Situated in the Asturias region, Oviedo is a little over an hour away from Madrid by flight. Our day trip was principally to visit the Cathedral of San Salvador, but also to explore its surroundings – a quaint, charming town that almost takes you back in time every now and then, with its centuries-old limestone buildings, quiet disposition, and cobblestone streets.

While on our walking tour, our guide Jaime took us to Mercado El Fontán, a versatile and bustling food market, where we tried a couple of local favourites. The first was bollo preñao, which literally translates to ‘pregnant bread’, and is immensely popular among Asturians. It is essentially a bread roll stuffed with chorizo sausage. Small and simple, but satisfying.

Casadiella is another typically Asturian treat – a fried, finger-like pastry filled with a nutty paste (usually hazelnut or walnut) and sugar. A deligfhtful combination of crisp, crunchy, and paste-y, and just as satisfying as the chorizo roll.

We were keen to have a typically Asturian lunch, and Jaime led us to La Pumarada. Here, we tried their Asturian tortos – corn fritters with chorizo chop, and with Cabrales cheese (one of the most popular among Asturia’s vast portfolio of cheeses) and apple jam. Apparently is doesn’t get more Asturian than this! Cabrales is a local blue cheese, which means that it is rather potent and pungent. Distinctive in flavour and perhaps not for the faint-hearted. The apple jam definitely helped to neutralise the strong flavour of the cheese to an extent. The chorizo chop was good, not too spicy and just right in terms of flavour.

The calamares fritos (fried calamari) came recommended, and one bite into the crunchy, chewy preparation, you realise why the locals love it.

Also recommended was the patatas tres salsas, that is, potato with three sauces – spicy sauce, garlic sauce, and Cabrales cheese. The Cabrales topping was the same as that on the corn fritters. The spicy sauce had a bit of a curry feel to it, and this and the garlic dip were somewhat similar to the sauces we were served with patatas bravas in Madrid.

The most entertaining aspect, however, was witnessing escanciado – the traditional (and dramatic) technique of pouring of Asturian cider. As you can see in the video below, it’s a messy business, but one with good reason. Asturian cider is naturally non-carbonated. So, the pulled pour is done to aerate the cider to give it that extra oomph. A serving is only two-fingers’ high, and is meant to be consumed immediately, in one go – basically like a shot. Entertaining? Yes. Messy? YES. Salud all around!