Olive oil & Gastronomy
Olive oil scents kitchens in Jaén and pours all its dishes with health. This juice is the very base of the culture, landscape and, all in all, the life-style of Jaén people. Beyond its geographic frontier, olive oil is one of the pillars of the Mediterranean diet, declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Today, it is one of the most appreciated ingredients in kitchens all over the world. Be seduced by the most authentic flavour.
The province of Jaén produces approximately 20% of the world’s olive oil production and 50% of the Spanish one. The more than 60 millions olive trees in Jaén are an unequivocal character trait of not only Jaén gastronomy, but of the culture, landscape and life-style of its people. Olive oil is the cultural emblem of a population who permanently works to exalt the quality, exquisite and healthy properties of this product. Olive oil is today synonymous with excellence and health. It is one of the essential staples of the Mediterranean diet, giving a touch of distinction to any dish in our kitchen.
The gastronomy of Jaén has in its extra virgin olive oil picual variety an integrative element of a natural and surprising gastronomy which manifests itself through many dishes elaborated with fresh vegetables, game (here called mountain meat) and mountain river fish; convent stews and sweets of an almost mythic gastronomy; starchy stews whose traditional recipes are nuanced with suggestive proper names: andrajos, harapos, calandrajos, guiñapos, galianos and talarines; mill breakfasts with bread dampened in olive oil; and, above all, sublime tapas, which reach it highest expression in cities such as Jaén and Linares, with the peculiarity that all throughout the province of Jaén tapas are included in the price of drinks.
Flavour and landscape in an exuberant milieu of flora, fauna and monumental heritage are the main features of a gastronomy –magical at times– in which popular cuisine and the most avant-garde tendencies alike find their place.