12 Weird Foods in Spain You’ll Want To Try… or Maybe Just Take a Picture Of

Most tourists who visit Spain expect to eat paella and drink sangria daily. While that is possible, Spanish cuisine offers so much more. For starters, there are countless tapas dishes you need to try during your trip. However, beyond patatas bravas and tortilla Española lies the dark side of Spanish cuisine.

Like all countries, Spain has many foods people from other places might find strange, weird, or downright disgusting, but that makes Spanish cuisine so diverse and unique. With that in mind, here are 12 weird foods in Spain that only the bravest foodies will tackle. Stick around if you want to try one of Spain’s most bizarre dishes.

Morcilla

We’ll go easy on you to start with by talking about morcilla, one of Spain’s more appetizing weird dishes. Morcilla is a traditional thick black sausage made of minced pork, rice, onion, and blood. While the thought of eating blood sounds strange, it’s pretty common. Across Europe, you’ll find blood soups, other types of blood sausage, and black pudding, an English breakfast delicacy.

Spain’s poorer families traditionally made this food. Nowadays, it’s served widely across the nation in sandwiches or as a tapas dish. Regarding flavor, morcilla is meaty, earthy, and rich. It also has an intriguing metallic undertone due to the iron in the blood and is loaded with protein, calcium, and potassium.

Percebes

If you love seafood, you might be tempted to try percebes, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the mere sight of them puts you off. Percebes is the Spanish name for goose barnacles or goose clams. Interestingly, they were given this name because many people used to believe the barnacle goose hatched from the barnacle.

Their black-and-white stripes also inspired this story. This story was born before it was realized that migration existed. Their elongated stalks and leathery appearance distinguish percebes. Unsurprisingly, the food is jokingly compared to something else. In Spain, percebes are boiled in seawater and served on their own. They have a strong ocean flavor.

Angulas

Let’s get more intense with our weird Spanish foods by introducing angulas or baby eels. Often considered the caviar of Spanish cuisine, eating baby eels is a tradition that started in Northern Spain in Asturias and the Basque Country. Still, it has grown to become a delicacy across the nation.

While it’s not unusual to eat eels—for example, you’ll find jellied eels in England—it’s uncommon to eat baby eels. These tiny sea creatures often have no eyes and are cooked in garlic and olive oil. They can be consumed on their own, but most people serve them on a slice of bread. Strangely, they don’t have much taste.

Oreja de Cerdo

Oreja de cerdo is found in several cuisines worldwide but is prevalent in Spain. In Spain, very little food is wasted, and this dish perfectly reflects that. Oreja de cerdo is pig ears cut into cubes or slices and grilled in olive oil with various spices and seasonings.

Many foreigners fear this dish when they hear what it is, pardon the pun, but the Spanish people consider it a delicacy. When done right, the pig ears have a golden color, crispy exterior, and a sweet, rich porkiness. Most Spaniards enjoy pig ears with a glass of red wine or a cold beer.

Callos

Upping the ante now, the following food on our list is callos, a traditional Spanish stew recipe popular in Madrid. In Madrid, callos is commonly referred to as callos a la madrileña. What makes this dish strange are the ingredients that go into making it and its weird appearance. You’ll find chickpeas, peppers, blood sausage, and beef tripe in this hearty yet scary dish.

For those who don’t know, tripe is a cut of meat from the stomach lining of various farmyard animals, including sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. It’s sometimes called offal and has a honeycomb-like appearance and a chewy texture. It has a mild flavor that combines nicely with many other ingredients and is jam-packed with protein.

Criadillas

You might want to look away now if you’re a fussy eater or someone who gets squeamish quickly. All the men amongst us might also want to look away as criadillas are fried bulls’ testicles. You read that right; fried bull testicles are a staple food ingredient in Spain.

Bull testicles are the most common choice, but lamb, boar, and buffalo testicles are also famous. We’d have thought you’d get more bang for your buck from bull or buffalo testicles because they must be bigger, right? In Spanish cuisine, testicles are breaded and fried until crispy and golden. They have a tough and chewy texture and taste similar to chicken.

Tortilla del Sacromonte

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If you thought eating bull’s testicles was strange, tortilla del Sacromonte will give you nightmares. This delicious-looking dish appears to be an ordinary omelet. However, the truth is very different. Beyond the colorful ingredients lie terrifying ingredients that’ll keep you up at night.

Besides the usual Spanish omelet ingredients like eggs, peppers, and potatoes, this dish also contains testicles and brains. Why would anyone want to add brains and testicles to an omelet? We don’t know, but here we are. It’s reported that brains have a soft and creamy texture, while we already know testicles are chewy. Despite the weird mix of ingredients, tortilla del Sacromonte is supposedly delicious.

Torreznos

Do you remember that we told you the Spanish don’t let any part of the pig go to waste? Well, this is another fine example of how they don’t. Torreznos are small pieces of pork skin fried until golden and crunchy. This bacon snack is commonly enjoyed as a snack due to its calorific nature.

As such, you’ll find it sold as a bar snack in most bars across Spain. Despite seemingly being a weird food, torreznos are pretty tasty. Of course, you’ll think otherwise if you’re a vegetarian or a Peppa Pig fan. It has a rich, porky, and salty flavor that goes down nicely with an ice-cold Estrella or San Miguel.

Caracoles

The next weird Spanish food on our list is caracoles, escargot, or snails. For centuries, people around the globe have eaten snails, but that doesn’t stop them from being one of the weirdest foods we can eat. Widespread across Europe, people in Spain, France, and Italy consider snails a delicacy.

Snails are especially popular in Catalunya, where there are various ways to cook them. Many bake them with oil, garlic, paprika, and cognac. Meanwhile, other Spaniards cook their snails in white wine vinegar, tomato sauce, or whisky. Regarding flavor and texture, snails are mild, earthy, and chewy. It’s worth noting that snails are usually served in their shells.

Migas

In most countries, bread is thrown out as soon as it shows signs of going stale. However, in Spain, which hates wasting food, stale bread makes migas, an odd but popular breakfast meal. Initially introduced by shepherds, migas are made differently depending on where you are in Spain.

For example, in Central Spain, the dish includes day-old bread soaked in water with garlic, paprika, and olive oil. However, in Eastern Spain, migas include bacon and chorizo and are often served with grapes. It’s also not uncommon for migas to be made using leftover corn tortillas. Depending on how migas are made, it can also be served as a lunch or main meal, too.

Ortiguillas Fritas

The penultimate food on our list is ortiguillas fritas, a dish that sounds and looks weird. Ortiguillas fritas are fried sea anemones. They are a Spanish delicacy that is especially popular in southern Spain, particularly Cadiz. In Spain, sea anemones are usually deep-fried in breadcrumbs or a thick batter.

The result is a golden-colored food with a crispy exterior and a juicy, squidgy interior. Regarding flavor, you likely won’t be surprised to hear that ortiguillas fritas have a fishy taste. They are typically served as an appetizer or with a slice of lemon. This dish is worth trying if you can look past the weird appearance and strange texture.

Cap i Pota

The final food on our list is a terrifying dish that would look right at home in a Saw movie. Cap i pota is a traditional Spanish stew recipe that translates to head and leg. Does that not already tell us what we need to know about this dish?

Cap i pota is made from veal head, mostly nose, and trotters, although it can also be made from pork. It is commonly found across Catalunya, especially in Barcelona, where you’ll find it in many food markets, including la Boqueria. Other ingredients in the dish include chickpeas, chorizo, tomatoes, garlic, onion, and tripe. So, what are you waiting for? Are you willing to give cap i pota a try?