Zamora and its environs

[butterfly]

We're going to spend the upcoming puente in Zamora. From a culinary perspective, this part of Spain is a complete mystery to me...

What are the specialties in this region? Particular dishes or raw ingredients to look for? Restaurant recommendations? Products to stock up on and bring back to Madrid?

I promise a full report when we return...

[vserna]

Zamora. So far away, so isolated, so beautiful in its medieval splendor. (Cold too, this time of year...)

Local stuff:

Terrific beef and veal from the Sanabria Lake and Aliste region near the Portuguese border.

Outstanding Zamorano cheese (like Manchego, this is well-aged 100% sheep's milk, preferably unpasteurized).

Roast kid and roast suckling pig.

Chick (garbanzo) peas from Fuentesaúco - the most delicate in Spain.

Farinato sausage, frogs' legs, codfish 'ajo arriero'.

The great wines of Toro (Numanthia, Viña San Román, Pago La Jara, Pintia, Quinta Quietud, Bienvenida).

An outstanding modern restaurant 'with roots' in Zamora proper: El Rincón de Antonio, which has just been elevated to one-star category (miracle! miracle!) by Michelin.

Some of the stuff they serve: Zamora-style beef gizzards with Huelva striped shrimp; lime-marinated goose barnacles; a casserole of veal cheeks, wild mushrooms and Toro wine; braised veal's sweetbreads; 'three-game' escabeche (roebuck filet, duck magret and pheasant breast); an orange cream with apple ice-cream; a warm pinenut-stuffed chocolate bonbon...

(More here: El Rincón de Antonio).

Edited December 2, 2004 by vserna (log)

[Rogelio]

Just a few more tips:

Try the Cecina, a kind of beef or horse ham.

In the village of Toro there are loads of bars and restaurants, try La Viuda Rica 980 691 581.

And in Morales de Toro (Just outside Toro), in front the Viña Bajoz wine Coop El Chivo 980 698 219 is the place where you can find eating all the local winemakers.

And for a tourist visit, the Arribes del Duero, The cannon dividing Spain from Portugal, are worth the visit.

Enjoy and be prepared for the coldest weather.

[butterfly]

Thank you so much for the replies. Is there any corner of Spain that doesn't burst at the seams with deliciousness?

Yes, I think we are prepared for the cold... for once, I skipped renting a casa rural and went for a hotel with copious heat.

I am studying a bit about the romanesque churches in and around Zamora and had to see them firsthand. Our hope was also to head in the opposite direction from the rest of Madrid and from the reactions we're getting from friends and family (and egulleteers), I don't think we'll have to worry about encountering any crowds of puente folks!

Cecina de Leon is one of my favorites. I didn't realize that it is sometimes made with horsemeat. Is it smoked? It has a very nice smoked flavor to it. Sort of what I always wish beef jerky could be...

Any particular wines and vintages that you might recommend that we bring back? I don't have any proper storage, so they would be for relatively quick consumption...

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

[vserna]

Any of the wines I've mentioned, from the great 2001 vintage, will be spectacular.

I don't think I've ever tasted horsemeat cecina. The types I know are made with either beef or venison. It's not usually smoked, but air-dried in the same fashion as 'ibérico' ham. I didn't know this was much of a specialty in Zamora; as you mention, I also know the cecina from the León mountains to the north of Zamora well - higher altitude, lower temperatures make for better meat-drying conditions. Then again, since cattle is such an important activity in Sanabria and Aliste, it would not be illogical for some beef cecina to be made in the area.

[Bux]

beef gizzards

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Beef gizzards? I don't think so. So what parts are these, stomach, tripe, other offal?

[vserna]

Goodness, Bux, you're right. Forgive me! I copied the 'English' translation of the dish and of course it was horrible and meaningless. Actually and simply it's veal sweetbreads with striped shrimp - a somewhat daring combination.

[Bux]

I should thank you for the chance to correct you. It passed me the first time, but then I thought the gizzard was a particular part of a bird's anatomy and I couldn't equate it with anything found in cows. Are sweetbreads and shrimp that daring a combination? It seems to me that sweetbreads and shrimp, or maybe freshwater crayfish are something I've had, and maybe outside of Spain -- or have I read too much about mar y montana? Ah! Here it is in my notes, "Mrs. B's ecrivisses et ris de veau" in Lille, France just about three years ago in a very staid and traditional seafood restaurant.

[vserna]

OK - it's daring... in Zamora!

The modern world just got thereabout 20 minutes ago, so this is indeed high jinks for zamoranos!

[butterfly]

I was surprised to see that there is so much seafood on the menus in Zamora. It's quite far and isolated from any ocean. This must be a recent development... unless Zamora was traditionally on the route from Galicia to Madrid.

The modern world... you're not kidding. I have been reading about Las Hurdes (to the south) during the early 20th century and it is almost unbelievable. It strikes me as ironic that places where people suffered from horrible goiters (due to a lack of iodine) and countless other nutritional problems related to extreme poverty now export so much delicious and highly-prized food and wine...

[vserna]

I was surprised to see that there is so much seafood on the menus in Zamora. It's quite far and isolated from any ocean. This must be a recent development... unless Zamora was traditionally on the route from Galicia to Madrid.

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Well, you're giving the answer yourself. Yes, it's right smack in the middle of the old road from Galicia to Madrid, on which the haevy carts pulled by oxen and led by the 'arrieros' from Astorga in nearby Maragatería once brought fish to Madrid. A little of it always stayed in Zamora, León and places in between...

[Bux]

OK - it's daring... in Zamora!

The modern world just got thereabout 20 minutes ago, so this is indeed high jinks for zamoranos! 

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I forget that Catalunya and the Pais Vasco is not all of Spain, although I have to say that Andalucia and Valencia are catching up and who the hell would expect Las Rejas in Las Pedroñeras, or Coque in the suburbs of Madrid. I better get to Extremadura while it's still there.

I guess Palencia and Astorga were the two closest towns to Zamora I've visited and León was the closest place we spent a night. That was a good number of years ago and we had a memorable lunch that was brought to mind by looking at the map. Casa Teo in San Andres de Rabanedo just west of León was little more than a workman's cafe and almost devoid of diners. It was recommendation of yours. Faced with a menu of many ordinary, but unfamiliar dishes, I was indecisive and when the owner said there was an empanada de bacalao coming out of the oven if I could wait, it sounded like an opportunity. It was and on that basis, I took his word that the sole was fresh, although I had my doubts so far from the sea in such an unprepossessing dining room in a town that seemed lost and asleep. After that empanada, I thought I owed him a sign of respect and thanks. The sole was fresh and well cooked. A rice pudding with a glaze of brunt sugar (think creme brulee) finished the meal. Nothing sounds as exciting as it was to eat. The next few days over the border into Galicia brought more traditional food and we had no qualms about ordering fish. If they hadn't changed their style of cooking, at least the transportation was good.

[vserna]

Ah, Casa Teo, what great memories, Bux! Still doing OK, from what I've heard, and I'm glad about that.

To me, this little tavern, which I first visited 26 years ago, epitomizes why even in those old, bleak times when Spain was a poor isolated country with no culinary sophistication and Ferran Adrià was a high school kid in Barcelona with no inkling he'd ever be cooking for a living, there was here a reservoir, a trove of culinary talent, tradition and excellence that was just waiting for this society to regain a bit of affluence and to start re-discovering the civilized pleasures of the table and even re-launching the evolution and growth of Spanish cuisine.

Now we've done all that, but without all the little, unpretentious Casa Teos that held the fort of good cuisine while deprivation and isolation still gripped Spain, we wouldn't be where we are today. Casa d'a Troya in Madrid, Casa Leopoldo in Barcelona, Bodegón Alejandro in San Sebastián (where another teenager, Martín Berasategui, was learning the ropes!), El Mosquito in Vigo - I raise my glass to them with much admiration and gratitude!

Edited December 4, 2004 by vserna (log)