The traditional cuisine in Lleida, one of the best in the world.
The title is not excessive optimism, but a statement made by epidemic studies and clinic investigations carried out by specialized American organizations. Lleida is the best within the Mediterranean diet, according to some studies. Last 6th of March the first congress of the Mediterranean Diet was held in Lleida after the 1st International Congress for the Mediterranean’s Diet (Barcelona, 4th-8th March 1996). The cassoles de tros from the medieval times are perfect for this diet, which consist of vegetables, mainly to make it tasty, mixed with pork. The panadones, typical dishes from the serranos, pastry with vegetables and dry fruits, which are typical from the Conca.
It is also worth mentioning the sweets of Arabic origin, torrons from Agramint, made with honey, of course, natural sweetener of the Mediterranean cuisine. And our wide range of oils to cook and dress our dishes with vegetables fats, which is the main difference with other countries.
According to the pyramid of the Mediterranean diet, one glass of wine has to be taken every day and in Lleida we can find the Costers del Segre wines, made with the French grape’s cabernet sauvignon, Chardonnay and pinoi noir and the Spanish grapes monastrell, parellada and xarleo. Vegetables and fruits are the base of the pyramid of the healthiest food. We are very lucky in Lleida, mainly in the summer, as we can see a wide range of colours at the greengrocers which are worth looking at. Summer also awakens the creativeness of the chefs who offer us original fruit dishes, to compensate an apple cream with tiny ham pieces, kid stuffed with apple or beef or ox steak with foie, with a pear fritter and for dessert black olive ice-cream, fresh cheese and peach ice-cream, puff pastry with apple, etc. All these attractive dishes can be found in the restaurants of Lleida.
Finally, we are advised to take up some light physical exercise. We can recommend you to bicycle routes around Lleida which are useful to practice some exercise and to know they are of Lleida and its irrigated region.
