Choto al ajillo is kid goat braised in garlic, white wine and bay, an Alpujarras mountain dish from the Sierra Nevada villages on every traditional carte.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Choto al ajillo is the Alpujarras mountain dish using kid goat (choto), an animal raised across the Sierra Nevada villages from Trevelez down to Bubion. The dish is rural Andalusian cooking that moved into the citys tabernas during the 1970s, when the Las Tinajas opening kickstarted Granadas modern Andalusian scene. The dish is canonical at Las Tinajas and Mirador de Morayma, and it remains the seasonal Easter and autumn move on every traditional Granadina menu.
Tip from the editors. If you cannot find kid goat, young lamb shoulder works; cooking time stays the same.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Las Tinajas in Granada is the second-generation Figares institution open since 1971, with clay tinajas overhead and a Vinos de Granada wine cellar.
Tip: Order off the menu del dia at lunch; the same kitchen runs a la carte in the evening at double the price.
Mirador de Morayma in Granada is the Albayzin carmen named for Boabdils wife, with terraced gardens facing the Alhambra and a remojon-bacalao menu.
Tip: Closed Sundays and Mondays; book the carmen terrace not the indoor room from May to October.
Chikito in Granada sits where Cafe Alameda hosted Lorca and Manuel de Fallas Rinconcillo circle in the 1920s; Jose Carlos Exposito runs the kitchen.
Tip: Closed Wednesdays; the front bar pours free tapas at lunchtime if you do not want to commit to the dining room.
Ruta del Veleta is the Pedraza familys 1976 Mudejar mansion outside Granada in Cenes de la Vega, with 3,000 clay jars hanging from the dining-room ceiling.
Tip: Six kilometres east of Granada on the Sierra Nevada road; the Cenes de la Vega location justifies a taxi over driving.
Why locals love it: A restored carmen restaurant in a back alley of the Albayzin with a leafy patio terrace and Alhambra view few travellers find.
Tip: The terrace fills first; reserve specifying terraza for the Alhambra view.
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