Castile-Leon and Castile-La Mancha Restaurants

Castilian food is hearty. Classic dishes are cordero (lamb) and cochinillo (suckling pig) roasted in a wood oven, while prized entrées include perdiz en escabeche, the marinated partridge of Soria, and perdiz estofada a la Toledana, the stewed partridge of Toledo. The mountainous districts of Salamanca, particularly the villages of Guijuelo and Candelario, are renowned for their hams and sausages—as the Spanish saying goes,"Del cerdo, hasta los andares" (literally "From the pig, even the way it walks," meaning all parts of the pig can be used). A typical dish in the El Bierzo area, near León, is botillo—pig's tail, ribs, and cheeks stuffed into pig's stomach. Bean dishes are specialties of the villages El Barco (Ávila) and La Granja (Segovia), and trucha (trout) and cangrejos de río (river crab) are common in Guadalajara. Castile's most complex and exotic cuisine is perhaps that of Cuenca; here a Moorish influence appears in such dishes as gazpacho pastor, a hot terrine made with a mix of game, topped with grapes.