Gachas

Gachas

Gachas de matalauva. Sweet gachas from Andalucía flavored with anise
Course	Staple dish
Place of origin	Spain
Region or state	Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, Region of Murcia, parts of Extremadura and Valencia
Serving temperature	Warm
Main ingredients	Wheat flour, grass pea flour or corn flour
Variations	Sweet gachas (gachas dulces)

Gachas is an ancestral basic dish from central and southern Spain. Its main ingredients are flour, water, olive oil, garlic and salt.

Gachas are based on a very ancient Iberian flour-based staple food preparation. Gachas may have different consistencies, from a liquid soup to a pie-like thick cake with a golden crust. The way of preparing them changes from area to area and from family to family.

Gachas is considered an unrefined rural dish, the food of shepherds, farmers and itinerant labourers. It has been also described as a 'fundamental Gitano dish'. The gachas have largely been ousted by rice and potato dishes in most areas of Spain during the 20th century, especially in the towns and cities. Consumption of this simple dish resurfaced again during economic downturns and upheavals, like the Spanish Civil War, earning it the name gachas de los años difíciles (gachas of the hard years). Certain modern chefs argue though, that well-prepared gachas are not necessarily a coarse dish.

As a good Iberian dish, gachas are often served with pork products, like salted or fresh bacon, chorizo, salchichón, morcilla, among others.

Andalusian gachas, gachas andaluzas, are traditionally made of wheat flour. The traditional way of cooking them consists in frying garlic slices in olive oil until they are golden. Then the flour is added by sprinkling it over the hot oil with one hand and mixing well with the spoon until the mixture is slightly roasted. Water is added then, pouring it very slowly, while stirring the mixture all the while without interrupting the bubbling. Salt and water are added to taste and desired consistency, the gachas being ready when they "smell cooked".

There are many variations of the gachas in Andalusia itself, as the sweet poleá, the gachas colorás flavoured with paprika or saffron, or the gachas de matanza (butchery gachas), served with a stew with curdled blood, liver and offal. Fried onion and bread croutons may be also added in certain regions. Indeed, there are as many local variants as regions.