Spanish migas .
Migas is a traditional dish in
Spanish cuisine. It was originally a breakfast dish among shepherds that made use of leftover bread or
tortas. It gained greater uptake as shepherds, cooking on small
braziers while moving their sheep along
transhumance routes, spread the dish to rural laborers. It regained popularity during the early 20th century, and as of 2011 was sold by restaurants across Spain, and in supermarkets, vacuum-sealed and ready to be heated. The most suitable Spanish bread for making migas is called "
candeal", due to its dense and spongy crumb. Migas is usually served as a first course for lunch or dinner in restaurants in
Spain. The ingredients of
migas vary across the provinces of Spain. In
Teruel,
Aragon, migas includes
chorizo and bacon, and is often served with
grapes. In
La Mancha,
migas manchegas is a more elaborate preparation using basically the same ingredients as Aragonese migas. In
Granada,
Almería and
Murcia, in southeastern Spain, migas is similar to
North African couscous, using flour and water, but no bread. Preparations commonly feature a variety of ingredients, including fish. Andalusian migas is often eaten with sardines as a tapa, in the form of fried breadcrumbs. In some places the dish is eaten on the morning of the
matanza (
butchery) and is served with a stew including curdled
blood,
liver, kidneys, and other
offal, traditionally eaten right after butchering a pig, a sheep or a goat. Migas is often cooked over an open stove or coals. In
Almería, migas is a staple dish when it rains, yet the reason is still subject to much discussion.
Portuguese migas Migas is also a traditional dish in
Portuguese cuisine. It is usually made with leftover bread, either
pao Alentejano, a wheat bread traditionally associated with the
Alentejo region in Southern
Portugal, or
corn bread as used in
Beira. In Alentejo, migas can also be made with
potatoes (
migas de batata) instead of bread. Garlic and olive oil are always an ingredient. Other ingredients such as
pork meat drippings, wild
asparagus,
tomato, and seasonings such as
red pepper paste and fresh
coriander are usually included in Alentejo, while in Beira, the other ingredients typically include cooked
kale cut in
caldo verde style, cooked
beans (pinto,
black-eyed peas or
kidney beans), and sometimes cooked
rice.
Migas usually accompanies meats or other main dishes. ==North American migas==