Enjoy traditional food in Benidorm

Benidorm is known for its multiculturalism. Different nationalities share its streets, but it still keeps its traditional gastronomy.


Benidorm is a modern and cosmopolitan town. Considering that it is the tourism capital in the eastern coast of Spain, it is not strange that you can find a wide variety of cultures and nationalities that you can enjoy in your holidays in Benidorm.

Thanks to this city's open-minded relationship with other cultures, we can find nearly all national or international kind of food in any of Benidorm hotel or restaurant. Considering this you can either enjoy an excellent Asturian stew, a nice Japanese sushi or the typical English breakfast with bacon and eggs.

But, what could you eat in Benidorm before it became a touristic town?

Benidorm traditional gastronomy
Benidorm is placed in a privilege area considering both its geographic and its 'geogastronomic' location. The Mediterranean littoral is the cradle for the well known Mediterranean gastronomy.

As you can find in many of the towns and cities bathed by the Mediterranean waters, the traditional gastronomy is a healthy mixture of vegetables and meat or fish from the area. As many other different localities, Benidorm has its 'typical dishes' that were its gastronomic base when this town was only a small fishermen village; and what did they eat at the time?

Benidorm typical dishes
You can find different places to enjoy this town's typical old dishes. In between the most well known dishes we can point out these ones:
Rice with red mullets and pumpkin
Made with rice, fish and vegetables, this is one Benidorm typical dish.
This tasteful stew is made with the fish called red mullet, pumpkin and green beans. As we can find in many different rice dishes from this area, it is prepared with lightly fried garlic and some spices that will give this dish a special touch.

Rice with beans and turnips
Known as well as 'Arròs amb fesols i naps'. This succulent rice is made with soggy rice, meat broth and vegetables and it is perfect for a cold winter day. In this case the rice is prepared with pork pieces (ossobuco, feet and backbone) and 'blanquets', a typical sausage from the area. We mix everything up with white beans, turnips and cardoons.

Rice with white anchovies and spinaches
It is a typical kind of rice, not only from Benidorm; you can find it in nearly all of La Marina regions. The rice with white anchovies and spinaches is dry rice, as the one in paella. Its main ingredients are spinaches, white anchovies and delicious lightly fried ñora peppers, garlic and parsley.

Filled 'coca' and 'coca a la calda'
They are typical Roman recipes. Salty 'cocas' are one of the delicious traditional dishes you can taste in Benidorm. Their dough is similar to the one you prepare for bread, with round shape if they are for one person or with square shape if it is a family one. You can fill this salty dough with different food and that will create the different types of cocas, for example: tomatoes, roasted pepper, tuna and eggs filling or sausages and black puddings filling are the more typical ones in Benidorm.

Saint Blas bun
They are perfect for the sweet-tooth. This Saint Blas bun is one of the typical sweets form the Benidorm gastronomy. These buns have Arabic origin and they are prepared with almonds and cinnamon. They are traditionally made during the winter months, mainly in Saint Blas festivity.

There are loads of restaurants in hotels or campings in Benidorm where you can try these typical dishes. Once you know their names, you just have to look for them and enjoy!

What about you? Have you tried any of these delicious dishes during your holidays in Benidorm?

Tips to choose a campsite for the Easter holidays

One of the favourite options for the Easter holidays is to spend some days camping, but, what guideline should we follow to choose the right campsite?

Easter holidays are one of the periods of the year that camping lovers prefer for camping. The weather around this time is normally quite nice, the days last longer and the previous holidays finished long time ago. It is the perfect time to get your tent or caravan out and spend some pleasant days with your family or friends in any place of our country.


Tips to choose a campsite
Type of campsite
The first thing you have to think of is what kind of holidays you wish to have.

If you want to find a campsite to enjoy the nature relaxation, the best place to go will be a camp in the mountains. There are loads of them in the main geographic areas like nature parks or reserves, etc. We can find an example of this kind of campsite in the High Pyrenees area where you can enjoy nature in its purest splendor.

If you wish to enjoy the mountain but also have an adrenaline injection then the best thing to do is to find a campsite with a large selection of adventure sports, even better if they offer ground and aquatic sports. We can find some examples of this type of campsite in the Picos de Europa Mountains.

On the other hand, if you prefer beach tourism, then the best option is to look for a campsite close to the coast. To be farsighted, just in case the weather is not as good as we expected, the best thing to do is to find a campsite that is as close to the beach as it is to a town. So, if the weather changes we can always plan some activities in town. You can find a perfect example of this kind of campsite in the wide offer that you have in camping in Benidorm.

Campsite location
Logically we will be looking for a camp that is close to what we are interest in.

Apart from that, as long as it is possible and it does not interfere in our holiday plans, it is convenient that the campsite is placed near a town.

It is even more important if it is a holiday with children. Being close to a town insures that we have access to some services that may be necessary in this case, such as medical emergencies, chemists, etc. and to some leisure activities such as cinemas, shopping centers, etc.

Another important characteristic is to make sure that the camping place has a good transport communication. It is better if it has a close access to a motorway or a main road and some good roads around so we will be able to visit all those interesting points that we have chosen in the area.

Types of accommodation
Nowadays, nearly all the campsites have a wide kind of accommodation. Although that we can classified them in plots, bungalows and mobile homes you can always choose into a big variety in any of them.

If we refer to plots, normally we classified them for their size and the kind of accommodation you can put in them: tents, caravans, motor homes, etc. Bungalows and mobile homes are classified by the model which depends on the material they are made of and the amount of people they can sleep in.


Quality and quantity on the basic facilities
Another important point to choose a campsite, apart from the kind of accommodation available, is its basic facilities. We have to consider the quantity but more importantly the quality.

It is advisable to view the camping plan so we can evaluate if it has enough communal facilities to give a good service in the case of being fully occupied. Check that there are enough toilet blocks, sinks, etc. and the size of them as well as if there is a laundry service. It is not only important to check on the amount of these facilities, we have to consider the state on them, check if they are well looked after, if they are clean daily and if they are fully equipped or they just have the basic.

In conclusion, to choose a good campsite to spend our Easter holidays is not difficult, but we have to consider some basic tips so we can assure we get the holidays we dream off.

Villasol
Camping Benidorm
http://www.camping-villasol.com