It’s right in the middle of Spain’s biggest, most famous region, but too many people drive straight through. A shame, because they’re missing hill-clinging white villages topped with Moorish castles, Spain’s best olive oil and goat’s cheese, intriguing organic wines – and top-quality, er, beef? Oh yes indeed. Welcome to the peaceful sierras of Subbética
Bite-size break
THE WORLD’S BEST OLIVE OIL
Once you hit hilly Subbética on the drive north from Malaga, it’s horizon-to-horizon olive trees – if you don’t come home with some oil, you’re a disgrace to food lovers. The best oil can be found in the town of Priego de Córdoba, where one brand, Rincón de la Subbética, is ranked the world’s best (wboo.org). After you’ve gawped at Priego’s baroque church interiors (a legacy of its long-ago silk wealth), buy oil in specialist shop Tierra Mia (2 Calle Obispo Cavallero).
WHITE TOWNS, BROWN GOATS
The queen of Subbética’s many attractive white villages and towns is Zuheros, with its Moorish castle (this region was on the frontier between Muslim and Catholic-ruled Spain).
Zuhayra (zercahoteles.com/hotel-zuhayra) is a small hotel in the village run by two agreeable brothers with a commitment to local food and produce. Pick up mountain honey or local aniseed liqueur in their shop, and try the bargain seven-course tasting menu (€35pp including a wine flight) for a tour of the area’s larder. It starts with a selection of local goat’s cheeses, and highlights include aubergine chips (courgette chips are so last year), smooth partridge pâté with tomato chutney, and juicy seared secreto – a small, thick cut from the pig’s shoulder. You also get a dainty spoonful of remojón de naranja. Google translates this as ‘soaked orange’ but it’s a mightily refreshing combo of salt cod, tuna, chopped egg, onion and, of course, orange. Get a taste for it and you can graduate to a jumbo portion at Hotel Caserío de Iznájar (hoteliznajar.com), further south on Andalusia’s biggest reservoir.
A VIEW WITH A MOO
‘Destination restaurant’ may be an overused phrase, but when
you’ve negotiated the vertiginous hairpin bends near Cabra up to
Vaquena (vaquena.com), you’ll know you’ve arrived somewhere.
Vaquena is on a smallholding farming A
