Segovia Roast Pig (Cochinillo Asado)

Cochinillo Asado, or roast suckling pig, is the dish most closely associated with Segovia, and eating it is part of the usual visit to the city. The pig is a few weeks old, fed only on its mother’s milk, and is roasted whole in a wood-fired oven in an earthenware dish with water, salt, and sometimes a little lard, which gives the skin a thin, brittle crackle and the meat a soft, almost creamy texture. There is no complicated sauce; the point is the quality of the animal and the care of the cooking. A protected mark of origin helps guarantee the pigs that are labelled as Segovian.

The dish has a long history in Castile, where suckling pig was a celebratory food, and Segovia built its name on it, helped by roasting ovens in the old inns near the Aqueduct. The most famous of them, the Mesón de Cándido, is closely linked to the story, and a ritual developed there. The waiter brings the pig to the table and cuts it not with a knife but with the edge of a plate, to show how tender the meat is, and then often throws the plate on the floor. That ceremony is still performed in some traditional restaurants and gives the meal a theatrical moment.

The old part of the city, in Castile, Spain, near the Roman Aqueduct, is full of places that serve it, particularly around the Plaza del Azogue, the Plaza Mayor and the streets below the Aqueduct. It is usually served with a simple salad of lettuce and onion, and sometimes with roast potatoes. Segovia’s other specialities fit around it: the judiones de La Granja, large white beans cooked slowly with pork, and the local sweet, ponche segoviano, a layered cake of sponge, custard and marzipan, which many people have for dessert. A meal in a traditional dining room, with thick walls and wooden beams, adds to the atmosphere.

In practice there is no single attraction, only a range of restaurants, so plan by choosing one in advance and booking, especially at weekends and holidays when they fill up. Prices vary, and the dish is usually sold by the portion or by the half pig for groups. Some tourism companies offer guided tastings that cover the history of the dish, the way the animals are raised and a tasting, but the usual way to enjoy it is simply to eat at a mesón. The lunch tends to be long and heavy, so many visitors plan a walk afterwards, perhaps along the walls or down to the Alcázar.

The dish is eaten year-round, not only in cold weather. It fits well into a day that also includes the Aqueduct, the Cathedral and the Jewish Quarter.