{"id":6002,"date":"2020-12-26T23:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/luminaris.com\/wp\/?p=6002"},"modified":"2024-08-05T15:42:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T14:42:26","slug":"anna-just-anna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luminaris.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/26\/anna-just-anna\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna, Just Anna"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The town of Anna is located just west of X\u00e0tiva, in the foothills of whichever sierra this is (sorry, Google isn’t very helpful in naming the nearby mountain ranges and since I like to be accurate I will just admit my ignorance and stop there). Spain is a very mountainous country and I’m certain all hills, mountains, and ranges have names — perhaps I just need to find the right sort of map or atlas and get my info there, once I’m allowed to purchase books again that is. In any case, Anna is a bit more inland, and perched ever so slightly on a hill overlooking the river Anna. It is a very pretty town, clean and apparently quite well maintained, with a beautiful old public laundry well right down the street from the palacio we came to see. It also has a very long history, the area having been populated as far back as 3,000 to 5,000 years BCE, as archeological finds around the Albufera have shown. The Romans were here too, as were the Muslims before the Reconquista. Situated as it is in a fertile valley, it has been an important economic centre for a very long time, and water, of all things, has been one of its primary resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The public laundry\/washing pool<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had made reservations to see the Palacio de los Condes de Cervell\u00f3n but arrived in town a bit too early so after strolling down a few streets and with our tummies rumbling started to look for a place to eat. At first it didn’t look like there were many places open but a few tables outside a butcher shop suggested there was a restaurant as well so we decided it was good enough. Sometimes hunger is enough to help you choose a place and we were hungry. The weird (to me, at least) practice of not being able to order a paella if there aren’t two of you to eat it, meant that I wasn’t going to get to try one here at Gastro Bar La Plaza Anna either as my friends were more keen on trying the local burgers, which, I admit, looked amazing. So I ended up ordering one too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we sat down to eat the moon was here<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for us–or maybe fortunately–our burger was quite late in arriving: we actually thought the meat was still being cut off the cow at the butcher’s since we regularly saw big plates of meat making their way from the butcher to the restaurant next door and yes, that’s how fresh the food is around here. In order to make us feel a tad less ravenous, the lovely owner came over and apologized profusely for the delay while treating us to a plate of yummy Iberico ham … which was delicious. When the burgers arrived it became crystal clear why it was all worth the wait. I am not a huge fan of burgers in general (the occasional craving for a Fat Burger Cali burger notwithstanding) but this one! this one made an impression. This was a gourmet burger con carne de buey del Valle de Esla, foie fresco, y cebolla caramelizada<\/em> or, in other words meat from a bull from Valle de Esla with foie gras<\/em> and caramelized onions … and it was to die for. I don’t think I’ve ever written this much about a burger before but yeah, for this burger I will want to go back to Anna and you’re all welcome to come with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hamburguesa Gourmet del D\u00eda<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After this much meat one must have dessert: so we did, of course. I had a very yummy flan that looked more like a cake but I really should have tried the couland chocolate<\/em> (a type of chocolate cake) because it, too, looked amazing. I was also introduced to something called cremaet<\/em>, a very typical Valenciano dessert coffee made with rum, orange peel, and a stick of cinnamon. It was delicious as well. So far I have found that it matters not how big a town or village is, there is most certainly a restaurant, and sometimes more than one, where you can eat like royalty. It is no wonder Spain has more Michelin star restaurants than most other countries and now I know why. They know food and they do it well.<\/p>\n\n\n

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