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Bucket list experience:

Last updated: 17 January, 2023
Expert travel writer: Dana Facaros

Andalusian cooking is renowned for fresh seafood, olives and olive oil, sun-ripened vegetables, garlic and paprika.

Cooking is simple, letting fresh, delicious ingredients speak for themselves. Much of the preparation in the kitchen is minimal – fish is usually lightly dredged in flour and golden fried in olive oil.

Cold soups star in summer, hearty stews in the winter and melt-in-your-mouth cured ham (jamon serrano) year-round. Many of the desserts, many involving almonds, go back to Arab times.

Sangria, as elsewhere in Spain, is a popular drink, as is sherry.

What to try

Try Andalusia’s famous cold soups: gazpacho, but also ajo blanco, made with garlic, almonds, and bread, and thick creamy tomato salmorejo.

Seafood classics include mixed fish fry (pescado or pescaita frito), bluefin tuna (atun rojo), and gambas pil pil (garlic and paprika prawns).

Other specialities include carrillada (braised pork or beef cheeks), rabo de toro (bull tail stew) and pringa (slow-cooked beef or pork and sausage).

Also see our round-up of traditional Spanish foods you must try in Spain.

Recommended itineraries by our writers that include this experience

Price: Free
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 13+
When: All year around
Duration: -

Getting there & doing it

The food markets of Andalusia are often surrounded by tapas bars and traditional restaurants, patronized by the locals. For eating and drinking recommendations, check out the town-by-town restaurant listings at Andalucia.com.

When to do it

Spaniards traditionally eat later than most Europeans, and in the hot summer months, the Andalusians often dine as late as 11pm or midnight when it’s cool enough to sit out on the terraces. Restaurants, however, open much earlier, and there are always tapas to keep hunger at bay. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, eaten between 1pm and 3pm. In the summer following it with a siesta is strongly recommended.

Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

Uncanny Food Tour

Uncanny Food Tour

Seville

Do you really want to experience our local Spanish food? This is not just another classic "tapas tour". We are going above and bey...

€35 | Rating 4.81 / 5 [22 ratings]

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Paella Showcooking Experience on a Rooftop

Paella Showcooking Experience on a Rooftop

Seville

With the expertise of your native chef, in an incomparable setting in the city of Seville, La Terraza del Cristina Experience brings you an ...

€49 | Rating 4.85 / 5 [74 ratings]

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Spanish Cooking Class and Dinner

Spanish Cooking Class and Dinner

Seville

Let a professional chef show you the ins and outs of working in a Spanish kitchen during a hands-on cooking class. Work side by side with yo...

€60 | Rating 4.90 / 5 [54 ratings]

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Spanish Cooking Class & Triana Market Tour in Sevilla

Spanish Cooking Class & Triana Market Tour in Sevilla

Seville

Cooking School is located right inside Triana Food Market. We offer daily food market tours and cooking classes. During the class, guests h...

€65 | Rating 4.97 / 5 [218 ratings]

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Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Hotel Alfonso XIII

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Enjoy Seville in regal style at this grand hotel built by a king, a 10-minute walk from the Cathedral.

Official star rating:

Hotel Casa 1800

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

A romantic, evocative, little luxury hotel in an early 19th-century townhouse near Seville’s cathedral, with a panoramic rooftop pool.

Official star rating:

EME Catedral Hotel

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Super central luxury hotel with the best roof terrace cocktail bar in Seville and matchless views of the Cathedral.

Official star rating:

Hotel Casa del Poeta

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Boutique luxury and charm await in this evocative 17th-century mansion, in pole position near Seville’s Cathedral, restaurants and bars.

Official star rating:

Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Andalusia

Andalusia, Spain

A big dazzling region, packed with fascinating cities, beautiful landscapes and beaches, colourful fiestas and oodles of sunshine.

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Seville

Andalusia, Spain

Extravagant and sensuous, Spain’s fourth city entices with brilliant monuments, gardens, tapas bars, flamenco shows and full-on nightlife.

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Our writer’s recommendations of other bucket list experiences our writer says you must do in this destination, closest first

Alcazar of Seville

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

A Moorish Christian architectural gem, Europe’s oldest royal palace (recently seen in Game of Thrones) dates from 1360, with gardens of pure delight.

Best for ages: 13+ | £11

Ronda & the White Villages

Ronda, Andalusia, Spain

Spectacular cliff-top Ronda is the largest of dozens of beautiful gleaming white hill towns in the Sierra de Grazalema – ideal for touring by car or by bike.

Best for ages: 18+ | Free

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Flamenco in Seville

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Andalusia is the birthplace of flamenco, which still pulses through its blood. Book in for a show at one of Seville’s excellent theatres.

Best for ages: 5+ | £15 | 90 minutes

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Setas de Seville

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Seville boasts the world´s largest wooden structure, a spectacular swirl nicknamed ‘Las Setas’ (mushrooms) designed by Jurgen Mayer in 2011. There’s a mirador walkway and steps winding over the roof, offering fabulous views, and Roman ruins in the museum underneath.

Best for ages: 10+ | Free

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Hammam at Aire Ancient Baths

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Set in a 500-year-old Mudejar palace, offering a vast range of experiences and rituals, including a wine bath. Afterward, relax in the rooftop pool. The night visits are especially magical, and a great antidote to jetlag.

Best for ages: 18+ | £20 | 1-3 hours

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