Extremaduran cuisine

Extremadura, Spain is known for its different ways of preparing the Iberian pork and mutton. The main characteristics of the traditional Extremaduran cuisine were its simplicity, its lack of clutter and its low cost. It is also a cuisine reflecting a generous spirit, for many of its preparations used to be cooked in large pots to share with visitors, friends and neighbors. The resulting dishes are eaten with local bread.

The preferred spices in Extremaduran cuisine are pennyroyal, garlic, bay leaves and anise. Olive oil is used for frying and as an ingredient in many dishes.

Among the pork or mutton-based dishes, some of the most well-known are the callos con manos de cerdo (tripe with pig's feet), caldereta de cordero (mutton stew), cabrito en cuchifrito, frite de cordero (mutton fry) and the cabrito a la hortelana (kid and vegetable stew).

The chanfaina in Extremadura has nothing to do with similarly named dishes in the Iberian Peninsula, like the Catalan Xanfaina, which is a Spanish version of the Occitan Ratatouille. The Extremaduran chanfaina is a rich stew of mutton liver, brain, heart and kidneys cooked with a mixture of bay leaves, garlic, bread crumbs and boiled eggs.

Traditional Extremaduran gastronomy includes other meats, like hen (gallina), which is one of the main ingredients of the emblematic cocido extremeño stew, hare arroz con liebre (rice with hare) and frogs ancas de ranas fritas (fried frog legs). It also includes local fishes like the tench tencas fritas (fried tenches) and trout truchas con jamón (trout with ham), and even a certain large lizard usually prepared in guisado, made by frying slices of lizard in olive oil, after which they were stewed over a slow fire. Currently lizards are a protected species and trapping them is prohibited.

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Wikipedia