Venta el Soldao, Los Badalejos, Medina Sidonia

Teresa Montero, pushing ninety, is a legend in the Janda region of Cádiz. The charming, warm-hearted matriarch still runs a country restaurant or venta (a typically Andalusian roadside inn) that opened in 1953. Here she is supported by a fluctuating cast of her eleven offspring who help in the kitchen, serve in the bar and restaurant, or look after the clucking ducks, chickens, and turkeys outside. One son, José, supplies freshly baked bread, while another, Enrique, manages the lovely family cortijo as a hotel and restaurant. Burly Carlos runs the cattle farms of fighting bulls and the local breed of retinto; both meats feature on the restaurant menu, leaving imposing trophies (heads) on the walls.