Page 217 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

where t o ea t and drink  215

Spirits and Liqueurs
The most common spirits drunk in
Northern Spain are liqueurs. Anís,
flavoured with aniseed, is popular;
so, too, is pacharán, a richly coloured
liqueur made from sloes and produced
mainly in Navarra. The somewhat
stronger orujo originates from Galicia;
it is usually colourless, but there are
also flavoured varieties: coffee, cherry
or herb, with colours appropriate
to the content.
Anís Pacharán Orujo Herb liqueur
Wine
No visit to Northern Spain is complete without
sampling the local wines. The key standard for
the industry is the Denominacíon de Origen
(DO) classification, which guarantees the wine’s
origin and quality. The most renowned wine-
producing region is La Rioja, where many
vineyards established in the 19th century by
émigrés from Bordeaux are still operating
today. The best wines from this region are the
dry red tinto. In Galicia, the most popular wines
are albariño, loureira and treixadura from the
sub-regions of Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Valdeorras,
Ribeira Sacra and Monterrei. In the Basque
Country, it is well worth trying txakolí, a
Montesierra Tempranillo Galician Jarrero from refreshing and slightly prickly white wine.
white wine red wine albariño La Rioja
Cider
Sidra, or cider, has been
produced in Northern Spain
since medieval times. There
are several varieties of cider,
including colunga, porico
and panquerina. It is usually
drunk in establishments
known as sidrerías, or chigres.
Traditionally, a thin stream of
cider is poured into the glass Queimada being served
from a great height; masters
of this art manage not to Queimada
spill a single drop.
Queimada is a traditional Galician
drink based on orujo – a fiery spirit
Bottles of cider made from grapes. The alcohol is poured
into a special clay pot, to which sugar,
Beer coffee beans and slices of lemon or
orange are added, and the mixture is
As a rival of wine, beer is becoming then heated up over a fire. According
increasingly popular in Spain, even in to tradition, witches (meigas) would
regions where there is no beer-drinking stay well
tradition. Most Spanish beer (cerveza) is away from
bottled lager, but you can also find it on anyone who
draught. Popular brands include San had been
Miguel and Mahou, and in Galicia – drinking
Estrella. To order a bottled beer in a bar, queimada.
ask for “una cerveza”; if you want a
draught beer, ask for “una caña”. Galician Estrella

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