The plates that define Seville: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Seville. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Salmorejo is the thicker cousin of gazpacho, a chilled tomato-and-bread puree from Cordoba and Seville topped with jamon iberico, chopped hard-boiled egg and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Where: Casa Modesto, Casa Robles, La Brunilda, Bar Alfalfa, Bar Santa Ana
Price: €6-12
Gazpacho Andaluz is the canonical Andalusian cold soup: tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic and stale bread blended with extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar, drunk from a glass or eaten with chopped garnishes.
Where: Espacio Eslava, Casa Cuesta, Las Teresas, Bodeguita Casablanca
Price: €5-9
Espinacas con garbanzos is Seville's canonical Moorish-Sephardic tapa: spinach and chickpeas simmered with cumin, smoked paprika and a touch of vinegar, served warm with bread.
Where: El Rinconcillo, Bar Casa Ruperto, Taberna Coloniales, Bodeguita Casablanca
Price: €5-9
Pescaito frito is the Andalusian flour-only fried fish technique, a mixed plate of cazon en adobo, calamares, boquerones, salmonetes and chocos dredged in chickpea or wheat flour and fried in olive oil.
Where: Casa Modesto, Freiduria Puerta de la Carne, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Manolo Leon
Price: €12-22
Tortillitas de camarones are crispy lace-edged fritters of tiny shrimp, chickpea and wheat flour, parsley and spring onion, fried until lacy and gold, the Cadiz-Sevillian seafood headliner.
Where: Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Casa Modesto, Bar Santa Ana, Freiduria Puerta de la Carne
Price: €4-8 per tortillita
Montadito de pringa is the canonical Sevillian small sandwich: shredded slow-cooked pork, chorizo, morcilla and bacon from the cocido pot mixed and packed into a hot toasted roll the size of your palm.
Where: Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bodeguita Romero, Casa Morales, Las Teresas
Price: €1.50-3.00
Solomillo al whisky is the Sevillian taberna tapa of pork tenderloin medallions flash-seared with garlic, whisky and lemon, finished with a sauce of the pan drippings, sliced thin over toasted bread.
Where: Taberna Coloniales, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bar Alfalfa, Las Teresas, Casa Morales
Price: €4-8
Huevos a la flamenca is the Sevillian oven-baked egg dish in a sofrito of tomato, peppers, peas, asparagus and chorizo, with a slow-set egg yolk in the centre and morcilla slices around the rim.
Where: Bodeguita Casablanca, Casa Cuesta, Manolo Leon
Price: €9-14
Torrijas are Spanish French-toast cousins, slices of stale bread soaked in milk or wine with honey and cinnamon, fried in olive oil and sugar-dusted, the canonical Semana Santa sweet of Seville.
Where: Confiteria La Campana, Confiteria Ochoa, Manu Jara Dulceria, Confiteria Rufino
Price: €2-4 per torrija
Menudo is the Sevillian tripe-and-chickpea stew, a slow-cooked offal headliner with chorizo, morcilla, jamon hock and a smoked-paprika tomato base, served bubbling in a clay pot.
Where: Casa Cuesta, El Rinconcillo, Bodeguita Casablanca, Casa Robles
Price: €8-14
Iberian pork cheeks slow-braised in red wine, sherry, onion and laurel until they shred with a spoon. The defining Sevillano tapa, served on a slice of fried bread or with potato puree.
Where: Bodeguita Antonio Romero, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bar El Comercio, Casa Morales
Price: €4-7 per tapa, €12-18 main
Sevillano egg-yolk sweets: pure egg yolks beaten with syrup, set into small dome shapes and dusted with sugar. Made by the cloistered Augustinian nuns of the Convento de San Leandro since the 15th century.
Where: Confiteria La Campana, Confiteria Ochoa, Confiteria Rufino, Casa Robles
Price: €6-12 per dozen
Salmorejo is the thicker cousin of gazpacho, a chilled tomato-and-bread puree from Cordoba and Seville topped with jamon iberico, chopped hard-boiled egg and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
History: Salmorejo evolved from the medieval ajo blanco (white garlic soup) made before the New World's tomato reached Andalusia in the 16th century. The tomato variant emerged in Cordoba in the 18th century and migrated south to Seville, becoming the working-day summer plate. The distinction from gazpacho is the bread: salmorejo uses dry bread soaked in the tomato base for a thick, almost pate-like consistency. Casa Modesto, Casa Robles and La Brunilda all serve canonical versions. The dish is a sherry-pairing classic with fino En Rama from the Jerez triangle, and Sevillian patisseries sometimes adapt it as a savoury cold canape.
Where to try it: Casa Modesto, Casa Robles, La Brunilda, Bar Alfalfa, Bar Santa Ana
Watch out for: Gluten, Egg
Gazpacho Andaluz is the canonical Andalusian cold soup: tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic and stale bread blended with extra virgin olive oil and sherry vinegar, drunk from a glass or eaten with chopped garnishes.
History: Gazpacho descends from the Moorish ajo blanco (almond and garlic soup) of Al-Andalus, with the New World tomato added in the 17th century. The dish runs through Andalusian kitchens in dozens of regional variants: the thicker salmorejo of Cordoba and Seville, the green ajo blanco of Malaga and Almeria, the porra antequerana further inland. Sevillian families drink gazpacho from a glass during summer afternoons; restaurants serve it in shallow bowls with chopped tomato, cucumber and croutons. The dish is in every Sevillian summer carte at Casa Cuesta, Las Teresas and Espacio Eslava.
Where to try it: Espacio Eslava, Casa Cuesta, Las Teresas, Bodeguita Casablanca
Watch out for: Gluten
Espinacas con garbanzos is Seville's canonical Moorish-Sephardic tapa: spinach and chickpeas simmered with cumin, smoked paprika and a touch of vinegar, served warm with bread.
History: Espinacas con garbanzos is widely attributed to Sephardic Jewish Sabbath cooking, a slow stew made before the 1492 expulsion of Jewish residents from Seville. After the Reconquista, the dish was retained by Christian Sevillians and seasoned with chorizo or jamon to mark the Christian table. Casa Ruperto in Triana and El Rinconcillo in centro both serve canonical versions; Coloniales near Casa de Pilatos draws long lines for its kitchen's take. The dish runs year-round but spinach is at peak from October to March.
Where to try it: El Rinconcillo, Bar Casa Ruperto, Taberna Coloniales, Bodeguita Casablanca
Watch out for: None typical
Pescaito frito is the Andalusian flour-only fried fish technique, a mixed plate of cazon en adobo, calamares, boquerones, salmonetes and chocos dredged in chickpea or wheat flour and fried in olive oil.
History: Pescaito frito emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries on the Andalusian coast, with Sevillian and Cadiz fishing villages perfecting the technique of dredging in flour only (no batter) and frying in hot olive oil at 190C for 90 seconds. Casa Modesto on Calle Cano y Cueto and Freiduria Puerta de la Carne are the city's reference rooms; the Cadiz capital does it best, and the Sevillian Feria de Abril casetas serve it in paper cones in April. The variant cazon en adobo (marinated dogfish) is the Sevillian distinction from the Cadiz version.
Where to try it: Casa Modesto, Freiduria Puerta de la Carne, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Manolo Leon
Watch out for: Fish, Gluten, Sulphites
Tortillitas de camarones are crispy lace-edged fritters of tiny shrimp, chickpea and wheat flour, parsley and spring onion, fried until lacy and gold, the Cadiz-Sevillian seafood headliner.
History: Tortillitas de camarones originate in San Fernando and the Bay of Cadiz where the tiny pink shrimp called camarones are caught in spring. The Sevillian taberna canon adopted the dish in the 19th century, with Bodega Santa Cruz and Casa Modesto serving the canonical versions. The shrimp are eaten whole, shells on, embedded in a thin chickpea-flour batter that fries to a lacy edge. The dish runs through spring and summer when the camarones are at peak.
Where to try it: Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Casa Modesto, Bar Santa Ana, Freiduria Puerta de la Carne
Watch out for: Shellfish, Gluten
Montadito de pringa is the canonical Sevillian small sandwich: shredded slow-cooked pork, chorizo, morcilla and bacon from the cocido pot mixed and packed into a hot toasted roll the size of your palm.
History: The montadito de pringa traces to the Sevillian cocido stew, where the leftover meats (pringa) from the pot were saved and pressed into small bread rolls the next day. Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas serves the city's reference version in Santa Cruz; Bodeguita Romero in Arenal does a competing canonical version. The dish runs year-round but is most associated with winter when cocido is on the menu. The roll is small and intended as one of three to five tapas in a crawl.
Where to try it: Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bodeguita Romero, Casa Morales, Las Teresas
Watch out for: Gluten
Solomillo al whisky is the Sevillian taberna tapa of pork tenderloin medallions flash-seared with garlic, whisky and lemon, finished with a sauce of the pan drippings, sliced thin over toasted bread.
History: Solomillo al whisky emerged in Sevillian tabernas in the 1950s and 1960s, a working-day tapa that uses humble pork tenderloin and the bar's whisky bottle to make a quick sauce. Bar Alfalfa, Taberna Coloniales and Bodega Santa Cruz all serve the canonical version. The dish is a quintessential Sevillian small plate, present on most tapas menus across centro and Santa Cruz. Whisky is the original spirit but some kitchens substitute brandy de Jerez.
Where to try it: Taberna Coloniales, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bar Alfalfa, Las Teresas, Casa Morales
Watch out for: Gluten
Huevos a la flamenca is the Sevillian oven-baked egg dish in a sofrito of tomato, peppers, peas, asparagus and chorizo, with a slow-set egg yolk in the centre and morcilla slices around the rim.
History: Huevos a la flamenca emerged in 19th-century Sevillian taberna kitchens, a hearty single-pot dish where leftover sofrito and vegetables formed the base for two oven-baked eggs. The dish is most associated with the working-day midday lunch at Bodeguita Casablanca and Casa Cuesta. The name 'flamenca' references gypsy-style cooking, the heritage of Sevillian Roma culture. The dish runs year-round but is at peak in spring when asparagus and peas are in season.
Where to try it: Bodeguita Casablanca, Casa Cuesta, Manolo Leon
Watch out for: Egg
Torrijas are Spanish French-toast cousins, slices of stale bread soaked in milk or wine with honey and cinnamon, fried in olive oil and sugar-dusted, the canonical Semana Santa sweet of Seville.
History: Torrijas date to the medieval Sephardic Jewish kitchens of Seville, with the wine-and-honey-soaked variant appearing in 15th-century manuscripts. After the 1492 expulsion, the dish was adopted by Christian Sevillians and became the canonical Lent and Semana Santa sweet, when religious abstinence from meat made the egg-and-bread plate the working-day Lenten food. Confiteria La Campana on Sierpes and Horno San Buenaventura on Avenida de la Constitucion both bake the city's reference torrijas through Lent. The dish runs from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday.
Where to try it: Confiteria La Campana, Confiteria Ochoa, Manu Jara Dulceria, Confiteria Rufino
Watch out for: Gluten, Egg, Milk
Iberian pork cheeks slow-braised in red wine, sherry, onion and laurel until they shred with a spoon. The defining Sevillano tapa, served on a slice of fried bread or with potato puree.
History: Carrillada (pork cheeks) became Sevillano taberna canon through the late 20th century as a thrift cut prepared with the abundant Andalusian red wine and sherry traditions. The Iberian black-pig pork cheek is the canonical version, with the fat content that makes the long braise melt into the sauce. Bodeguita Antonio Romero, Bodega Santa Cruz and the older tabernas of the Santa Cruz quarter plate the reference Sevillano version, often as a half-tapa portion.
Where to try it: Bodeguita Antonio Romero, Bodega Santa Cruz Las Columnas, Bar El Comercio, Casa Morales
Watch out for: Sulphites
Sevillano egg-yolk sweets: pure egg yolks beaten with syrup, set into small dome shapes and dusted with sugar. Made by the cloistered Augustinian nuns of the Convento de San Leandro since the 15th century.
History: Yemas de San Leandro have been made by the cloistered Augustinian nuns of the Convento de San Leandro in Seville since the 15th century, sold from the convent's torno (rotating window) to maintain the cloister. The sweet uses pure egg yolks bound with sugar syrup; the leftover whites went to clarify the local wines. The yemas are a Sevillano religious-festival classic, eaten especially during Semana Santa. Confiteria La Campana and Confiteria Ochoa sell secular versions.
Where to try it: Confiteria La Campana, Confiteria Ochoa, Confiteria Rufino, Casa Robles
Watch out for: Egg
Seville's signature dishes include Salmorejo, Gazpacho Andaluz, Espinacas con Garbanzos, Pescaito Frito, Tortillitas de Camarones. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.