Food and Drink
Eating at Finca Cencerrita is very enjoyable! With views that not even the most expensive restaurant can
provide, eating al fresco is a delight here.
Breakfast
- No hurry to get out of bed! Have your breakfast wherever and whenever you desire - whether it's in bed (with the
door thrown open so you can wake up to the mountain view), on your private
deck or perhaps by the pool after your early morning dip? The choice is
yours!
BBQ - Make use of the smashing gas BBQ - Meat and fish is much
cheaper in Spain than in most of Europe and you have yourself a real gourmet
meal. Keep it easy and simple ... you don't want to spend your holiday in the
kitchen! Our favourite is "Secretos Ibericos": pork taken from by the ribs,
marbled with thin bits of fat to baste it whilst it cooks - deliciously juicy
and full of flavour. In the fruit and vegetable section you can buy very
small potatoes ready to cook in the bag (6 mins in the microwave) and then put
them on the BBQ. We like them cut open with some olive oil drizzled over them
and sprinkled with herbs and spices. Another idea is to cut some chicken
into fillets, slice of crispy bacon (The bacon cooks before the chicken so put
it on top of the chicken to add extra flavour to the meat) and placed in a
tortilla wrap (10 wraps cost a little over a euro!) with some shredded lettuce
and possibly a little salsa.
Fish - The Spanish love their fish and generally
it's a very reasonable cost: Salmon fillet is just 8-9 euros a kilo and good sized
prawns about 7-8 euros! (Put the prawns in the grill pan with a little chopped
garlic and olive oil and push gently around to heat through - serve with wedges
of lemon and chunks of barra/baguette) Below is a photo taken by Sylvia Cox of the fish
counter in a Mercadona supermarket. On request, they will also clean the fish
(and remove the head if you prefer) so there's nothing more to do than pop it on
the BBQ.
Supermarket - Our favourite is Mercadona
(in both Alora and Estacion de Cartama). Clean, competitively priced, well-lit
and clearly laid out - some of the signs are even in English! Open from
09:15 to 21:15 without a break for siesta (unlike many of the smaller shops).
Red Wine
- For a good earthy, full bodied Rioja, the cheaper “Siglo” (about 4.50 euros)
is excellent. However, it's not necessary to spend that much for wine here. For a light red table wine try “Vega Christina” (by far the best
of the cheap wines .. under a euro and very pleasant). It is also good for
mixing up as Sangria: In Mercadona, buy “gaseosa”, like a light lemonade (to be
found near the water), and their peach and grape long life juice – melecoton y uva.
Chopped up apple makes it even nicer. This is much less astringent than Sangria
made with orange juice or the ready made variety! Vega Christina can also
simply be mixed with gaseosa as Tinto Verano – very popular in the bars as a
refreshing drink … sold by the jug full often! The “brick cartons” of red wine
are perfectly adequate for mixing up as well … less than a euro … in fact, less
than milk! 
White wine
- Quite frankly we have no idea!!! The cheap ones don’t agree with us (awful
hangovers!) and we can’t afford the more expensive ones. However, if you do
fancy a bit of a treat, some of the inexpensive cavas (Spanish champagne) are
really nice when chilled … but the best by far is the black frosted bottle of
“Freixenet” – Cordon Negro – it comes in at a little over 5 euros and is worth
every penny! (Beware - The more expensive one isn’t as nice!)
"Squash" - as sold in
the UK is not readily available. We suggest a good substitute is your favorite
fruit juices diluted with gaseosa - fruit juice on it's own is not particularly
thirst quenching.
Water - Don’t forget you’ll need to drink plenty
of water too!!! Wine is very dehydrating, particularly in the hotter months.
In summer Alan tends to stick to lagers (Mercadona's own, Steinburg) and Colleen
drinks long fruit vodkas: Local vodka (about 4.50 euros) with half fruit juice and
half gaseosa and plenty of ice cubes. Very refreshing.
