Asturian food guide: what to eat in Oviedo and Asturias

If you’re spending a season in Oviedo, Asturian food is one of the things you’ll enjoy most day to day. Here’s what to expect.

Cider, more than just a drink

Natural cider (sidra) is Asturias’s signature drink, and in Oviedo it has its own stage: Gascona street, known as the “Cider Boulevard”, lines up cider houses one after another right in the old town, a short walk from Jovellanos 14. The traditional way to serve it is “escanciada”: poured from height so it breaks against the glass and releases its fizz, and drunk in one go before it loses that sparkle.

Fabada, cachopo and the rest of the menu

Asturian fabada — Asturian beans stewed with chorizo, blood sausage and pork belly (compango) — is the region’s best-known dish, especially popular in the colder months. Cachopo, two breaded veal fillets stuffed with ham and cheese, is another classic rarely missing from an Asturian restaurant’s menu. The list also includes hearty stews like pote asturiano and, for the more adventurous, game dishes from the mountain areas.

Cabrales cheese

Asturias has more cheese varieties than almost any other region in Spain, and the best known outside its borders is Cabrales: a blue cheese with Protected Designation of Origin status that matures in natural caves in the Picos de Europa, where the humidity and cold air currents encourage the fungi that give it its characteristic veining and intense flavour.

Where to try it from the old town

Staying at Jovellanos 14 puts you a short walk from Gascona and from El Fontán market, where you’ll also find local produce stalls — another way to get a taste of the region’s food without leaving central Oviedo.