Made in Spain

24. Alicante Crowned Spain’s Gastronomic Capital 2025

• Made in Spain • Season 4 • Episode 6

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A city best known for its airport and beaches just stole our hearts with rock and flavour. We start beneath the mountain in Busot’s Cuevas de Canelobre, where a chill 18°C air, vaulted limestone, and centuries-old formations set the mood for a story about time, patience, and the hidden power of place. From there we surface into a surge of taste: Alicante has been named Spain’s Capital of Gastronomy for 2025, and the title feels earned the second you start eating your way through town.

We walk you through Alicante Gastronómica at the IFA convention centre, a sprawling, well-run festival that blends market energy with masterclass insight. Think 260 exhibitors, 130 chefs, live competitions for tortilla and arroces, pastry art from Paco Torreblanca, and generous tastings that range from olive oils to unexpected sips like Chinese whisky. It’s the kind of event where you can chat to producers, learn why a fish broth matters, and pick up tips you’ll actually use. Along the way we spotlight the dishes that define the region—arroz a banda, pericana, salazones—and the sweet icon with its own denomination, turrón de Jijona.

To make your itinerary sing, we share two standouts at different moods and price points. Manero brings polished tapas, preserved seafood, tomato salads, truffled omelettes, and a stellar Russian salad in a room with vintage charm. Natsu Ramen delivers fast, soulful bowls that justify the queue and prove Alicante’s palate is wider than many imagine. Add in strong Arabic and halal options, plus local wines, mistela, and gins that speak of citrus and scrub, and you’ve got a city ready to reward curiosity without breaking the budget.

Hungry for more journeys like this? Follow and subscribe so you never miss a plate, share the episode with a friend who loves Spain, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. What should we eat next time we’re in Alicante? Tell us on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01:

This episode of the Maiden Spain podcast is powered by Goco Energy, clean natural energy for life at the speed of go. Welcome everyone. Our season finale, episode six, season four, and today, Alicante rising from caves to cuisine and Spain's new gastronomic capital of 2025. My name is Laura Senior, and I'm Nalini Sharma. And we are your co-host for the Made in Spain podcast. We could not be more delighted to be here with you today talking about a city that is very close to us. It's actually the city where I was born in Alicante. So Alicante's really been on a kind of a huge progression as a city. And today we're talking about a couple of different things. Something that's very historical and also something that's very new. And it's this attribution of the gastronomic city of the year. So that's a little bit of what we're going to be discussing today. So from underground cathedrals to Michelin stars, LA County is definitely on the rise.

SPEAKER_00:

It is on the rise. And I mean, people who travel to this part of Spain or they may just think of it as oh, the train station and the you know that it's one of the busiest airports in all of Spain, soon to become busier from the flights that are slated for next year. However, I think maybe people might bypass the city because they just they may not think there's a lot happening there. But first of all, there's a huge port. Yes, it's a beautiful port, they have beautiful beaches, and the food scene in Alicante is really on the rise.

SPEAKER_01:

I really think the food scene's probably one of the biggest things to highlight. But before we go any further, we do want to ask you, please subscribe, follow, leave your ratings, ask questions. We love to interact with our listeners, and we can't wait to hear from you. It is great when you reach out on socials too. If you want to look for us on socials, that will be at the Maid in Spain Podcast on TikTok and Made in Spain Podcast on Instagram. So we look forward to hearing from you. So I think first, chronologically, we need to start historically at the cave. So Lenny, tell us a little bit about.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you are in the Alicante region, even if you I mean, I've had people who live here who were born here and they've never been to the caves, and they're asking me, the foreigner, what are the caves like? And I, you know, have you never been there? No. So it's like one of those things where you have these interesting places to visit in your own area and you don't go. So I highly recommend a little afternoon trip. It is in Busot, which is about 23-ish kilometers from the center of Alicante City. It's an easy drive. It's, I mean, not hard to find. However, it's not a forgiving drive. You have to drive, think here, you're driving to a mountain and you're going, you know, to look for these caves, but it's a winding road. So if you are planning on going, uh, maybe go earlier in the day and give yourself a little extra time just to, you know, driving safely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I wouldn't be personally wouldn't want to be driving there at night, but maybe just because I'm a little bit more of a, you know, scared driver, you could say. But I do think the caves are definitely worth, you know, like a Sunday visit or a Saturday visit. You do have to get tickets.

SPEAKER_00:

You have to get tickets. And this is here's one thing that we've learned pretty much with anything that you can you want to visit, I think in Spain. The best advice I would give you is that if you look up tickets for tickets for caves Alicante, you search it in English and the caves come up. Um do not, I mean, you can buy it from whichever website you choose to buy it from. However, if you go onto the actual website of the local town. The town hall website, the town hall website, you will most likely be able to purchase tickets for any number of things, especially something that is public.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

And you don't have to pay a marked up price. So how much, like, how much do you pay? Five euro or ten euro?

SPEAKER_01:

Very, very cheap. I think it was like seven euros each or something, including the visit to the I don't know, this was strange, but like Ethnological Music Museum, which we didn't go to, but the caves themselves. However, if you went on like get your guide or one of these, it was like 50 or 60 euros. And by the way, you cannot go in there without a guide.

SPEAKER_00:

So the ticket includes the visit with the guide, with the tour, and they actually wait for you. So there's X number of people they allow in. It's not a free-for-all. So if it's 15 people for that particular hour, you have to show up for that hour. You can't stroll in when you feel like it.

SPEAKER_01:

No, and people will kind of like you know, again, us, we thought, okay, be there around this time. I'm thinking, well, maybe they have different passes or waves of people that they're letting in. And we showed up, we showed up on time 10 minutes early. And the gentleman actually said, Laura, I'm like, oh my goodness, were you waiting for us? I'm like, whoopsie. So yeah, definitely worth uh planning. And Alina's gonna describe a little bit about what it was like. But one thing I will say that is worth noting, unless you've got some creative way that you're taking pictures or video, they do not allow you to take pictures or video during the tour at all. So we did not uh post anything about this on socials because we couldn't get any footage other than us outside being attacked by the wind because it was very, very windy that day. It's a beautiful view though. It's absolutely gorgeous view, but definitely something worth noting. And you know, we'll talk about more about why they don't let you take pictures and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

But now the space itself is about 80,000 uh square meters. They have uh stalactites and stalagmites.

SPEAKER_01:

Um the stalactites was from stalactites, yes. Okay, I believe so. But don't please don't quote us on that. We're not geologists.

SPEAKER_00:

We're not geologists. Um it the discovery of the cave has been attributed to the moors. However, it really wasn't uh a lot really wasn't known about it until the 19th century, um, even though it's been there from the beginning of time. It is located okay, I don't know a lot about rocks, but it's the upper upper Jurassic limestone. Yeah, that sounds about right, which is 145 million years old.

SPEAKER_01:

So there was one really mind-blowing thing about these caves, and you know, I think uh I walked away with something after this, which was you know, you talk about this is more kind of painful than watching paint dry. Right. And we said, you know, and now I have a new one, which is like this is more painful than watching stalic mites form. Yeah, because it's apparently one centimeter every 100 years. Yes, that's what he said, right? Yes. I was like, are you kidding me? Like well, if you look at the water, it just drips, it doesn't, yeah. So it's a tiny little bit of one drop of water with some salt and whatever geological magic is happening there for these stalacmites and the stalactides to grow. And wherever there is a stalicmite, usually there's a stalactide or whatever way around that is it drips and then it from the ground, yes, right?

SPEAKER_00:

So it's coming from the top and the bottom as well. Um, the in interior is about 70 meters high, which is one of the highest in Spain. So that's quite interesting. And the guy that we had, he was um very passionate.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, just being honest here, because again, we want to be transparent when we do this podcast. He was a little different, and he was very, very intense for sure. I had a hard time not laughing because you could tell, you know, as a guide who probably does that tour multiple times a day, he was cracking the exact same jokes and laughing at his own jokes for God knows how many times he's done that that day. And also he was just kind of like when he told us that no one could take pictures. He was telling us how this woman the week before had fallen because she hasn't she didn't listen to the advice about not taking pictures, it's dark in there, you know, people are paying more attention to their phone than what's going on around them. Yeah, she fell, the cave had to be closed for an hour, but it was almost like he was happy that she fell.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, because there was a woman there was a woman on the tour who kept trying to take pictures and he like on the download. Yeah, she had to be told several times, and then after the second or third time she got told off. Then he I don't think she spoke Spanish, though, so she really didn't care. But he then related the story about how this woman fell, blah, blah, blah, and that they made her pay for all the hours that the caves were closed, which ended up being uh whatever. A lot of money. Yeah, a lot of money. So yeah, he we got a scolding. We did call him the keeper of the cave. The keeper of the cave. The keeper of the cave. So he definitely had that vibe. He definitely had the keeper of the cave vibe.

SPEAKER_01:

But I will say, worth going to, and it's called Cuevas de Cannelobre. Yes. Because it cannelobre in Valenciano is a is not a candlestick. Excuse me. Chandelier. Chandelier. No, chandelier, no, sorry. Candel uh like a candle, yeah, like the the candles. Candelabra, I think it's called. That's a hard one for me to say. Yeah. So candelabre. So And there's one stallic mic. That looks like it.

SPEAKER_00:

That looks like a candelabra. Very intense tour because as you get further and further down into the cave, he keeps pointing out all the rock formations that look like some face or a lion or uh, you know, and I mean you feel like really obliged to see it. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like, oh no, that's a turtle, that's a shark. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And then you look and you're like, yeah, I can see it. Yes, we can see it. And you're like, can we go back up the stairs now? I will say for anybody uh thinking of doing any cave tour, because there are a lot of cave tours to do pretty much all over Spain. Um please wear proper shoes because it is wet inside and it's very easy to fall.

SPEAKER_01:

So in the Cuevas de Ganonoro, one of the things that's super cool is that multiple times a year they have events in there like opera concerts, which would be super cool, right? Music concerts, all kinds of things. So imagine the sound of a cave. And we're gonna be talking about that in the next episode, episode one, uh, for season five. Uh, the sound inside a cave when you listen to music is very, very unique. So I think it is also worth mentioning, Nelanie. Do you want to tell us a little bit about the cave and the civil war?

SPEAKER_00:

Was I supposed to know that?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, okay, I'll say it.

SPEAKER_00:

No problem. So the I do know that. Yes. They used, yeah, sorry. They they used it as a place where they could repair uh their aircraft and military equipment. So which to me, when I read that, I thought that was really interesting because it's basically a natural bunker. Yeah, it's a natural bunker, but then also it seems quite far like to have your stuff up there. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

I think it was a very strategic position. They were hiding there. Yes, they were repairing the engines from these aircraft. Yeah, but the sad part about that is when they were preparing the cave to be able to use it as this kind of bunker to build their engines in during the civil war in Spain, they put dynamite in there and they destroyed a lot of salagmites and salactites that had God knows like thousands and millions of years to form gone in one explosion.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Because again, that that that's not the priority at that point, wasn't to conserve the salagmites. They were trying to clear out of course, they were at war.

SPEAKER_00:

They were at war, but it is very sad to think about that. Well, I think that probably happened all over the country, not necessarily an explosion or anything, but that it was used as a secret hiding and nature's secret hiding spot. Yes. So well worth a visit, close to Alicante, very inexpensive. Um, yeah, and just really interesting. A nice way to spend, especially, I would say it's a great thing to do in the middle of the summer when it's 40 degrees outside. It's nice and cool inside.

SPEAKER_01:

It's actually consistently 18 degrees Celsius. Perfect. So it's super nice. And it is called the Cuevas de Carmel. And that's C-A-N-E-L-O-B-R-E for those who want to look it up. Busot. If you are into geology, it is a must.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

So we are going from horses to geology to food. So hopefully there's something in this podcast for all of our listeners.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. Now, Alicante named one of the top gastronomic cities in all of Spain for 2025, 2025, which uh, in addition to I think appearing on a few lists as one of the most livable cities in Spain. Um, I think that's a great distinction. And we are, I would say, maybe let's say an hour, you know, from Alicante by highway. A little bit less, right? A little bit less. However, uh we don't go every day.

SPEAKER_01:

No, but it's something you go to maybe like actually I'm going there tomorrow, just you know, for a medical appointment, but it is somewhere you go for like once a week, maybe once every couple weeks.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And then it seems that every time that we do go there, we discover something new, another place to eat, a new restaurant, a new offering, which it where we live, there is nothing new. Yeah. It's like we don't have any new restaurants or limiting. Yeah, it's a lot more limited. Same restaurants that we go to. So it's kind of exciting that not too far away from us, that you have this city now that is really, I think, trying to market itself as a bit of a foodie destination. So why not?

SPEAKER_01:

They got the designation from the Fibet F-E-P-E-T, uh, which is like this group of um hosteleros or you know, people who are dedicated to the restaurant and hotel industry. I believe the prior year 2024 was Oviedo, and this is officially the title of Spanish Capital of Gastronomy.

SPEAKER_00:

That's really cool. Good for Alicante.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, very, very good for Alicante. So we're gonna be talking about two different things when it comes to food in Alicante. We're gonna be talking about the event at the IFA, which is called the Alicante Gastronomica, and we're gonna be talking about some of the unique and cool restaurants that we have experienced ourselves. So maybe what we'll do, Nalini, is why don't we start with the IFA itself uh and the event and kind of what you saw there and what were some of your takeaways?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, this is uh the best way to I mean, say it in in to in English to explain it, is a food, it's a food festival. And it is um close to the airport. The it's uh it's a convention center. That's the best way to say it. So you have all a massive convention. It's yeah, it is huge. So just like any major city would have a convention, this is where the food fair takes place, which actually is a brilliant place to have it because the parking is vast. You enter, um, they have it very well organized in that you it's free to enter. You just the per parking was four euro. It's nothing. And and they have it every year. They have it every year, and you buy tickets. So I mean, if you've gone one year, the next year you would probably know how much how many tickets you need. So we end up spending uh maybe 20, but we still had money left over 20, 30 euro. Um, and then you can just go along and you have your little bracelet, they load it up on your electronic bracelet, and they just uh and actually the price of the bracelet that went to charity.

SPEAKER_01:

So I believe that was like two euros per bracelet.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and they just um and they just did deduct it from that. So you had um pasta, you had uh paella, you had the little uh pinchos, you just everything. You had chicken, you had fried chicken, you had ice cream, um, candy, and a lot of free stuff as well. A lot of free stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

Everything was free stuff, but a lot of free stuff. So there were this was specifically this year, 3rd to the 6th of October. Uh it does happen every year. There were this year 260 exhibitors, 130 chefs, including uh the Roca Brothers, uh Berasategi, a lot of Michelin star chefs, as well as Paco Torre Blanca, who is very, very well known for all the baking, the confectioner, uh the desserts, etc. And this year there were about 85,000 visitors.

SPEAKER_00:

Wow.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you can see. I mean, the first we we went on the first day pretty much uh a few hours after it opened, it was already very busy. Yeah. Um, they have various different types of competitions, they have nice uh exhibitions where you can watch them do a traditional paella, a uh they had a tortilla.

SPEAKER_01:

They had, so I've got some written down here. There was a Spanish tortilla competition, there was, of course, the arroces and the paellas from Alicante, there was a tuna tartar, apparently competition, pastry awards from Paco Torre Blanca. So, you know, it you could have everything from like a Michelin star experience with something being prepared by one of the greats to your grandmother's croqueta, basically. That's everything that's kind of the contrast that that you had, and also the theme of the year was flavors of our um our earth or lo el sabor de nuestra tierra. Okay, you know, so that flavors of our area, you could say. So a lot of the different town halls were represented, and they had come with some of the restaurants, there was a a kind of club area with uh DJ, etc. Really good.

SPEAKER_00:

And the thing, the really nice thing about is when you go to um a food festival such as this, yes, they're there to sell their plates, but they're also there to sell their business. Yes. So they're very, if you're curious about something, whatever product they have, whether it's a a wine, a kava, uh, an olive oil, um you know, some pr seafood products, they're very, very happy to sit and discuss it with you because that's what they're there for. You know, that's the point of the food fair.

SPEAKER_01:

We even sat with a lady from China who introduced us to this Chinese liquor that was like you know, setting your eyelashes on.

SPEAKER_00:

Actually, there were two Chinese uh whiskey. Yes, Chinese whiskey. Chinese whiskey. And I mean, that's really what it is. It was whiskey from China. Um, and they were side by side, and she was sort of pretty much all by herself. So we thought, why don't we go and have a you know, talk to her about sort of Chinese whiskey. She did, and she said um it's like 70 proof or something.

SPEAKER_01:

It's very, very strong.

SPEAKER_00:

Very strong. And then I mean, she was very happy to answer our questions. And our question literally was Is this being adopted in this market? And she said it's a little bit slower because it is very strong. So, but interesting that they were there and not one, two of them.

SPEAKER_01:

It didn't taste that much stronger than some of the sherry we've tried.

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, so but yeah, like you just had so many different things that you can kind of you know poke around. And the funniest thing is that we sort of parked in one area.

SPEAKER_01:

We missed the whole wine exhibition. Apparently, you could pay 10 euros and try 150 different wines. We missed all of that. Like we were just too focused on the food and the pinches and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

And then she told me the next day, she's like, we missed half. A whole pavilion. Yeah, an entire pavilion we missed. And we're like, oh, okay, well, we had food and we were full.

SPEAKER_01:

So I wanted to mention a few typical, typical dishes. Okay, we'll move to the restaurant from Alicante. One of them is the arrozabanda, yes, uh, which is your saffron rice cooked in fish broth. Not quite paella, uh, but you know, it kind of looks like a paella. The other one is the pericana, and pericana is roasted pepper and cod spread.

unknown:

Oh.

SPEAKER_01:

So you kind of spread that on bread. Then you have the salazones, which is the ancient salted fish. Uh, so that's you know, really because of the port being there and everything else, that's very typical. And then you have the turrón de chishona, which we're gonna try on our in our slice of life. So those are some of the flavors that you could say define the city. Let's talk about a couple of highlights restaurant-wise. Do you want to talk about the manero?

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So manero is a uh it's a restaurant, but it's also a group. So they have five different locations. Um, two in Alicante, two in Madrid, and they've actually opened recently one in Marbella. Oh, cool. Yeah. Um, you can, it's spelled M-A-N-E-R-O. If you go on their website, it gives you opportunities uh to book at whichever location you want to. We've gone to the one in Alicante. Um yeah, we've gone to the one in Alicante.

SPEAKER_01:

The the we've gone to the one that's more like their tapas bar. Right. That used to be a champagne club, and now they've taken away the champagne club, I believe.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. They used to have, well, I mean, it's there physically, but it's no longer a private champagne club.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I see. Okay. So I printed a little bit of their menu because it's a very um, I would say it's the decor is a little bit it's 70s. Yeah, like it's a little bit older, but it's very cool. It's not, it's not just a, I don't know, a roadside bodega or anything. Oh my goodness, no. It's really nice. It's got a nice vibe, and everything that they have in there, they make their own olive oil. They have their own, I think they make their own kava too, if I'm not thinking.

SPEAKER_01:

They make a really cool online shop. And a lot of like conservas, you know, that you can buy.

SPEAKER_00:

And they're the wait staff. Um, when I remember when we went, they are very well versed in anything that you're ordering, whether it's seafood, um, anything. They're just really happy to share with you where it's coming from. So you have uh white tuna belly, you have spicy mussels, you have the Monero cheese board, you have the salt cured tuna slice, you have so good. Yeah, there are, I mean, I just I had to print some of the things.

SPEAKER_01:

The tomatoes there, they have like a tomato salad. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, they have the Hilda, of course, the uh Russian salad, which they're very, very well known for. Um, beef jerky with parmesan that's on there, garlic prawns, the truffle omelet. There's just so many yummy, yummy things. It's a fun place to go. They're making me hungry. I'm hungry too. And also, I learned that they do a tardeo. Okay, that's interesting. With a DJ. With a DJ, and you can go and you can book. So they have uh and they have the DJ nights listed out 8 to 9:30. Uh uh, you know. Coming up, we're gonna do this. Yeah, that's a nice, it's a probably a really nice way, and not super late at night that you have to go out, but to spend a nice afternoon. So I think it's a very interesting restaurant group from Alicante that is now starting to expand.

SPEAKER_01:

So definitely check out Monero. We love that chain, and again, we're not being sponsored by them or anything. Yes. So now we're gonna go in a totally different direction. Okay, I'm going to share about Natsu ramen. So Natsu ramen is very interesting to me that you think, okay, what's a ramen, you know, ramen? Really? Yeah. It's ramen is actually really big in this part of Spain. There are a number of ramen show ups anywhere from Alicante to Benedorm to etc. etc. And they're actually pretty good. So the Natsu ramen, what I think is very, very unique about it is that you can go Monday to Sunday, there's a queue. Oh, wow. Lunchtime. So they don't take reservations, you have to cue, and sometimes the cue is serious. Wow. So it's a little uh ramen shop. I want to say there's maybe like nine or ten tables in there, but it's small, and you can also eat at the bar.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

And last time, I actually visited uh with my husband for the two of us with a drink with a big bowl of ramen, it was under 30 euros. Wow, that's cheap. And the quality was very, very good. They have all kinds of different ramen. You can have like your vegetarian, you're you know, so really I would say if you haven't tried ramen because maybe you don't eat pork or something, it's worth the try. They do have other cool Japanese dishes that are not ramen, but they are definitely most well known for their ramen. So look up if you are into ramen and you want to try one of the best ramen stores in the whole of Spain, actually, is in Alicante that's Natsu N-A-T-S-U.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think um super hard workers as well, super hard workers. Well, if they're making the noodles from scratch. Yeah, and not just that, it's like you like if you we sat at the bar, right? You watch how fast they're working. Right. Because obviously you've got a queue of people outside the whole time. It's not a meal that's like your sobremesa long meal. Right. You're in there, you eat your slurp it, you you're they want you out, they want you out, you know, obviously, so that they can get the next person in because it is very affordable.

SPEAKER_00:

So But I think that's probably one of the reasons, not necessarily the Remen place, but the fact that there are places now because for I mean, I've had people come to Spain and they'll say, Oh, I, you know, I I didn't like the food, or it was very particular because they maybe come from a more Asian, maybe, you know, or just an intern international city in which you have all kinds of different cuisines. Whereas sometimes you can go to, you know, a little town here and you're not finding a lot of variety. You're finding very typical Spanish food, and you know, it'll be from one bar to the next to the next to the next or restaurant. So that there are outside influences now, and they're, you know, people are interested in different types of cuisine. It's really good.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And actually, now that you say that, I do want to mention that if you are visiting Alicante, another thing you can find multiple choices for is Arabic food. Right. So you have really good couscous places. So even if you look like for Moroccan or couscous restaurants in Alicante, there are several or several which are halal, you know, they're really, really great places to go. So heavily recommended. And I hope that you make Alicante a stop. And that if you're a foodie, definitely check out the lots of different options. There are Michelin Star restaurants as well. We just went for two that are very accessible but at the same time enjoyable. And obviously, if you are around when you can go to the E5 event and to the Alicante Gastronomica, worth checking out. Worth checking out. All right, slice of life. So before we dive into our slice of life, a quick shout out to our amazing partner, Goco Energy. You have to try this.

SPEAKER_00:

That's right, Laura. Goco is energy done right, made with coconut water, natural caffeine, and real fruit flavors. No crash, no jitters, just clean, feel-good energy that actually tastes amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

It's perfect, right? Whether you're working, traveling, or just keeping your creative spark alive. Basically, it keeps you in that go mode.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree. I'm not necessarily a fan of all energy drinks, but this is one that I truly enjoy. My favorite flavor so far is pineapple, and you can order it straight from gocoenergy.com. That's g-o-k-o-energy.com. Shipped right to your door.

SPEAKER_01:

So hydrating, refreshing, and honestly, it just makes everything flow better.

SPEAKER_00:

Slice of life. Yeah. Okay, so what are we having today? We are having uh first let's look at the our drink. We're not actually gonna have this today, but we thought we would just have it. This is from Pepe Mendoza, which is um here. It's produced in Alicante. Alicante has actually a very big uh wine, is a huge wine-producing region. Um, and it's not only red and white wines, they also have Mistela. Yes, and a very good selection of gins from this area that reflect the you know, the terroir of the land. So if you are in the Alicante area and you know you want to try wine, it's there you have many, many to choose from. This just happens to be the one that we have. There is a Mendoza winery close to where we are.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and they're I'm not sure if it's the same one, though. I don't know if it's the same one.

SPEAKER_01:

This just Mendoza. Yeah. But that one's a monastril. So yeah, that's a really interesting red. And what we have here is actually the turron. Yes. I mean, turron, we're not gonna get a lot into it, but almost deserves like a section by itself because it is the king and queen of the suite of Christmas. Right. Like in every Spanish house at Christmas, you have some form of turron. Yes. I believe the right word for it in English is nugat or something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, I think nougat is different. Because the ingredients in this, nougat tends to be a little bit chewier and harder. I think they have a version of it that is like that. But there's just like 25 different versions of it. But this is made with um very simple ingredients. It's almonds, egg whites, sugar. So did you try it yet? No. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Of course I am. Flying Turon. Is it? Let's see. Oh yeah. So this one is what they call Turrón blando.

SPEAKER_00:

So good. So a little bit of the history of this very famous suite, you will find. I mean, it's from Gijona. And it is given a it has a um denominational distinction by the Spanish government that the almonds are grown in that particular part in the province of Alicante. It is produced there, so it has its own designation. Simple ingredients. There are, as with most food products that are centuries old, there is always this kind of gray area as to why it I don't know, it exists, who invented it. Some say it was the Arabs, the Moors, and the reason it's in this form is because you're able to preserve it for a long period of time.

SPEAKER_01:

So this one specifically got almonds, egg whites, yeah, a ton of sugar, yes, and honey.

SPEAKER_00:

And honey. So very simple ingredients to keep it. But they they said the you know the origins of it is that there was a competition to see who could make something to preserve the ingredients, you know, for a longer period of time. And you, I mean, you could that could stay on a shelf for a very long time.

SPEAKER_01:

It is delicious, it does feel very decadent. It's very decadent. And one thing I haven't had any of this since last Christmas. Yes, you know, because you get so stuffed with it at Christmas, and you don't want to see it again until the following Christmas. You can make really good ice cream from this one particularly. Like you have the Turron ice cream, it's so good.

SPEAKER_00:

And what's interesting is that when you go to uh Madrid, you will see, especially at Christmas, the city is, I think the city smells like this. Yeah, it does. It really does.

SPEAKER_01:

It really does.

SPEAKER_00:

But it's a delicious, it's really delicious, and oddly enough, it tastes a little bit like um some Indian sweets. I could see that. You know why? Because most Indian sweets are, first of all, with a lot of milk, um and nuts. Gulab jaman or something like that. Similar, similar, but it has that same kind of texture and flavor. So I think you know, I think that's kind of interesting. Because the first time I ate it, I thought, oh, this just tastes like an Indian sweet to me. It doesn't taste particularly sweet. And then you have the chocolate turon. There's so many, but it is a staple of I would say, dessert here.

SPEAKER_01:

Check though, when you are traveling back to your country and you want to take some turon with you, check if you can take it or not. Because I did get told off in Canada once and had to throw a bunch away. Why? Because they said that you couldn't bring food in the country, even though it was like fully packaged, then I bought it at the airport. Oh, they also threatened to fine me$400. I was like, here's your taron, you can keep it. It's probably because they wanted it. I don't know. I was like, no, but before, like, you know, people would used to take like Sarano Hama stuff to the states and to different places, but yeah, just check where you're going. Even if they sell it at the airport in a lot of places, you cannot carry food. And if you're traveling within the European Union, you're fine.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, but if you're traveling, buy it and eat it because it's really good.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. Like if you're traveling, you know, Australia or US, or just check where you're taking this stuff to. It's definitely worth noting.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, that's a wrap, Laura, on this season. Or do we have more? One sentence of the day. No, no, I didn't mean no before we get to the sentence of the day. That is there something you're looking forward to for season five?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So we have a number of trips south. So we are focusing a little bit more on the south in in the next little bit, and we may finally be going to Ubrique in season five. Uh, we talked about this in season one, you know, the town where they have all the secret luxury leather manufacturing going on for a lot of the nice, nice, nice handbag brands. So we're probably going to be going there. We will be visiting Cadiz and we'll be visiting Seville and probably Malaga as well. So lots coming up. What are you excited about?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, just the can I think the continuation because it really gives us an opportunity to see different cities, experience different things. We've done things close to home. That's you know, half-hour drive away to the we've literally gone to the bottom as far southwest that you can go, and to the top as well. So I think, and also within a very short period of time. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So when you look at where this podcast has taken us to, the fact that we've gone all the way, like Nalini said from Bilbao, that you know you couldn't get much more northern than that, to south of Spain, Cadiz Jerez, etc. It's such an exciting journey, and we get to do it thanks to you. So we are very grateful for our audience and for our listeners, and we hope that you are enjoying this. And please connect with us before we go. We have our sentence of the day. And because this one was very food-oriented. Okay. So the sentence of the day is a panza llena, corazon contento. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

My heart is content.

SPEAKER_01:

Corazon contento? A panza. Oh. Panta.

SPEAKER_00:

This is called that's what your stomach is called.

SPEAKER_01:

Pantha. Well, it's not like a formal way to say it, but it's like my belly. Pantita. Panta, you know, like that kind of thing. Okay, uh, is a full belly?

SPEAKER_00:

A full belly. Equals uh content heart. Yes, happy heart.

SPEAKER_01:

Like a happy heart.

SPEAKER_00:

A panza llena corazon contento. Well, I'll tell you, if you go to the food fair and then tour around Alicante, you will have a very full belly. Happy heart. Happy heart. Hopefully, not a heart attack from eating too much. So, but there's lots to choose from there. So check it out. Yeah, and uh, you know, we look forward to chatting with you guys in season five. Bye. Bye. Bye for now. The Maid in Spain podcast is fueled by Goco Energy, refreshingly real energy that keeps the good vibes going.