When I visited Cádiz as a student I was impressed by the fried fish. After a night in a very cheap hostal I recall going to a little freiduría for a roll and fried squid in a paper cone. Fried fish is a speciality of both Cádiz and Malaga.

After our first attempt at finding tapas in Tarifa we drove on to Cádiz and found an hostal near the cathederal. We decided to try a couple of places for tapas in the evening. Our first stop was in the Plaza de las Flores at the predictably named Freiduría de las Flores. You could order fried fish from a stainless steel counter but we opted to sit outside on the terrace. We got the inevitable "no tapas, raciones" from the waiter. We then ordered 1/2 raciones of calamares fritas, pescadilla (whiting sliced across the fish and fried) and vino tinto de la casa. The fish was good but despite this place being rated in our guidebook was not the best on the trip; maybe it had been standing a while on a hotplate. Sitting on the terrace was marginally comfortable as the evening was cool. We were therefore suprised when the wine we were served was seriously chilled!

We wandered around the narrow streets of the old town ending up in the Plaza San Juan de Dios. The orange blossom there smelt great - even though I have a poor sense of smell. We dropped into a bar on the west side and asked for tapas unsuccessfully again. We were still hungry so ordered another lot of fried squid and paella 1/2 raciones. The former was very tender and very freshly fried. Mrs Oregano did not like the paella which was drenched in chicken stock. When the waiter opened a chilled cabinet for the wine Mrs O protested. However he then offered us vino naturale which was at a good temperature for a red wine; we will remember the expression next time.

The following morning we were back at the Plaza de las Flores for breakfast in a cafe before exploring the market.

 

The Cádiz market too had its section of fish fryers.

Our last night in Malaga also involved fried fish for me. Although I had had a fair amount on the trip, my guide said that fritura malagueña was a key speciality. We found a restaurant in a little alley to the north of Almeda Principal. The fritura was a plateful of very freshly fried fish including little prawns fried whole, anchovies, 3 small white fish, rings of squid and baby squid. The waiter warned that I had only ordered fried fish and recommended chips to go with it. That was a mistake, not because the chips were bad, but because I would have been much better off with a salad.

Well, that long weekend meant I will not touch fried fish for a while...even though it was generally very good. Next time in Spain I hope for more success finding tapas! I never found a pincho moruno.