Shopping in Almeria Alpujarra! Typical crafts and produce

One of the greatest attractions of the Almeria Alpujarra is its huge wealth of everything relating to typical gastronomy and crafts.

For decades in these small white villages rugs, ceramics, sweets, wines, cheeses and other delights and wonderful objects have been made in the same way as hundreds of years ago.

Amazing treasures, handmade with care and mastery, which are somewhat forgotten following the neo-industrial storm that floods city markets, and which we invite you to discover with us in this article, shopping in some of the best places to soak up the know-how of these locals.

La Alacena de María, handmade whims and delights!

Sweet and savory food, ceramics, wines, rugs and many homemade items and products typical of the Almerian Alpujarra fill the shelves in La Alacena de Laujar, run by Maria, a whirlwind of kindness, whose shop is in the heart of the Almerian Alpujarra and who greats us next to the most typical products of the area in this charming video.

There are the little puffs, typical sweets from the area made from lemon and sugar and one of the oldest desserts in the area, as well as many familiar products made in the same way as they always have been, like the village bread, the organic farm eggs, the walnuts and the cheeses.

The jarapa rugs, hand woven as they were originally and which have been and always will be used to combat the cold in the Alpujarra mountains.

The honey and jams, such as onion and green tomato jam, which are very select and typical products of the Alpujarra and difficult to find anywhere else, as well as the ceramics, which are 100% artisan, full of colour, very sculpted and beautiful and very typical of Andalusia, giving splashes of colour to our kitchens.

And endless products obtained from the know-how of small companies that care for the products as if they were their own children. Products that are increasingly more difficult to find in large cities and which are difficult not to find in places like this.

Wine tasting and visit to a 100% organic bodega

Wine, as surprising as it seems given to the altitude here in the Almeria Alpujarra, is another of the most typical products of the area and which you must try, which is why we have come to one of the most representative bodegas of the Almeria Alpujarra, where you can try one of the most awarded and rcognised wines in the area: el Cortijo de El cura.

In 1998, the Sánchez family decided to commit themselves to the first organic wine in Almeria. Many people may find it surprising to come across a bodega like this one at more than 1000 metres above sea-level, but the truth is that this wine has no additives and a long list of awards that are a real treat for wine lovers.

Visits to this bodega are a great experience, not just because you can learn in situ how the organic wine is made, but also thanks to the location, in unique surroundings between the Gador and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges.

A place where you breathe tranquillity and calmness and where Justo Sánchez, one of the owners, will let you into the secrets of the wine and the bodegas which we assure you, are full of interesting facts.

However, what is an organic wine? That's the million dollar question. Let's just say that in these estates, species of plants resistant to specific pests have been planted and selected, which avoids the use of pesticides or genetically modified organisms. As far as the fertiliser, they use manure from the livestock they have there. Livestock which live outside, in open spaces and are fed on organic feed.

As you can see, a 100% natural cycle which you can really notice in the end product, the wine, which is increasingly more recognised, so you really can't miss out on a bottle and a wine tasting!

Visit a different kind of cheese factory

Have you ever tried an organic cheese that you made yourself? The next product and option we put on the table is one for all the family and is undoubtedly one of the most fun and delicious visits that we have found in the Almerian Alpujarra: the Medal Laujar cheese factory.

This is a great visit, because it's not every day that you can make your own cheese! From seeing how the cheese changes from a liquid to a solid state, and their packaging and labelling, rigorously following the artisan production process that the master cheese makers at the factory explain to us step-by-step.

Another interesting part of the visit is the milking room, which is probably the kids' favourite place. They get to see where cheese comes from whilst feeding these gentle and lively animals.

Finally, of course , the unquestionable star: the cheese. A natural that is so natural, you can even eat the rind! No additives or conservatives. Cheese made from raw unpasturised goat's milk. The result? An incredible flavour that we invite you to try and take home.

Angelita and her low warp loom

One of the most cozy and genuine visits you can do in the Almerian Alpujarra is undoubtedly the one we show you below, in the small shop in Laujar de Andarax called "Artesanía La Plaza”, where everyday, Angelita, a craftswoman from the area, makes all kinds of tapestries, bags, headboards, blankets, rugs and anything else that can be made from a low warp loom.

A technique that is gradually being lost, but which people like Angeles continue to do the same as many years ago, making unique items of uncalculable value.

Are you coming shopping?

After this article we hope to have aroused enough curiosity for you to try out these experiences, which as you can see, are worth well it. It's not every day that you can meet people who make such traditional products that we have grown up with, and in the same way they have been made for decades. Let's make sure that this "old know-how” isn't lost and let's give it the value it's worth, putting a piece of them in our homes, or... in our mouth, which we're sure will thank you!