What is 'montaíto de pringá' in Seville and why you should try it
It's the turn for the ever-present most iconic sandwich in Seville, the "montaíto" de pringá. Althought you might not be thrilled by the idea of tasting a sandwich as your first incursion into Seville's gastronomy, wait a second, keep reading and I will tell you why you cannot miss this bite from heaven!
The recipe of montaditos de pringá, possibly of Sefardic Jewish origin, consists in a small sandwich stuffed with leftovers of stewed meat, blood sausage, chorizo and lard that can be eaten for breakfast or as a tapa. Montaditos (sandwiches), in general, are the typical first choice for anyone walking into a tapas bar when the kitchen has just opened. You can find a wide variety of montaditos (o montaítos), such as spicy chorizo, ham and tomato, codfish and salmorejo sauce, etc. But one of the most loved ones by locals is the pringá.
We admit that I have gone with some friends on a monographic tapas tour, just for fun, curiosity and hedonism, trying the different montaditos de pringá in multiple bars. Not all on the same day, though, because this small warm delicacy would threaten the healthiest of the arteries if eaten without moderation, but sometimes it’s worth the risk.
It’s been very hard to pick these only 5 places and probably other locals would have their own opinion and recommendations, but here they are what we have chosen from our own particular pringá tasting tour. We are open to discuss our choices; all new discoveries are welcome.
1. Salsamento
This modern abacería –a shop where you can try and buy food- serves a classic montadito de pringá in an excellent bread that soaks in all the juices of its unctuous meats. Creamy and soft, this pringá meets anyone’s standards.
2. Manolo Cateca
As with everything in life, your preferences on pringá are also a matter of taste. Manolo Cateca’s pringá has the perfect balance with its compacted texture; not excessively blended, not too loose as to identify each ingredient on their own. A festival of flavours that you can boost if you pair it with any of their outstanding sherry wines from their menu. We recommend to try it either with oloroso or a palo cortao.
3. Bodeguita Romero
You’d better come hungry to this one because its montadito is of a considerable size, served in a more filling bread and its junks of meat, chorizo blood sausage and lard are large enough, perfectly visible and distinguishable. This is exactly the reason that made it gain its reputation, and the absolute favourite of many, -really, many- locals.
4. Casa Morales
Yet another classic, here the montadito has the perfect size not to get fully satisfied and to have the opportunity to keep trying other tapas on their menu. Soft, juicy, just exactly what you can expect from a good pringá, this can be the most suitable choice for first-timers to get to appreciate it.
5. Venta "El Bobito"
This one it’s not in the city, but in a nearby town, Valencina, but it would be unfair not to mention it. Here what they serve it’s not simply a montadito, but whole mollete –a rounded shaped piece of bread- of a generous size. Their pringá is served daily since very early in the morning, during breakfast and it got so famous that now they even do home deliveries. For the one who’s writing this, it’s the best pringá, maybe because it’s like our Proust’s madeleine and it takes us back to our childhood, when right next to the inn there was a discotheque called La Rueda, and the whole family got together and we ate it with a Mirinda (an already disappeared Spanish soft drink). Tears almost come to our eyes every time we eat this delicious sandwich here.
Have you tried montadito de pringá in Spain? What it’s your best memory of it? Do you think we committed an unforgivable mistake by not including a place you really loved? Tell us on the comments, and we’ll go to try it!
Written by Pilar Rubio
