Cuisine of Eastern Spain

The east of Spain is rice country and the cuisine of the regions which make up this part of the Iberian Peninsula is as varied as many of the other Spanish provinces. Paellas and other rice dishes, therefore, form the major component of many of the restaurants menus.

The region of Valencia produces is own rice (arroz de Valencia) and the most famous of all the rice dishes made here is the ‘paella mixta’, which is rice mixed with both seafood such as mussels and shrimp and meats such as rabbit or chicken and then coloured with saffron. Paella negra (black paella) is a very tasty variation of the paella mixta which is coloured by the ink of the squid instead of saffron.

The region of Valencia is industrious in the production of citrus fruits and supplies a wide variety of mandarins, oranges and lemons in huge numbers to the worlds markets each year so it is no surprise that the cuisine of the region also features these fruits too, one of which is el pato a la naranja (Duck and Orange).

Inland Castellon, many meat dishes can be found on the menu but above lamb, and heavy stews, based on potato, corn, flour, almonds and walnuts. Baked kid goat, larded meat and tripe  are prepared, as are stews or ollas. The famous Castellón olla can be found everywhere in the province.

Turron (Alicante turron), a tasty Valencian candy introduced by the Moors, is made from almonds, honey and egg whites, and is a traditional sweet eaten at Christmas. The softer variety (Jijona turron) is produced by grinding the almond and honey mixture into a smooth paste before cooking.