Picnic Ideas

Intense flavour, melting texture. Improve with age. Shimmers of silver skin. Ortiz buy their sardines at auction houses (lonjas) on the north coast of Spain. The fish are carefully beheaded and gutted by hand before being washed and prepared for cooking. They are briefly fried in oil before being tinned in olive oil. A la antigua describes those products on which the silver skin is kept on the fish.

Elegant fish flavour. Small tuna named "Bonito del norte". Silky textured, hand trimmed & packed. Ortiz white (Bonito del Norte) tuna, Thunnus alalunga, is a smallish tuna generally weighing less than 20kg. All of the fish that Ortiz buy is caught on rod and line in the Bay of Biscay and then processed by hand. The flesh is a pale colour and has a delicate flavour that is at its best when eaten simply, in a salad for example.

These manzanilla olives are green, with a firm and meaty texture and are slightly spicy with a lightly bitter, briny flavour. Marinated with guindilla chillies to add spiciness. Manzanilla are the most popular olive in Spain.  Serving suggestion: The perfect snack eaten on their own or they can also be added to salads, cocktails and dressings. *Please be aware the tins are fragile and can experience dents in transit. They are still delicious to eat. We will therefore not refund or replace any dented tins unless the product has been compromised or the tin is leaking.

These Gordal olives are green, crisp and fleshy with a touch of heat from the guindilla chillies in the marinade. Spain grows more than twice as many olives as the next largest global producer and processes them into olive oil and table olives. There are a huge number of olive varieties amongst which the most popular table varieties include Manzanilla, Verdial and Picual. *Please be aware the tins are fragile and can experience dents in transit. We will therefore not refund or replace any dented tins unless the product has been compromised or the tin is leaking.

Tangy with creamy, buttery texture. Mountain blue cheese wrapped in maple leaves. A lot going on. Matured in our Cheese Rooms The Valdeón (Picos de Europa IGP) is a pasteurised blue cheese made from a blend of cow's and goat's milk. This highly recognisable sycamore leaf wrapped cheese, has a creamy and buttery melting texture with lovely mushroomy, nutty and sometimes spicy flavours. It is delicious by itself or used to cook with.  Try our Picos Blue Soufflé recipe. Net weight: approx. 600g quarter, and 300g wedge.  

Fragrant, delicate and silky. Perfect for dipping. A modern take on a torta. Cañarejal is a torta style cheese with a soft, silky centre and a fresh mushroom aroma. The flavour is mild, slightly sweet and richly creamy. Perfect for a dinner party, make sure you keep it at room temperature for at least an hour prior to consumption. Cut the top off and scoop the interior out with some breadsticks or crudités. A 1-star Great Taste Awards winner in 2024 and Silver at the World Cheese Awards 2023 Net weight: 250g approx.

Fresh flavours, pleasant acidity, mellow sweetness. Smooth, dense texture. Lactic, herbal aromas.  Winner: Silver at the World Cheese Awards 2023 This semi-cured vegetarian Manchego PDO, combines lactic and herbal aromas, the paste is dense and semi hard. The flavours are fresh with a pleasant acidity and a mellow sweetness, typical of ewes’ milk.  Net weight: wedge approx. 250g, quarter approx. 750g, half approx. 1.5kg, whole approx. 3kg

Tangy with creamy, buttery texture. Mountain blue cheese wrapped in maple leaves. A lot going on. The Valdeón Picos Blue is a pasteurised blue cheese made from a blend of approximately 90% cows' and 10% goats' milk, and animal rennet.The Picos Blue is a semi soft blue cheese created in the Picos de Europa mountains of northern Spain.  Bold and salty, the uniqueness of this cheese lies in the manufacturing process. This includes a long maturing in cold, damp cellars to produce a granular texture and blue mould filled cavities. Similar to Roquefort, with an equally powerful aroma. It is delicious by itself , as part of a classic Spanish cheese board, or used in salads, stuffings, quiches, with red meat, on toasts, and in dips and sauces. It is also a great cooking cheese with a nice melty texture. It has a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), meaning it is made to strict criteria using high quality ingredients.  Taste profile: Fresh and earthy aroma with hints of blue. A buttery, melt in the mouth texture, with nutty, mushroomy, sometimes spicy flavour.

This simple quince spread is made from quinces (58%) and sugar and nothing more, all of them sourced in Spain. It can be used as a spread like a jam, add sweetness to savoury recipes or, in the classic Spanish tradition, be eaten with Manchego cheese.

This cured pork loin is made from the meat of carefully selected white pigs in the province of Teruel, Aragon, a region famous throughout Spain for the quality of its cured pork products.  The fresh loin marinates in salt and paprika for about 5 days before being cured for a period of 3 months to produce a lean but flavourful piece of charcuterie.

Guindilla peppers are sharp and piquant and are normally eaten as a tapa with other encurtidos. These pickles are the perfect accompaniment to our ranges of cheeses, charcuterie and pates. They also make an excellent pizza topping, a brilliant addition to a cheese sandwich or bring a refreshing piquancy to rich foods such as a terrine or a plate of charcuterie. Also delicious with Navarrico black beans.

Sobrasada is a cured, soft-textured pork sausage. Made from the meat of pigs fed on organic cereals, legumes and foraged food. Cured by a specialist family company in Segovia. With a melting texture and pleasant smokiness, it pairs particularly well with something sweet, making it delicious when drizzled with honey. Use like a pâté or stir into dishes. 300g in weight

Crispy and light Spanish style potato crisps. The only ingredients are high quality potatoes, extra virgin olive oil and salt (also contains sunflower oil). Great with boquerones and gordal olives.

Cecina is a traditional product that has been made in the north of Castile and Leon for many hundreds of years. The best is reckoned to come from Astorga, where the quality of the cattle, high altitude and cold, dry winters provide the perfect conditions for its production.  Rich, and deep flavoured with a hint of iron and a distinct flavour from the natural smoking process. This product has been awarded with 1 star in the Great Taste Awards 2024. The judges' comments were: "Deep, rich, attractive colour on these very lean thin slices. Very subtle smoky overtone on rich, sweet tasting beef which is so tender it melts on the tongue. A good moisture level, rich and with complex flavours from the natural smoking, the iron comes through well."

This cocktail mix contains green olives, black olives, small gherkins and baby onions. With a hint of spiciness and a light pickle, they are delicious at any time. A snack found in in bars all across Spain; enjoy with a glass of beer or a glass of wine and perhaps a plate of charcuterie, for the perfect aperitivo.  Serving suggestion: Ideal just as they are or you can make your own gildas by threading onto a cocktail stick with some anchovy fillets.  Also available in a resealable jar with a different recipe - slightly more spice and a clean flavour.   *Please be aware the tins are fragile and can experience dents in transit. We will therefore not refund or replace any dented tins unless the product has been compromised or the tin is leaking.

Alemany orange blossom honey has an intense floral aroma with a mild, sweet flavour balanced by sharp, citric notes. It's an excellent honey to use in the kitchen, equally good in sweet or savoury dishes. Used in the deep fried Monte Enebro dish in our restaurants.  A 2-star Great Taste Awards winner in 2025

Savoury, tang of island salt air. Paprika-rubbed rind. Chalky centre. Peachy aroma.  Torralba Mahon DOP is the iconic cheese from Menorca with a distinctive square shape and rounded edges. The vibrant, orange coloured rind is created by rubbing it with pimentón and olive oil as it matures. It has a Protected Designation of Origin. The semi-hard, sometimes crumbly texture has a fruity, fresh and creamy aroma complemented by rich, savoury and yoghurty flavours. Approx. 300g wedge, 600g quarter. "Very good flavours rolling round the palate, with sweetness and savoury notes, creamy and fruity on the palate. Good firm texture and full bodied aroma and flavour. This cheese has a creamy mouthfeel and is full of flavour."

These baby sized gherkins or pepinillos are marinated in vinegar with mustard seeds, silverskin onions and black peppercorns. The perfect accompaniment to our ranges of cheeses, charcuterie and pates. Small and crunchy, they marry perfectly with pate, strong cheeses such as Manchego and cured meats. They also form a key ingredient in tartare sauce.

Freshly sliced in our Balham Deli. This DOP Extremadura ibérico de bellota ham is made from animals raised in Extremadura that have fattened on acorns for 10 -12 weeks on the local dehesa and have then been cured in Badajoz for more than 3 years. 100% ibérico. The end result is a ham with an intense savoury aroma, a complex flavour that combines sweet nuttiness with a salty depth and has a long, lingering aftertaste. Ideal for sandwiches with crusty bread or pan de coca, tomato and extra virgin olive oil.  For best results, remove from fridge at least 30 minutes before serving. Please be aware that, depending upon which part of the ham your pack has been sliced from, the proportion of delicious acorn fat to lean meat will vary. **Vacuum-packed

Smooth, mousse pate. A hearty taste of wild partridge with creamy chicken liver, spices and brandy. Part of a range of three rich and delicate pates, which pair perfectly with Perello pickles (there's a tongue twister!). Venison paté with a touch of Mediterranean herbs, wild boar paté, smooth textured and meaty with a hint of mountain thyme and partridge lightly gamey with a well-balanced flavour.

These delicious berries, the fruit of the caper bush, have a floral sharpness which pairs particularly well with fish, from scallops to sea bass. Not quite as sharp as a caper, they are also great addition to a charcuterie or cheese board.  Blend them with lemon and garlic to make a dipping sauce for or substitute them for an olive to make a Dirty Martini. Why not try them in Giovanna Ryan's Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Pickled in vinegar infused with oregano and tarragon, this garlic has a full and savoury sweetness. These classic Spanish encurtidos (pickles) can complement everything from canapes to cocktails, or simply be eaten with a cold beer or a glass of wine. Serve it as a tapa alongside olives and anchovies for a simple, classic snack, or use it to add flavour and texture to pasta sauces, antipasti platters and sautéed vegetables or a stir fry.

Rich, earthy, hint of bitterness. Cut off top, scoop and share like a Vacherin. Traditional Torta. Winner: Silver at the World Cheese Awards 2023 There is a tradition in south-west Spain, and over the border in Portugal, of making ewes' milk cheeses using cardoon thistle rennet, resulting in  full-bodied cheeses with a soft, sometimes liquid interior. Queserías de Barros makes an excellent example using the milk of the indigenous Merino sheep. The cheese has an earthy aroma and the soft paste is creamy, rich, salty and full flavoured with a hint of bitterness on the finish. Leave it out of the fridge at least for an hour before eating to warm up and enjoy the gooey centre with breadsticks or crudités.  To learn more about this incredible cheese, watch the video here. Net weight: wedge approx 200g

These Gordal olives are green, crisp and fleshy with a touch of heat from the guindilla chillies in the marinade. With a different recipe from our tinned variety, these Gordal olives have a slightly cleaner flavour with a pleasant acidity and come in a resealable jar. These Gordal olives have a firm texture and a rich taste with a lovely balance between oiliness and acidity. An intense and juicy flavour bursts from these huge olives.   The Gordal Reina (Queen) variety comes from Sevilla in Andalucía. They are grown in Alcalá de Guadaira, Utrera and Los Palicios and are harvested between September and October. Serving suggestion: They are delicious when eaten straight from the jar. For a quick and tasty snack, stuff them with orange segments and marinate with olive oil and herbs like oregano.