A TRIP TO GRANADA

Earlier this month, we thought we’d celebrate our wedding anniversary by spending a few days in Almeria’s beautiful Cabo de Gata but the weather forecast for that region was so bad at the time that we had to abandon our plans and decided, instead, to treat ourselves to a meal at a restaurant we’d heard about in Padul, in the Lecrin valley. To make the evening more special, we left early so that we could spend a few hours strolling around Granada city, something I always enjoy doing and, for a change, we took the scenic route from Guájar Faragüit via Pinos de Valle to Restábel, from where it’s only a short run up the autovia to Granada.
Although the scenic route is slow and winding, it’s interesting because the landscape changes as you round each bend; you pass exposed stretches of olive and almond trees; damp, fertile, sheltered zones where there are citrus trees and palms; arid mountain slopes where only thorny scrub survives. As you climb higher, the vegetation changes and there are deciduous trees, such as hazel and poplar, growing on the roadside verges; in the distance you can see the town of Lanjarón and the recently installed, enormous wind turbines. At the summit of a hill, before you reach Pinos de Valle, there is a large, abandoned house, now crumbling into a state almost beyond repair and, on the opposite side of the road, a curiosity in the form of a castellated tower, painted red, Moorish style. The bleak, windswept location creates a rather spooky atmosphere so that it’s something of a relief to descend into the sheltered Lecrin Valley, verdant with its extensive groves of citrus trees.
Although I’ve visited Granada quite a few times during the daytime, it’s many years since I spent an evening there and I’d forgotten how different the relaxed, pleasant atmosphere of that time of day is from the mad, frenetic, bustle of morning. People were sitting outside bars and cafés, strolling about, meeting friends, walking their dogs or simply enjoying the evening sunshine. We made our way to one of Granada’s main streets, Recogidas, and from there turned down a quiet side street, one of those where you are likely to find the most fascinating shops. In fact, it wasn’t long before we came upon just such a one, typical of those old-fashioned establishments, reminiscent of the 1940’s and 50’s, which still exist in Spain. In the rather gloomy interior were rows of shelves on which were innumerable jars of herbs, spices and teas of every type imaginable. Behind the counter was an elderly gentleman, himself not unlike a character from a bygone age. I requested half-a-dozen or so different spices, including chili powder, something I’ve not been able to acquire since I moved to this country five years ago; each one was poured from the jar onto a square of waxed paper placed on some ancient scales. The paper was then deftly folded into a neat envelope on which the name of the spice was written, with great care. Traditional Spanish cuisine can often be rather bland (hence the difficulty in obtaining chili powder) and a Spanish friend who once visited me while I was preparing a pasta dish commented that I used a great many herbs and spices when I cooked.
In the local press, for the past couple of years, there has been quite a lot of publicity about the nuisance caused by a huge increase in the number of starlings roosting in the city at night. I had no idea just how bad the problem was until we actually passed a leafy square at dusk just as a vast flock of the birds was descending. There were hundreds of thousands of them, blackening the sky with a great whirring of wings, swooping down to find a place to perch until every, single, last twig of every tree was occupied. The noise they made as they jostled and squabbled for a place was deafening and there was no possibility of crossing the square at that moment without being badly splattered.
We wandered back to Recogidas and from there to the big department store, El Corte Inglés, the perfect establishment for a spot of retail therapy. I would have liked to spend longer there, but time was getting on and we had to make our way back to the car park. It was dark by the time we reached the autovia and the traffic was busy with people going home to the suburbs. Travelling towards Granada, Padul is one of the last towns you pass as you ascend to the point known as El Suspiro del Moro (the Moor’s sigh) which, according to the legend, was where the deposed Moorish king, Boabdil, turned round to gaze for the last time at his beloved Granada.
We soon located the restaurant, La Cantina de Manuel, which is situated on the main street where there are plenty of places to park. Opening the door, we found ourselves in a large, evidently well patronised, bar but, because we were hungry, we went straight to the dining room where we were greeted most cordially and offered a choice of tables. Everything on the menu sounded so delicious that we hardly knew what to choose. While we were poring over it, the waiter brought a tapa of partridge paté which was utterly divine. Finally, we ordered a starter of tropical salad followed by jabali (wild boar) for Digby and duck breast for me. The tropical salad was an exquisite work of art: there were slivers of endive, plus the usual mango, kiwi, pineapple and other fruits, with a centrepiece of pine nuts, dried fruits, crunchy vegetables and other delicious things, drizzled with miel de caña, the extract of the locally grown sugar cane. We’ve sampled tropical salads in a number of different restauarants, but this one was definitely the best. My duck breast, served with plain, boiled potatoes, was perfect; that, too, was garnished with miel de caña, something which I often use myself when cooking. Its rich, malty sweetness complements a number of savoury dishes, especially those comprising rabbit and pork, and it is also perfect for sweetening desserts. I tried a piece of Digby’s jabali, expecting it to have a coarse, rather gamey, texture and flavour. To my surprise, it was sweet and tender and subtly flavoured with thyme.
After the richness of the duck and jabali dishes, the sharpness of the lemon sorbets we ordered for dessert made the perfect contrast. Our meal had been superb and the restaurant certainly deserves the favourable reports it has been given. Our evening in Granada, followed by the visit to Cantina de Manuel, made our wedding anniversary an occasion to remember.