GASTRONOMY
What to eat in Zahara Zahara has a wide, top-quality gastronomic offer. More and more restaurants strive to offer the best of our land combined with an excellent taste, a mixture of flavours that are not easily forgotten. There are many typical dishes, such as atún encebollado (tuna with onions), tortilla de camarones (shrimp omelette), fried and salted fish, and meats, as well as locally-grown fruit and vegetables, and regional wines, without forgetting, of course, our delicious homemade desserts and cakes. But our star product is tuna fish. Nobody leaves Zahara without tasting it. But, you’ll be wondering, “What’s special about Zahara tuna fish?” Very simple, Zahara tuna is bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, the largest of its species and considered one of the most evolved living in the oceans today, sometimes weighing more than 400 kg. It is a migratory species that travels great distances for feeding and reproductive purposes, supporting great changes in temperature and long distances of up to 100 km a day. Its strength and hydrodynamic body, makes it one of the fastest fish. Elsewhere you can also eat tuna but the way of fishing it is very important. At Zahara it is caught using the Almadraba (trap set harvesting) technique, between the months of june and july. Almadraba (in Arabic meaning “place where to hit”) is an artisanal, selective, sustainable, and traditional fishing method, more than 3,000 years old, created by the Phoenicians, developed by the Romans and Arabs, until today. It consists of a maze of nets being placed near the coast, where the tuna fish are caught on their annual migration route from the North Atlantic on their way through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean.
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Its meat is tasty, juicy, with an intense and authentic flavour that will delight your palate. It is called the “Ibérico of the sea” as every part is used. It is possible to eat it in many different ways: stewed, grilled, stuffed, with onions, salted, as dried salted tuna loin in oil, roe, dry, in lard or canned. The Tuna Gastronomic Route is held in May (more information at http://rutadelatun.com/) where flavours and colours are combined with much imagination. Don’t miss it! Another local delicacy is Retinto red veal from one of the purest cattle breeds in Spain with its certificate of origin. Tattle can be seen grazing in the fields around Zahara and near the beaches. In September, the Retinto Gastronomic Route is held (http://rutadelretinto.com/), with races on the beach, polo and a livestock show.
