Food Culture

Here are a few hints aimed at helping you enjoy the gastronomic side to your visit and not find restaurants closed at unexpected times!

Before detailing meal times and customs, it's worth mentioning that Úbeda and Baeza really stand out for their tapas. The best local specialities are detailed in the separate section that I've devoted to them, but here I'd just like to explain the differing culture that lies behind tapas in different parts of Andalusia: around the Seville area (i.e. western Andalusia) you have to pay if you want a tapa with your drink, but in many parts of eastern Andalusia you get a tapa or aperitivo for free. In Úbeda and Baeza these are often famously large and you can even make a light supper out of them. Bigger appetites can order any extra dishes, called raciones, to share.

Let's move on to the meals of the day, inevitably beginning with breakfast. As the working day starts so early and lunch is so late, many people leave the office for a few minutes mid-morning to have breakfast out. This leads to many bars specialising in the first meal of the day. Some of them have made quite an art out of a humble slice of toast, often revolving around the omnipresent olive oil that the locals love so much. Toast is served with oil to be poured over it, freshly grated tomato to be spread on it, garlic to be rubbed on and salt to be sprinkled over it.

Lunch is normally the main meal of the day in Andalusia; it's served 1.45-3.30 p.m. and usually involves a set menu or à la carte meal. Set menus tend to be cheaper - and sometimes nastier - although they can be excellent value for money and often throw in cheap plonk as part of the deal. As for ordering your food, it's important to remember that many restaurants will hand you an à la carte menu when you walk in, but have a set menu available if you ask. N.B. The carta is à la carte, while the menú is set!

The starters are usually larger than in the U.K. and may involve a stew or salad, while the main course is invariably meat or fish with a very limited range of veg. Don't forget that veggies struggle in Spain, and Úbeda and Baeza are no exception. Even peas or artichokes are served with diced ham, while pulses are popular, often as a starter, but in stews that also contain meat or sausages of some description.

Evening dinners (mainly 9-11 p.m.), however, are different. Some people do go out for a sit-down meal, but many will go to a bar rather than a restaurant and have some tapas over a beer or wine. The terminology for ordering the following is as follows: a caña is a small draught lager, a tubo a bigger one and a botellín a bottled lager. The most popular wines are from Rioja or Ribera del Duero, as most local consumers haven't yet woken up to the gorgeous wines being produced in other parts of their own country.