast suckling pig, so tender you can cut it with the edge of a plate, at a classic restaurant in Segovia.

After lunch we will drive less than an hour to visit the amazing Medieval walled town of Ávila, then move on to spend the evening in the historic university city of Salamanca, whose Plaza Mayor (main square) is the most beautiful in Spain, and just sample an order of tostón, roast suckling pig with crackling skin and other non-pig regional specialties.  

 The amazing Medieval walled town of Ávila.

We will being staying at a hotel near the southern approach to the city’s famous Roman bridge over the Tormes River.  We will walk  across the bridge and up into old Salamanca.  (You may recognize the Plaza Mayor square in Salamanca from the 2008 movie Vantage Point.)

Day 03, Sat, May 9 Salamanca – Guijuelo – Hervás – Cáceres – Trujillo (B, L, D)

We will spend a little time in the morning seeing some of Salamanca and visiting the market, then head south through the major pig town of Guijuelo, where we will stop to visit  one of Spain's top jamón Ibérico producers, then travel south, stopping off to visit historic Hervás (an old Jewish town), arriving in to the monumental medieval city of Cáceres, where we will have late lunch and sample the sensational local Torta del Casar  and Torta de la Serena ewe’s milk cheeses.  

 Gerry Dawes at one of the top jamón Ibérico produces in Guijuelo (Salamanca).

After lunch we will take a walking tour of the old quarter of Cáceres, before moving on to the important nearby hilltop town of Trujillo, hometown of Pizarro (conqueror of the Incas) and Orellana (the first European to make the 2400-mile trip down the Amazon).  Trujillo has a major cheese fair every year in May and producers here make great goat cheeses, including Ibores. In Trujillo, we will take a break from pig and have some roast goat and try other regional specialties. 

Statue of native son, Pizarro, conquistador of Peru, in the Plaza Mayor, Trujillo.

 Storks originating in Africa are ubiquitous in Extremadura.

Day 04 Sun, May 10 Trujillo – Montánchez – Mérida (Roman ruins) (B, L)

What an exciting day we have in front of us! After a walk around picturesque Trujillo, the next stop is Montánchez, an incredible hilltop town, where we will sample the prime hams from this village and visit a hermitage with stunning views. 

We will move on to Mérida, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in Europe. The Roman bridge across the Guadiana River, a superb amphitheater and arena, the Raphael Moneo-designed Roman Museum and the well-preserved remnants of this important Imperial city are scattered all over town. (One shop in this city has the figure of a Roman Centurion whose shield is an Ibérico ham.) 

 Roman theater in the monumental Roman legion town of Mérida.

 Roman bridge over the Guadiana River in the monumental Roman legion town of Mérida.

We will stay in a lovely converted palace on the main plaza in Mérida (excellent evening lollygagging territory) and within an easy stroll of all the major Roman ruins. At a local restaurant, for lunch we will sample traditional Extremaduran specialties, including more local cheeses and different grilled cuts of pork from Ibérico pigs.

The afternoon and evening will be free to relax, tour the Roman monuments, the Rafael Moneo-designed Roman Museum, stroll across the river on a pedestrian-only Roman bridge and sample local tapas in the restaurants around the plaza.

Day 05 Mon, May 11 Mérida – Jabugo – Sevilla (B, L, T)

We will spend a couple of hours in Mérida in the morning, then ride south, stopping to make a short visit to Jerez de los Caballeros, the evocative and picturesque hometown of Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (discoverer of the Pacific Ocean) and De Soto (explorer of the Mississippi River). 

By lunchtime, we will arrive in Jabugo, the jamón Ibérico capital of the Andalucía. We will tour a jamón processing plant and have lunch there on some of the best pig products in the world. 

 

La Giralda, the wonderful former Moorish minaret that is now the bell tower of the Cathedral of Sevilla.

After lunch, we will ride a little over an hour to Sevilla, the city of Carmen and one of the most beautiful and evocative cities in Europe.  After checking into our hotel, we can relax until early evening when Gerry Dawes will lead a walking tour of this stunningly pretty city where he lived for nearly six years.  We will sample tapas in a few places, then sit down in a particularly good tapas bar for some grilled shrimp, fried fish (an Andalucian specialty) and other special tapas, including, no doubt, a plate or two of Ibérico ham.  

After the tapas tour, there will be the option of going to an authentic tablao for a flamenco performance.

Flamenco dancer in Sevilla, a city where Flamenco is a way of life.

Day 06 Tues, May 12 Sevilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda (B, L)

In the morning, we will have a guided tour of the Cathedral, the Moorish fortress-palace El Alcázar and the Barrio de Santa Cruz (the old Jewish quarter), do some strolling and shopping, then travel an hour and a half south to the superb fishing and Sherry town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where Columbus set sail on his second voyage to America.  

Langostinos de Sanlúcar (the town's renowned prawns) on the beach at sunset Sanlúcar de Barrameda. 

Flamingos in the Las Marismas marshes around Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

In Sanlúcar, we will prevail upon one of Gerry’s friends to open his old sherry bodega and let us taste some of his exceptional Manzanilla sherries, then we will have lunch at a beachfront restaurant with more Manzanilla, grilled shellfish and some of the best fried fish in the world.  Hopefully, we will see one of Sanlucar's spectacular sunsets from the legendary Bajo de Guia fisherman's beach with a glass of Manzanilla in hand (more on this later). 
  

Gerry Dawes with his long-time friend, owner Javier Hidalgo, at Bodegas Hidalgo, producers of the famous La Gitana Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

In the evening, we will have free time to enjoy the Plaza del Cabildo and environs, which has some of the best tapas bars and restaurants in Spain. 


Day 07 Wed, May 13 Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Cádiz – El Puerto de Sta. Maria - Sanlúcar de Barrameda  (B, L)

Gerry Dawes at a Sanlúcar market bar with langostinos de Sanlúcar.  The bar owners will prepare your purchases for a modest fee.

We visit the Sanlúcar market, buy some ingredients in  market, then take them to a nearby Manzanilla Sherry bodega, where they will prepare them for us for a late morning merienda, mid-morning snack.   Then we will bus to El Puerto de Santa María to take the catamaran hydrofoil ferry to Cádiz, visit this wonderful, unique sea-surrounded peninsular city and its unique market, then take the ferry back to El Puerto,  where we will have lunch at the sensational Aponiente Restaurante, where Chef Angel León is doing some of the most creative, innovative seafood based dishes anywhere.   
 
We will return to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a 20-minute ride, then have a free, relaxing afternoon in this wonderful town, then gather in the evening for optional tapas, a nightcap and a relatively early (for Spain) end to the evening.
 
Day 08 Thurs, May 14 Sanlúcar de Barrameda – Pueblos Blancos – Ronda (B, T, D)
 
We will leave Sanlúcar in the morning and drive east through the spectacular Pueblos Blancos, the white hilltop villages of Cádiz and Málaga provinces, some of which are cheese villages, visit a great mountain cheese producer, then have lunch on local specialties on the terrace of a tapas bar in a mountain town, then ride on through cork forests for 45 minutes to the spectacular city of Ronda, which is set astride a 300-foot gorge that splits the town in two.   

 Zahara de la Sierra, one of several  spectacular Pueblos Blancos, the white hilltop villages of Cádiz and Málaga provinces.

In the afternoon, we will check into our classic hotel, which has gardens with spectacular views of the mountains and a statute of the poet Rilke, who lived and worked here for a year, and reproduction of the room where he stayed. After we check in, we will tour Ronda, see the old quarter, the gorge, the historic bullring and the Bandoleros (mountain bandits) Museum, then have an early dinner in one of the most colorful restaurants in Ronda.  

 

 

Bridge spanning the 350-foot deep gorge that splits the town of Ronda in two.

Day 09 Fri, May 15 Ronda – Córdoba (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we will take our bus to Córdoba, once one of the great capitals of the Moorish world, rivaling Damascus.   We will tour the Mezquita (one of the great Mosques in the world, which is so huge that it has a full-sized Christian cathedral built into the middle of it),  and the Roman bridge crossing the Guadalquivir River.  

 La Mezquita, the Mosque at Córdoba, whose illustrious past as one of the great capitals of the Moorish world (rivaling Damascus).   We will tour the Mezquita (once one of the great Mosques in the world

Just a couple of blocks outside the old walls of the city, we will have lunch at a very special Cordoban taberna, where we will have fried eggplant strips along with two kinds of salmorejo (a thick gazpacho that is at its best here).  We will also sample the excellent jamón Ibérico from the up-and-coming Pedroches ham region north of Córdoba and other Cordoban specialties.

 Lunch at a very special Cordoban taberna, where we will have fried eggplant strips along with two kinds of salmorejo (a thick gazpacho that is at its best here).

The afternoon will be free to wander the labyrinthine streets of the old Jewish and Moorish quarters, one of Spain's finest old quarters, have some free time for shopping.  

In the evening, we will gather in the lobby of or hotel, then take a short walk to another colorful local restaurant for some churrasco (grilled pork loin) or steaks and some good red vinos.  

Day 10 Sat, May 16 Córdoba – La Mancha – Toledo - Chinchón (B, L, D)

 The windmills and castle at Consuegra in La Mancha.

In the morning, we will head for La Mancha, land of Don Quixote, stopping briefly in a couple of Quixote villages (one with the famous windmills) along the way, then arrive for a very special lunch at a spectacular site overlooking Toledo owned by a famous chef Gerry Dawes calls the “Emperor of Toledo.” Our lunch will be accompanied by wines from the exceptional vineyard on the property.

Gerry Dawes with his long-time friend, Chef Adolfo Muñoz, whom he calls the "Emperor of Toledo." 

 Views of Toledo from the olive groves of Chef Adolfo Muñoz's estate on the outskirts of the city.

 Santa Maria la Blanca, the stunning former synagogue in Toledo.

After lunch, we will visit the historic city of Toledo for a couple of hours, see El Greco’s home and the great former Jewish synagogues, then ride about 45 minutes east to the enchanting town of Chinchón, where we will check into a charming hotel just a block from Chinchón's legendary Plaza Mayor, one of Spain's best restored and loveliest plazas, which is like a page out of the 16th Century.  Our group will have the rest of the afternoon free to explore this magical village and shop for unique local items. 

 

Entrance to La Balconada Restaurant, which overlooks the charming Plaza Mayor of Chinchón and serves great traditional Castilian food.

We will have our farewell dinner at La Balconada overlooking the charming Plaza Mayor. At this romantic restaurant, Chef Manuela and her husband Isidro, offer superb classic Castillian dishes, including more pig (brick oven-roasted) of course, but with the option of having roast lamb, wood-grilled steaks, bean dishes, fried potatoes with "broken eggs," artichokes cooked with jamón Ibérico bits, bean dishes and other specialties, accompanied by simple D.O. Madrid (province) rosado and red wines. We can linger over snifters of the town's famous Anis Chinchón licor (dry or sweet), watch the peregrinations of the people down in the plaza and reminisce about the high points and comedic episodes of our trip around Spain.  

Like a page from of the 16th Century, Chinchón's legendary Plaza Mayor is one of Spain's best restored and loveliest plazas.

Day 11, Sun, May 17 Chinchón – Barajas Airport – USA (B)

We will leave Chinchón in the morning for a 45-minute ride to Madrid airport to arrive in time for our travelers to catch their flights back to the USA.

* * * * *

  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.

 ____________________________________________________________________________________

 

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 is 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