page_title: Valencian Community
section_title: Gastronomy
hierarchical_section_title: Valencian Community / Culture / Gastronomy
caption_attribution_description: English: Making a Paella&#160;: cooking paella with rosemary Deutsch: Paella zaubern&#160;: kochende Paella mit Rosmarin Español: Hacer una paella&#160;: paella hirviendo con romero
context_page_description: The Valencian Community, Valencian Country or Valencia region is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid with more than five million inhabitants. Its homonymous capital Valencia is the third largest city and metropolitan area in Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast on the east side of the Iberian peninsula. It borders with Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south. The Valencian Community consists of three provinces which are Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.
  According to Valencia's Statute of Autonomy, the Valencian people are a nationality. Their origins date back to the Aragonese reconquest of the Moorish Taifa of Valencia, which was taken by James I of Aragon in 1238 during the Reconquista. The newly founded Kingdom of Valencia was granted wide self-government under the Crown of Aragon. Valencia experienced its golden age in the 15th century, as it became the Crown's economic capital.
context_section_description: The Valencian gastronomy is of great variety, although their more international dishes are rice-based (arròs in Valencian), like the Valencian paella known worldwide. Rice is a basic ingredient in many of the typical dishes, like the arròs negre, arròs amb costra, arròs a banda, arròs a la pedra, arròs caldós, among many.
  The Valencian Mediterranean climate favors the cultivation of vegetables and citrus fruits, with the cultivation of the orange being perhaps of highest importance as one of the typical fruits of Valencian agriculture.
  Horchata (orxata in Valencian), production of which has traditionally been centred around Alboraya (Alboraia), is a typical drink, accompanied with fartons. Also traditional are the production of coffee liqueur (typical of Alcoy), and mistela (in Marina Baixa and Hoya de Buñol (Foia de Bunyol)). Another one is Agua de Valencia, in Valencian Aigua de València, it is a cocktail made from a base of cava or champagne, orange juice, vodka, and gin. In general, it is served in pitchers of various sizes and is drunk in a broad cocktail glass. It was made for the first time in 1959 by Constante Gil in the bar Café Madrid, in the city of Valencia.
  The great majority of desserts typical of Valencia have their origin in Arabic times and play an important part in the local festive activities. Some  are internationally famous. Xixona is the place of traditional manufacture of turrón, torró in Valencian (a soft nougat), consumed during Christmas in Spain and the rest of the Hispanic world. In Casinos the turrón is typical too but the most important manufacture of the village is peladillas (dragées and sugared almonds). In Xàtiva, the arnadí, a dessert elaborated with pumpkin is made.  Orihuela and its region have the almojábanas.
caption: Valencian paella
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