Shepherd’s Crumbs Recipe

The micas constitute a dish of pastoral origins in the gastronomy of Castillo La Mancha. It is suspected that its origin could date back to the time of the Roman Empire, although it has evolved throughout history and has gone through different stages. Currently, it is a dish that is made with very humble ingredients, which during the years in which food has been scarce has served to feed many families because it is very consistent.

We want you to have the opportunity to get to know the typical gastronomy of La Mancha and see how delicious these simple crumbs are without the need for many ingredients. Keep reading and discover with us how to make easy and traditional micas de pastor.

Ingredients to make Micas de pastor:

• 1 loaf of stale bread (from the day before)
• 1 piece of fresh chorizo
• 1 piece of fresh bacon (thick)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small glass of olive oil
• 1 small glass of water to hydrate the crumbs
• 1 teaspoon salt

How to make Micas de pastor:

1

Crumble the bread by hand or with a serrated knife. Try not to let the bread fall apart, simply make small pieces and store them in a container.

2

Add a pinch of salt to the freshly chopped bread, stir so that it is distributed throughout and moisten the bread by adding water little by little. Stir with your hands and don’t leave it completely soaked, you just have to moisten it.

3

Cut the bacon and chorizo ​​into small pieces and slice the garlic cloves. You can add more of these ingredients to your micas de pastor; everything will depend on the number of guests. Prepare a deep and large frying pan with olive oil to heat it up.

4

Sauté the slices of garlic a little and when they turn golden, add the pieces of meat. Cook over low heat for a period of 4 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent these ingredients from overcooking.

5

After 4 minutes, add the bread and continue stirring with a wooden spoon or a utensil that doesn’t break up too much of the pastor’s crumbs. This will be the longest and most expensive part of the recipe, since you have to be aware of stirring the crumbs all the time so that little by little they take on a toasty color. With this amount you can have them sautéing for 10 minutes.

6

And they are ready! Traditionally, the recipe for micas de pastor was eaten with grapes or pomegranate, although today it is also common to enjoy this dish with fried peppers, dried sardines and a long etcetera, since the micas go with everything.

Micas de pastor – Varieties and more accompaniments

The micas are known in various areas of Spain, although in each locality they receive different names and we find variations in their list of ingredients. The micas Del pastor is the best known, however, in La Mancha villages we can also find the micas porridge, which are made with flour instead of bread.

There is Andalusia, Extremadura, Aragonite micas …, all with some different ingredients that make this dish the indicative of each region. As for the accompaniments, they also vary depending on the area. For this reason, we can find micas that are served with fried eggs, with fruits such as grapes or tangerine segments, with fried peppers, with roast meat and even with fish.