Because of this goal of eating everything that is put in front of me, I felt excited about eating all of the food that I've tried so far in Oviedo and Asturias.
The food is prepared with a lot of attention because Asturias puts a lot of emphasis on local goods. They will try to source the food from within the region itself before going to other regions to get the ingredients. So, for example, the cheeses will most likely be Asturian cheese from the mountainous regions and local farmers.
The food is heavily connected to the local environment because of the plentiful access to the sea as well as being separated from southern Spain by a large range of mountains. Because of this seclusion, the Asturians relied on what they had and used their Celtic heritage to create meals that were not only filling for the cold of the mountains but were also delicious so that others could come and enjoy the food, too.
Because of this close-knit community feel to the region, it's common to have people over and eating together. For example, a very common thing to do in Asturias is an espicha, a dinner party where all the attendees stand at long tables and have traditional Asturian food brought out to them throughout the night. Not only is the food unlimited, but the local drink (cider; sidra in Spanish) is never ending as well. And during the eating and drinking, live music will be playing and everyone has a lot of fun and can interact with one another.
