Eating and Drinking Well along Spain's Southern Coast

Spain's southern coast is known for fresh fish and seafood, grilled or quickly fried in olive oil. Sardines roasted on spits are popular along the Málaga coast, while upland towns offer more robust mountain fare, especially in Almería.

Chiringuitos, small shanties along the beaches, are summer-only Costa del Sol restaurants that serve fish fresh off the boats. Málaga is known for seafood restaurants serving fritura malagueña de pescaíto (fried fish). In mountain towns, you'll find superb rabo de toro (oxtail), goat and sheep cheeses, wild mushrooms, and game dishes. Almería shares Moorish aromas of cumin and cardamom with its Andalusian sisters to the west but also turns the corner toward its northern neighbor, Murcia, where delicacies such as mojama (salt-dried tuna) and hueva de maruca (ling roe) have been favorites since Phoenician times. Almería's wealth of vegetables and legumes combine with pork and game products for a rougher, more powerful culinary canon of thick stews and soups.

To Drink

Málaga has long been famous for the sweet Muscatel wine that Russian empress Catherine the Great loved so much she imported it to Saint Petersburg duty free in 1792. In the 18th century, Muscatel was sold medicinally in pharmacies for its curative powers and is still widely produced and often served as accompaniment to dessert or tapas.

Cold Almond and Garlic Soup

Ajoblanco, a summer staple in Andalusia, is a refreshing salty-sweet combination served cold. Exquisitely light and sharp, the almond and garlic soup has a surprisingly creamy and fresh taste. Almonds, garlic, hard white bread, olive oil, water, sherry vinegar, and a topping of muscat grapes are standard ingredients.

Fried Fish Málaga Style

A popular dish along the Costa del Sol and the Costa de Almería, fritura malagueña de pescaíto is basically any sort of very small fish—such as anchovies, cuttlefish, baby squid, whitebait, and red mullet—fried in oil so hot that the fish end up crisp and light as a feather. The fish are lightly dusted in white flour, crisped quickly, and drained briefly before arriving piping hot and bone-dry on your plate. For an additional Moorish aroma, fritura masters add powdered cumin to the flour.

Almería Stews

Almería is known for heartier fare than neighboring Málaga. Puchero de trigo (wheat and pork stew) is a fortifying winter comfort stew of boiled whole grains of wheat cooked with chickpeas, pork, black sausage, fatback, potatoes, saffron, cumin, and fennel. Ajo colorao (also known as atascaburras) is another popular stew, which consists of potatoes, dried peppers, vegetables, and fish that are simmered into a thick red-orange stew de cuchara (eaten with a spoon). Laced with cumin and garlic and served with thick country bread, it's a stick-to-your-ribs mariner's soup.

Roasted Sardines

Known as moraga de sardinas, or espeto de sardinas, this method of cooking sardines is popular in the summer along the Pedregalejo and Carihuela beaches east and west of Málaga: the sardines are skewered and extended over logs at an angle so that the fish oils run back down the skewers instead of falling into the coals and causing a conflagration. Fresh fish and cold white wine or beer make this a beautiful and relaxing sunset beach dinner.

A Thousand and One Eggs

In Andalusia and especially along the Costa del Sol, huevos a la flamenca (eggs flamenco style) is a time-tested dish combining peppers, potatoes, ham, and peas with an egg broken over the top and baked sizzling hot in the oven. Other musts: Revuelto de setas y gambas (scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms and shrimp) and the universal Iberian potato omelet, the tortilla de patatas.