Paradores de Turismo

Specialities and traditional dishes

Best of all is the costrada de Alcalá (local puff pastry dessert)

At the Parador and the Hostería of Alcalá (the Hostería opens from Wednesday to Sunday), you may enjoy the typical gastronomy of the “Siglo de Oro” – the Spanish Golden Century. It is a traditional gastronomy, yet updated, following the techniques and the taste of our time, but without forgetting in many of its dishes the essence of the cuisine of the time of the writer Cervantes. It is powerful, strong cuisine, with many variations on its compositions, differentiating on one hand the large prairies of “La Mancha”, where the taste of the peasants prevails since many centuries. Roast and fish are two of the references, complementing dishes like the “migas ilustradas”, the soup “sopa boba", “Duelos y Quebrantos”, the stew of Camachos's wedding, vegetables, salads and stews, the traditional “cocido madrileño”, combining the cuisine with the know-how of the fireplace.

Not to forget, the sweet desserts based on almonds and honey, like the “pestiños”, the “flores”, the marzipan, the “piononos”, our “Costrada of Alcalá” and the burned almonds (almendras garrapiñadas)…all together within an unique surrounding: the old Colleges of Saint Thomas of Aquino, the Convent of the Dominicans of the 17th century and the College of San Jerónimo, a school of classic languages founded by the Cardinal Cisneros back in 1510.