Hi international students! Today is Thursday and we’re back once again with our Spanish gastronomy guide!! 🙂
This week we are going to La Rioja! La Rioja is a single-province autonomous community in the north of Spain. It has a population of 324.000 inhabitants, while its capital, Logroño, has about 153.000 inhabitants, almost half of them. It borders the Basque Country to the north (province of Alava), Navarre to the northeast, Aragon to the southeast (province of Zaragoza) and Castile and Leon to the west and south (provinces of Burgos and Soria).
But what is La Rioja most famous for? Undoubtedly, ITS WINES! With the Denominación de Origen “Rioja”, the region has achieved international recognition, and its landscapes are unreal!
Historically, and until 1982, La Rioja was part of the historical region of Castille, explaining its similarities in terms of architecture, traditions, culture and of course, gastronomy, with regions within Castilla y León. However, it is also influenced by the Northern regions of the Basque Country and Navarra, and Aragón. It’s gastronomy is highly based in high quality legumes and vegetables, mostly peppers, transformed into paprika. The style “a la riojana” can be applied to several dishes and basically means including tomato, red peppers and paprika in a stew or sauce.
As a curiosity, in the region you can find several archaeological samples of dinosaurs, including footprints and several bones. There is a touristic route showing this along the course of river Cidacos, near the village of Enciso. The region is also rich in thermal and curative waters from the rivers Cidacos and Alhama, already exploited by the romans back in the day. The southern part of the region is very mountainous, with several beautiful villages in the Sierra de Cameros, and the northern and central areas are more flat and fertile, prone to successful agriculture and wine making.
Would you visit (and taste) La Rioja? Check it’s main dishes here:
ESN Madrid UPM 