A taste of Spain’s sunshine coast: a foodie tour of Costa de la Luz
29.08.2023 - 06:35
/ theguardian.com
The Basques have Juan Mari and Elena Arzak, the Catalans Ferran Adrià, and Andalucía has “el Chef del Mar” Ángel León – chefs who have put their region’s cuisine on the world food map.
The 46-year-old León is a celebrity in Spain. His fascination with sea rice and fish scales and his restaurant Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María have attracted attention to the Costa de la Luz. It is the only restaurant in Andalucía to hold three Michelin stars and has made people think again about the town on the Cádiz coast that, until recently, could best be described as “faded”.
Perhaps efecto Ángel León is responsible for the recent proliferation of competitively good restaurants and beach clubs. Whatever the cause, the northern half of the Costa de la Luz – the 50-mile string of traditional seaside towns running from Sanlúcar de Barrameda south to Cádiz and on to Chiclana de la Frontera and Conil – is very much de moda.
“The gastronomy here has become more cosmopolitan since Aponiente opened,” says León. “Ceviches, tataki, tartars everywhere … although innovative new restaurants are keeping the essence of the traditional seafood classics alive too.” León is also credited with a renewed interest in products that were considered “low value” like sardines and mackerel.
With its wide, pale sand beaches backed by pinsapar (Spanish fir) forests, this coast has always been a prime holiday destination for Spanish families. From Sanlúcar to Conil there are more blue flags – 26 – than anywhere in Andalucía. But it has remained below the radar for foreign visitors who visit Sanlúcar and Cádiz, then leave – often for Vejer and Tarifa with their dunes and cosmopolitan communities further south. Or the Costa del Sol.
In Chipiona, a 15-minute drive south of Sanlúcar, a white wood and glass box, Awa, at the foot of Spain’s tallest lighthouse on Playa de Regla, exemplifies the area’s new style of chiringuito (beach bar). The 19th-century Sanatorio de Santa Clara, visible further along the sand, is a reminder that poor children used to be brought here for the beneficially high iodine content of the water. Now people come for Awa’s sea anemones on guacamole with turmeric and soy-cured egg yolk. When Borja Ramos opened it in 2018, he said: “The revolution has arrived in my town, with something more innovative … The rest will be forced to improve.”
They have in a way: there’s hardly a rickety table, plastic chair or €2.50 plate of fried dogfish to be found on this coast today; they’ve been replaced by stylish beach bars with Balinese beds serving artfully presented Asian-influenced seafood.
There’s still variety: Chipiona’s Playa de las Tres Piedras has the full gamut from cool with cocktails to Hawaiian surfer vibe. The top