The winter cuisine of the Val d’ Aran is mainly starring overwhelming dishes, such as soups and stews of birds and game. Inheritance of the family recipe book, they are usually prepared in the traditional style, although we have already begun to find them also in more sophisticated versions of signature cuisine.
Fresh meat from Aranese cattle, and other indigenous products such as sturgeon, trout, sausages and pâtés are also present in many restaurant menus. A wide variety of dishes with French influences, such as raclettes and fondues de queso and crespèths (crêpes). And all this is crowned by the routes of Pintxo Pote, which have already found a niche in the gastronomy of the Valley.
Traditional dishes
The most traditional dishes of Aranese cuisine are a good restorative to recover from the icy winter days or snow sports days. Among them, the symbol par excellence of the traditional gastronomy of Val d’ Aran is the Olha Aranesa, a powerful and tasty soup of great energy value. Simpler, but equally comforting is the Patarnes, bread soup and potatoes of very easy elaboration.
Among the meats, hunting is also very present in winter, with dishes such as wild boar cannelloni or civet de senglar, a tasty stew. Also, in the valley’s many braziers we find an excellent fresh meat from Aranese cattle, roasted on a wood fire.
Author cuisine
Val d’ Aran’s guarantee brand products also allow the signature cuisine restaurants to innovate with their own preparation of winter dishes. In the valley we can taste specialities as suggestive as the candied sturgeon, a trout with fine herbs, the carpaccio of deer, cabbages stuffed with meat or goose cannelloni. And even modern versions of traditional dishes such as deconstructed Aranese Olha or the stew of deer with vanilla tubers.
French influence
Influenced by the neighbouring country, the winter cuisine of Val d’ Aran has incorporated specialities typical of French cuisine interpreted, albeit with the special Aranese style. The crespèth, is the typical Aranese variety of the popular sweet crêpe. It is usually eaten in breakfasts and snacks, although some restaurants also include it in their menu.
Other references to alpine cuisine are fondues, raclettes and soufflés, with cheese as the star ingredient. And, precisely, artisan cheese boards or the varieties of fresh cheese with honey from Arana are also present in dessert menus.
The Pintxo pote tour
The tradition of the pincho landed in the Val d’ Aran from northern Spain, mainly through the hands of Basque chefs living in Aranese lands. It has its origin in the tapas served by the bars of the villages: the typical corns, salad, wild potatoes or Spanish omelette that, with daring, imagination and culinary creativity have become authentic delicacies and have managed to establish the fashion of snacking in the Valley.
The Pintxo Pote consists of a tapas of the day, the “pintxo”, served with a drink -usually a house wine or beer zurito-, the “pote”, on Tuesdays in Vielha, Thursdays in Bossòst and Fridays in Les. The routes of the Pintxo Pote usually coincide with the snow season and are a good opportunity for a pleasant meeting between locals and seasonal workers.