Málaga food and wine
From espeto to sweet wine: flavours of the province.
Key points
- Málaga's signature dish is the espeto de sardinas, grilled on the beach over wood embers.
- Each area has its recipe: ajoblanco on the coast, porra in Antequera, plato de los Montes in the hills.
- Málaga wines, sweet and dry, and Axarquía Muscatel raisins have protected designations.
Typical dishes
- Espeto de sardinasFrom May to October, when sardines are at their best.
- Pescaíto fritoAnchovies, baby squid, calamari, red mullet and dogfish, floured and fried in olive oil.
- AjoblancoCold almond, garlic, bread and olive oil soup, served with Muscatel grapes.
- GazpachueloHot fish broth with mayonnaise, the fishermen's winter dish.
- Porra antequeranaA cold tomato and bread cream, thicker than salmorejo.
- Plato de los MontesPork loin, chorizo, fried egg, chips and peppers.
- Sopas perotas and kid goatMountain cooking for cold days.
- Ensalada malagueñaPotato, orange, salt cod, spring onion and olives.
Málaga wines
Málaga has two designations of origin: Málaga, for sweet and fortified wines made mainly from Muscatel and Pedro Ximénez grapes, and Sierras de Málaga, for dry whites, rosés and reds, many from the Serranía de Ronda. In the capital you can taste them in historic taverns such as the Antigua Casa de Guardia, open since 1840, and at the Wine Museum.
Markets and produce
The Atarazanas market is the city's larder: tropical fruit from the Axarquía, marinated olives, cured meats from the mountains and fish from the bay. At its counters you can eat freshly fried fish.
- Málaga raisinsMuscatel grapes dried in the sun on the Axarquía drying beds.
- Olive oilFrom the verdial variety of Periana and the hojiblanca of Antequera.
- Mango and avocadoTropical fruit grown in the valleys of the Axarquía.
- Mollete de AntequeraA soft, spongy bread roll, perfect for breakfast with olive oil.
Sweets
Málaga's tortas locas, Antequera's bienmesabe and angelorum, wine doughnuts at Christmas and cane honey from Frigiliana, made in what its producers describe as the last working cane-honey mill in Europe.
Where to eat
Look for espeto beach bars in Pedregalejo, El Palo, La Carihuela or Burriana; traditional inns in the Montes de Málaga; and fine-dining restaurants in Málaga, Marbella, Benahavís and Ronda, several with Michelin stars. The latest openings are in our restaurant news.