Gastronomy
Home-cooked meals, certificates of excellence, sweets with evocative names: Jaques, Acherito or Anayet.
In few places do landscape and countryside go hand in hand as they do on the Pilgrims’ Route to Santiago de Compostela in Aragon.
Boliches from Embún, chickpeas from Santa Cruz de la Serós, chesitas from Hecho, raw milk cheeses from Villanúa, sausages from Berdún and, why not, craft beer.
Meat, vegetables and pulses. Trout from the river or sausages from the old Vidibonum, cauliflowers with potatoes from Arrés and good bread from Canfranc or Santa Cilia. Curds, jams and honeys. Pacharanes and blueberries?
A popular cuisine
The gastronomy found along this stretch of the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago is a popular cuisine based on local ingredients and game. Cheeses and sausages, famous for their traditional production, are some examples of the best-known food products from La Jacetania, which can be found throughout the year in establishments in the region. The “Lechal Ansotano”, a high quality lamb reared only on mother’s milk and from a native breed, the Ansotana, which has been recovered after having been in danger of extinction, now stands out on the market under its own brand name.
The rich and varied harvest of the Jacobean market garden and its seasonal products such as asparagus from Santa Cilia, borage, mushrooms and fungi are also famous. The bakery and confectionery is also rich and varied and can be found in the old wood-fired ovens of most of the villages of La Jacetania. The traditional pastries of Jaca, of proven quality, also stand out.
At present, other seasonal products such as the black truffle, a crop that has been grown in the Canal de Berdún area for some years now, are making their way into the market.
