ANDALUCÍA - GRANADA - PREMIOS ANDALUCÍA DE GASTRONOMÍA 2022 - DAY 1
- Miguel Renoir Spanish Guides
- Mar 25, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
We had been invited to attend "The Festival of Andalusian Gastronomy 2020", which, unfortunately, was cancelled in March 2020 due to the start of the COVID-19 restrictions. We now fast-forward two years to March 2022.
After meeting the group at the Hotel Abades Nevada Palace de Granada, we board the coach for our first visit to the Costa Tropical (where there are dozens of beaches and small coves with crystal-clear water and 320 days of sunshine per year). It has an average annual temperature of 20 degrees and is located within 73 kilometres of the coastline of the province of Granada.
Our first stop is the Experimental Garden of Cooperativa La Palma. This is a place where tropical fruits such as mango, cherimoya and avocado are grown. Names that evoke exotic flavours and places, and that, however, are typical of one of the most privileged corners of Andalusia, the Costa Tropical.
We had a walk around the vast production plant.
We were then taken into the information arena. After the informative lecture, we were offered many of the Cooperative's excellent produce to taste, some of which were stunning.
Extremely sweet tomatoes.
berenjenas delgadas (thin aubergines)
Gazpacho
Mini pepino (mini cucumbers).
LA PALMA COOPERATIVE
N-340, Km 342, 18730 Carchuna, Granada
+34 958 62 39 03
From here we travelled on to the rum cellar at Bodega Ron Montero.
The bodega was founded in 1963 by a family with a great sugar tradition.
The bodega is the only one that can be visited in Europe, where you can taste the rums,
and learn about the production process that has earned Ron Montero worldwide recognition, from the lady owner, who gave us a long insight into the production and history of rum.
We finished with a walk around the bodega.
You can then purchase the various rums at the end of the tour to take home.
We were to taste a few of the rums at our later lunch.
RON MONTERO S.L.
Camino de la Vía, 18613 Motril, Granada
+34 958 60 01 83
The next stop was the fascinating Preindustrial Sugar Cane Museum in Motril.
The museum is unique in its kind due to its location, the materials used, and the multimedia didactic methods employed.
The culture and landscape of the town have been linked to the processes of cultivation, exploitation, and manufacture of sugarcane for almost 1000 years.
You will see original-scale reproductions of mills and wooden presses, as well as cooking and purging rooms, during your tour.
Furthermore, it preserves the oldest mill in Europe.
MUSEO DEL AZÚCAR DE MOTRIL INGENIO DE LA PALMA
Calle de Zafra 6, 18600 Mótril, Granada
From here, we move on to lunch at
RESTAURANTE EL CONJURO Michelin Plate IIO
Menú AACT at El Conjuro
Aperitives in the garden
Fried local fish with almond mayonnaise
My grandmother's seasoned octopus
Once seated inside the restaurant
Amela tomato, infused in espichás water
Torrija dashi (which are slices of stale bread in sweetened milk, flavoured with cinnamon or vanilla and then fried) with shrimp from Motril and truffle.
Shrimp, pork knuckle and coconut dumplings.
San Pascual pork with roasted leeks and chocolate sesame sauce.
Pickled mango, miso, and cocoa
We finished the meal with an excellent Ron Montero Licor Ron Café (rum infused with coffee).
All in all, a fabulous meal from Chef Antonio Lorenzo Torres, including some interesting wines from Granada. Certainly one of the best restaurants on the Costa Tropical. Innovative food based on outstanding local products and meticulous treatment.
RESTAURANTE EL CONJURO
Avenida de los Geranios 6, 18730 Calahonda, Granada
+34 958 623 104
Instagram @elconjurorest
After leaving the restaurant, the Mayor of Motril, Luisa García Chamorro, then took us to the Nuestra Señora del Pilar sugar factory.
This factory is situated on the same grounds as the restaurant. It was built in 1881 for the manufacture of sugar and alcohol.
The first instance of grinding sugar cane took place here in 1883, a time when the boom in sugar manufacturing in Spain was experiencing significant difficulties due to infighting between local farmers and manufacturers, compounded by competition between peninsular and colonial sugar. This was exacerbated by poor harvests and a lack of funds, which left the factory in tough times at the end of the 80s.
Around 1984, the Nuestra Señora del Pilar factory, the last factory in Motril to work the thousand-year-old sugar cycle in the Vega del Guadalfeo introduced by the Arabs way back in the 10th century, was closed, putting an end to the production history of sugar cane in the municipality.
From here, we made our way back to Granada and the Hotel Abades Nevada Palace de Granada.
The whole day was very informative, as I had little previous knowledge of the sugar cane history of Granada. The food and drink were outstanding in their taste and generosity, and all were served with a smile.
With special thanks to the retiring President, Rosa Vaña, and Eva Román, Secretary of Academia Andaluz de Gastronomía.
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