Garlic Capital of Spain

Some people may have heard me say that Ciudad Real is kind of like the Gilroy, California (my hometown) of Spain. While that may be true in terms of quality of life, demographics of our fellow Ciudad Realeños, and size of the city, Ciudad Real is lacking one very important element: the garlic. 

That's why when Camille was visiting last week we made it a point to stop by Gilroy's sister city in Spain, Las Pedroñeras. Las P is located about 2 hours from Ciudad Real and also claims to be the Garlic Capital of the World. During most of the year there are about 7,000 people living in Las P, but during the summer the population swells to about 10,000 because of field workers. Their specialty is ajo morado, or purple garlic, but I think they also grow grapes for wine and olives for oil too. They also have the "Welcome to the Garlic Capital" signs like we have in Gilroy! 

They may be even more excited about garlic than Gilroyans. Check out this garlic sculpture in the middle of a roundabout. Amazing!

Besides the ajo, Las P is known around Spain for having an excellent restaurant called Las Rejas. We read about Las Rejas in one of our guidebooks and they actually have been awarded a Michelin star (the only one in our entire province!). That also means that their menu is pretty pricey, so instead of trying the fancy restaurant we went to the taberna, or less fancy "tavern" version next door. The two restaurants share a kitchen, back hallway, and executive chef, so we thought we were getting a pretty good deal. They serve more elegant versions of Manchegan (from Castilla la Mancha) specialties than you get at the local bar/restaurants around the region.  So this may get a little indulgent, but I want to share some of the photos of the foods we ate. It was definitely one of the best (maybe THE best?) meals we've had in Spain. 

Maybe we're just homesick, but it is really nice to be served butter instead of just olive oil when they brought out the bread. And even better, they gave us whipped garlic butter with a cute little purple flower on top: 

The waiter at the restaurant was very understanding about my vegetarianism and didn't even seem too surprised when I said no to fish in addition to all carne! They had a set menu of the day that normally includes several types of meat, but they made some special dishes for me that turned out great. It was a good day in Spain! Here's my starter of grilled veggies with olive oil and sea salt: 

Camille and Will were doing the carnivore menu and this was one of the first courses they got, quail and white beans: 

Their next course was hake (a white fish):

And I got a creamy potato soup with truffle and basil oil, mmmm:

Here is WP and Camille's main course. They got a little mashed potatoes on the left, fried pork neck in the middle (which was a lot like pork belly) and pork cheek on the right  (which was a lot like pulled pork), with a little applesauce on the top right of the plate.  I even tried a little of the pork neck and it was pretty delicious: 

When it was dessert time the waiter approached the table and asked if we wanted a chocolate dessert with some red berries. I said that it sounded good but asked what my other choices were and then he said, "Actually, that's the only dessert and it is amazing. You should try it." Can't argue with that. Warm chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and blueberries:  

Since it was a sleepy, rainy Wednesday afternoon we were the only customers in the restaurant and spent a good couple hours enjoying the food and the delicious wine. And the whole thing, five courses and wine, was only 35 euros a person! I even told the waiter that I'm from Gilroy, and he was excited to talk some garlic with me for awhile. 

After lunch we took a few more pictures of "scenic" Las Pedroñeras. Las P is in what they call "España Profunda" or "Deep Spain". They use that kind of like we use the term "the Deep South" at home - you expect the people to be a little more traditional and the towns to be real quiet.  It really feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. I think this downtown stretch makes downtown Gilroy look like Paris. They could use a Rilo Nilo Mexican cowboy bar or two: 

They also have an annual Garlic Festival in the summer! Here's the only sign we saw for it given that it is still a few months away. "Feria Internacional del Ajo":

We also saw this building for the garlic company "Ajos de Las Pedroñeras" (small Spanish businesses aren't too creative in the name department): 

We can't wait to be home in the REAL garlic capital this summer. We'll be making it back just in time for the Gilroy Garlic Festival in late July. Las P was cool, but it's no Gilroy. (Go Mustangs!)