Cuenca Restaurants

Much of Cuenca's cuisine is based on wild game, and partridge, lamb, rabbit, and hen are ubiquitous on menus. Trucha from the adjacent river is the fish of choice, and it turns up in entrées and soups. In almost every town restaurant, you can find morteruelo—Cuenca's pâté of jabalí (wild boar), rabbit, partridge, hen, liver, pork loin, and spices—as well as gazpacho manchego (aka galiano), a meat stew thickened with dry flatbread. For dessert, try the almond-based confection called alajú, which is enriched with honey, nuts, and lemon, and torrija, bread dipped in milk, fried until custardy, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.