Tastings…Samplings…Enjoyment…Variation…Surprises…
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Andorra can offer all of these if you want to experiment.
The image of an exclusively traditional and mountain style gastronomy has been enriched with variety, backing an innovative cuisine which has cleverly married the best of our products with recipes from way, way back and with new techniques and experiences, and total dedication to satisfying the most diverse tastes.
You can take a meal in a typical rural inn, called borda, in the mountains. Don’t think that you will only get salads and grilled meat. Ask for suggestions and you will be surprised by the versatility of Andorran mountain cuisine, very much in line with up-to-date trends. If you do not know mountain architecture very well, we recommend this type of restaurant with its homely décor and warm welcome.
You prefer a pica-pica, some snacks, and a good wine? In Andorra there are many bars and restaurants offering these mini-dishes with very high quality and suited to all pockets. Remember that we are set between two countries well known for their gastronomic products and reputation. Hundreds of cheeses, wines, foie gras, Iberian ham, baby squid, piquant potatoes, octopus Galician style, etc. You get the idea?
While you are away from home you may like to try some restaurant specialising in more exotic cooking. In Andorra you will find Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Japanese restaurants and others with European specialities.
There’s plenty of variety in places and restaurants. Don’t forget haute cuisine. Andorra has the good fortune to have exclusive restaurants offering more than just dishes, unique gastronomic experiences. Find out about the annual gastronomic events which round out the good flavour of this offer. It’s worth your while!
And if you prefer home-style cooking, you will find a host of little family-run restaurants and snack bars where you can eat just like at home and with a good quality-price ratio.
Does this well-varied gastronomic stay suit you?
Trinxat
Ingredients:
a green cabbage
bacon dice
potatoes
some cloves of garlic
Preparation
Boil the cabbage and potato until well done and very tender. Drain them and chop them.. Fry with three or four cloves of garlic and a slice of streaky bacon cut into dice.
The bacon and garlic should be fried slowly, turning the bacon from side to side so that it becomes crusty on the outside. Trinxat can also be served with salt herring.
Andorran meat
Recently meat production in Andorra has been revived, a national product, the result of a traditional system of rearing and feeding which carries an official seal guaranteeing "controlled quality meat from Andorra". You can enjoy it in restaurants in Andorra. Here are two recipes using Andorran veal.
Carpaccio of Andorran veal and ceps with parmesan cheese and honey (recipe offered by the Restaurant La Borda de l’Avi at the 7th Autumn Andorran Cuisine Days)
Ingredients for 4:
400 g Andorran veal
250 g ceps
160 g parmesan cheese
100 g honey
10 g basil
2dl oil
1 lemon
1 clove of garlic
white pepper
salt
Preparation (20 minutes):
Cut the veal into 4 very thin slices and season them with salt and pepper. Spread the honey over the veal and singe it with a salamander.
Arrange the finely sliced ceps over the veal slices, previously sautéed and marinated. Roll up the veal in the form of cannelloni, tie up with string making sure that the ends are closed. Brush with olive oil and cook on a griddle just to sear the outside, leaving the meat pink. Dip the rolls into finely grated parmesan cheese so that the flavour impregnates the meat.
Presentation:
Make a sauce in a mortar with olive oil, garlic, basil and lemon and spread on the plate. Cut the veal rolls across into fine slices and arrange over the sauce. Serve cold.
Courgette charlotte with Andorran veal sweetbreads and ceps (recipe offered by Restaurant Can Manel at the 7th Autumn Andorran Cuisine Days)
Ingredients:
1 courgette
500 g Andorran veal sweetbreads
4 shallots
200 g ceps or morels
1 small glass of brandy
1 egg
60 g butter
truffle
meat juice
salt, pepper and nutmeg
Preparation:
Butter individual moulds and line them with finely cut slices of courgette. Reserve.
Sauté the chopped shallots with butter and add the sweetbreads cleaned and cut into little pieces. Let them take colour for a few minutes and flambé with the brandy. Add the beaten egg. Season well and leave to reduce for a few minutes. Put the mixture through the food processor and fill the moulds, closing them up with a slice of courgette. Cook them in a bain-marie in the oven for 40 minutes at 170ºC.
Meanwhile, prepare the truffle sauce with the truffle juice and meat juice, reducing to the desired consistency.
Turn out the charlottes onto plates, surround with a thread of the truffle sauce and, if wished, garnish with a few wild mushrooms and sautéed sweetbreads.
Party crispies (Recipe offered by M. Dolors Ribes Roigé and Josep M. Troguet Ribes at their book of customs and recipes: Costumari i receptari de la gastronomia andorrana)
Ingredients:
¼ l. water
1 glass of milk
½ cup of oil
½ tsp baking powder
2 eggs
flour
honey
sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
Preparation:
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them to make a paste, let it rest for an hour. Then take up the paste in little pieces, shape into rolls or balls and flatten them with the fingers. Put them in a deep frying pan with plenty of oil and fry them until crisp. Drain them and when they are ready, sprinkle with a little sugar.