Manchego cuisine

The cuisine of this area was popularized by Miguel de Cervantes in his early-17th-century novel Don Quixote, in which a number of traditional dishes are mentioned.

[1] In La Mancha, traditional dishes include gachas de almorta,[1] a paste made with grass pea (Lathirus sativus) flour, and tortas de gazpacho, a flat bread that is the base for the "gazpachos", an elaborate dish appearing in El Quixote under the name of "galianos".

These plants are traditionally gathered in the mountains of La Mancha (as well as others parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia[2]) and used for a variety of dishes.

Additionally, the ñora, a cultivated version of the Capsicum annuum pepper from Valencia,[6] is often used in local dishes such as manitas de cerdo (pig's feet) and migas.

In areas where there is a lot of hunting, a number of game based dishes are also popular, such as conejo al ajillo (rabbit with garlic), liebre a la cazadora (hare hunter-style), and caldereta manchega [es].

The traditional fish is therefore bacalao (salt cod), which was historically imported from coastal areas and does not spoil.

[11] It has a characteristically tart taste when it is new due to the natural flavor of the sheep's milk, though as the cheese ages it slowly develops a savory quality,[11] which Carlos Yescas of the Oldways Cheese Coalition describes as "a delicate balance of buttery, tart, sweet, and nutty.