Day 1 – Coastal Drive from Malaga to Estepona and onwards to Gaucin
Filed under: Food in Spain
Finally back from my wonderfully relaxing but maddeningly frustrating food week in Gaucin. I would love to be able to entertain you with stories of eating in local, out of the way places, frequented by Spaniards enjoying simple regional food. Alas this was not the case, instead I felt like I had stumbled onto the long lost set of Eldorado (a dreadful soap opera about a bunch of British expats in Spain)
Anywhere, within reasonable driving distance of the Costa Del Sol or Malaga, it pains me to say, is unashamedly overrun with Brits. On the coastal drive from the airport I took in one tragic sight after the other – high rise timeshares, fish and chippies, fast food outlets. It wasn’t until we’d reached Estepona, a small seaside resort, that I finally felt like we were in foreign country. Famished we parked the hire car and strolled along the seafront in search of somewhere to eat. Unfortunately our random restaurant choice was a bit of a shocker, frozen vegetables, gritty prawns and leathery pork didn’t endear us to the place and we made a hasty retreat to the Carrefour, the local supermarket, in order to stock up with same basic provisions for the week. Pictured below is the quite astounding selection of ham on offer.
The Spaniards must have a real love of pork because half the supermarket was devoted to it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different types of chorizo or pork products.
Onwards to Gaucin the scenery dramatically changed and with it my spirits were lifted. Undulating green countryside, windy roads with steep drops were a welcome contrast to the tacky sights witnessed along the coast. Climbing further and further up steep hills I secretly prayed that the remoteness would deter only the most foolhardy tourists and as a consequence we might after all sample an authentic taste of Spanish life. Finally we reached our destination, Gaucin, a gleaming white village, with our cottage situated a couple of hundred metres down a dirt track.
This pictures, taken from our balcony, gives you some indication of how beautiful the surrounding countryside is. It provided the perfect spot for a week of relaxation.
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While I’m sorry to hear that the food offerings were not very good, it does look like lovely country! I can’t wait to hear about the rest of the week!
Comment by Ivonne 05.31.06 @ 4:04 pmSorry you did not have a great food week. I was there in highschool. Don’t even know what towns but the food was not great. We did have a lovely lunch when we travelled in up to the alhambra.
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Comment by Gabriella True 06.04.06 @ 4:03 amDid that gorgeous view come close to making up for the bad food week?
Comment by cath 06.12.06 @ 3:38 amI’m sorry you had a bad food experience.
I guess it can only get better from there.
Beaituful photos by the way and wow that’s a whole lotta pigs.
You gave no information about restaurants and tapas bars in and around Gaucin. I am planning a holiday there and am looking for that sort of information.
Comment by Patrick 06.14.06 @ 11:16 amWow. That is one mean shop for hams… beautiful view you have there.
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Trackback by Written Road 06.19.06 @ 4:01 pmHi Gastrochick - sorry abot this rather late response, but welcome back 
I know exactly what you mean by Eldorado… at least Gaucin seems like a lovely place, I’d like to visit more places in Spain too (avoiding Costa Del Sol )
Hi, Lisa from (www.myfamilyjungle.com) I have stumbled upon your blog and love it. Sorry you had such a bad food experience in the South but you need to come to the Basque to experience the wonders of real cooking. Sadly the expat population have influenced the more southerly parts of Spain and so restaurants feed the masses, badly. We live in the Basque region of France and have lived on the Spanish side,it is a culinary delight!For a foodie, it is heaven. Try it sometime, Lisa
Comment by Lisa 08.23.06 @ 1:50 pmHi! is such a curious matter read about Spain in a foreign blog. It is also a surprise to see that you did not have such a good experience with the southern food. Maybe my case is different because I went with the locals so they knew de greatest places.
I also think San Sebastian it´s great and the basque cuisine it´s one of a kind and so tasty. Also my boyfriend it´s from San Sebastian. But believe me it´s more expensive than the south so nothing it´s all ok or all bad here.
In the other hand, nowadays it´s very difficult to travel and feel that you are in a foreign country, because big cities such Madrid, Barcelona and now also the small ones are becoming so similar to the other European cities… that means tourist masses and foreigner restaurants growing like fungus. I´m ¿glad? to say that this summer I spent one month in Sweden and only ate one swedish dish, I can´t remember how many times we ate kebab and pizza. I think you get the idea.
Give a second opportunity to spanish food, if you choose well and you are lucky you can have great dishes here!
Best Wishes!!
Diana
(Valencia, Spain)
(Please, xD excuse my poor english)
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Oh dear, nothing worse than escaping England only to find it again on holiday, so glad Gaucin gave you a different sort of welcome!
Comment by tejal 05.30.06 @ 11:40 pm