Madrid and Segovia During Semana Santa

[vmilor]

Our recent trip to Madrid has coincided with the Semana Santa. At first, I was disappointed because quite a few places I had wanted to dine were closed including Casa d'a Troya, Combarro(which I have reported earlier and is a superb marisco), Viridiana and the new two stars Sant Celoni and also Horscher whose location and pedigree I find most interesting + Zalacain which is the bastion of classic excellence(I am not interested in trying La Broche again after a lackluster meal savoring half baked concepts of the conceited chef). But, retrospectively speaking I was wrong in despairing. We got to know some new places where locals eat and had some memorable dishes. Here is why.

First, the fact that Madrid places were closed gave us a chance to spend 3 days in Segovia, a noteworthy place with tremendous character. The culinary highlights of the Segovia days, however, were the visits to 2 of the temples of Castilian lamb, Tinin at Sepulveda and Mannix at Campaspero. They both serve 3 weeks old suckling lamb from churra breed which resembles a breed I know well I like very much from Trakya (Euroean part in the Balkans) of Turkey. I do not know anybody other than the Spanish though who serves 20 days old lamb and the results are exquisite. Any serious lamb lover(esp.one lucky enough to savor French pre-sale on an everyday basis) owes himself/herself a visit to a true asador in Castilia to taste the cordero lechal. If somebody, esp. a Spanish from the area tells me that there are better places than Mannix or Tinin to have this very Spanish specialty I will give it a try but I would be quite skeptical as it is hard to conceive of more tasty lamb. Especially in Mannix we thought we reached nirvana as they have good wines to match the quality of the lamb--whereas Tinin only serves the house wine which is adequate.

Some placed did not close till the thursday before the good friday so I visited an ex-favorite Coque at Humanes and Arce in Madrid. The former has changed from the last year after they have gotten a Michelin star in the sense that there are now fewer locals, they do not serve a charcuterie plate and now most people are ordering the menu degustation and there is now even a French assistant sommelier. Fortunately cochinillo lechon asado is still on the menu, still prepared by Jose Ramon(creative chef Mario Sandoval's brother)and it is still very good, as good or even better than the version I have had at Jose Maria[ in Segovia. We still found some inconsistency in the delivery(one dish was flawed) but, compared to last year, the desserts(also prepared by Jose Ramon)have improved. This place should be a candidate for a second Michelin star in near future.

This said, I will recall longer one dish at had at Arce , the becada with Armagnac sauce, longer than any single dish at Coque. The idiosyncratic chef(who is of Basque origin)is a believer in long faisandage for the woodcock and the result is stunning if you like the extremely gamey and minerally taste. Thanks to Pedro, his lovely wife and Rogelio who hosted me and my wife to the restaurant and they all turned out to be ideal dining companions, we also learned to pair the oloroso sherry with the aged becada. I was skeptical first, but now I am truly convinced and can not see any other drink which will be a better match. By the way the whole sole fish was also exquisite at Arce and the smaller portions are quite good too but not on par with the last two dishes.

Because Combarro was closed we tried 3 other mariscos: O'Pazo, La Trainera and El Barril. I will still give the edge to Combarro but the quality and availability of great seafood in Madrid may not be compared to other metropoles in Europe and the States that I am aware of. I also found Galician lobster(bogavante)and langouste(langosta) to be on par with the Brittany versions served in Meurice, Arpege, etc, for much higher prices.

Thanks to the owner of O'Pazo, signor Evaristo who called Lucio for us, we got a reservation at Casa Lucio on the good friday and watched some processions on Cava Baja from our table next to the window on the first floor. This was about 2 AM in the morning of course. The food is very good too. If you have a chance make sure you try callos madrilenos (tripe with blood sausage), besugo a la plancha and a very good quality churrasco for two(Cote de boeuf). Their arroz con leche was the best I have had, on par with a top firin sutlac in Turkey. Besides, the best looking women of Madrid seemed to be having dinner with their much older companions that particular day at Casa Lucio, and I still wonder if this was just a coincidence or is there some logic and reason behind it?

I had heard about the Andalusian restaurant Alboran, located in an attractive middle class residential district of Madrid, and thanks to Rogelio who especially recommended this place we had superb fried fish there, As good as what I had gotten at El Espigon in Sevilla. The chipirones a la planchawere also very good and the baked rodaballoquite good--but have this dish at O'Pazo. By the way prices for the quality are more than fair at Alboran and I was the only non Spanish. This was the day of Easter, sunday lunch.

We are looking forward to our next trip to Madrid and 6 hours of walk everyday which is the only way to get to know this exquisite city and burn most of the calories.

[Rogelio]

Great report Vedat. I hope that you'll get some time to post some pictures.

I'm flattered to see my name mentioned as a reliable source for such a conoisseur like you.

It was a great meal that one in Arce, with Iñaki serving the last becada of the season with a month old faisandage specially reserved for Pedro.

[Culinista]

I don't think you missed too much at Viridiana, except I will remember it for an excellent grilled jabugo cheek. I would have lamb in Sepulveda any day instead.

I'd also venture to recommend the cordero lechal in Casa Ojeda in Burgos. The lamb is excellent, especially for a traditional restaurant instead of a rustic asador dedicated to lamb. (They have a dedicaded asador in the first floor, which might explain it.) The big plus here is they have a respectable wine list as well as other dishes almost as good as the lamb.

I dream about the tiny grilled kidneys of cordero lechal that they had at the (now defunct?) Asador Real in Madrid. They had run out of them when we asked for them, but they brought the only one left for us to taste--one beautiful bite each that I have never forgotten, and I normally don't like kidneys. It was less than an inch big and must have come from a tiny lamb.

[vmilor]

Culinista:

Were the kidneys a separate dish? In both Tinin and Mannix I devoured the kidneys which were part of the portion as the 2 of us ate half of the lamb.

The strange thing in Tinin is that a dish of "head" of the cordero lechal was on the menu. I wanted to have it too as I find the lamb brain one of the truly special treats. Somehow the owner did not want to serve it and of course we could not understand each other. Does anybody know why they were so resistant in serving the head separately?

Rogelio, I have so much more to learn about Spanish food and I am truly happy meeting you guys and following your advice not only for individual restaurants but also for dishes. I happen to think that making a tour of Michelin starred restaurants in Italy or Spain obfuscates more than reveals the country's rich culinary tradition. In addition it is not easy to pass judgments even on the multistars, such as,say Barasetegui, without having some understanding of the culinary traditions and references(in this case the Basque traditions) that the chef takes as its premise and starting point. The only thing I will get credit for is that I have an open mind (except trying chicken) and boundless curiosity and I take pride in being a good listener.

[vserna]

I don't think you missed too much at Viridiana, except I will remember it for an excellent grilled jabugo cheek.

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Mmmmm.....

That's like saying "I don't think you missed too much at Le Bernardin, except I will remember it for a nice bottle of Loire white."

[Bux]

. . . I happen to think that making a tour of Michelin starred restaurants in Italy or Spain obfuscates more than reveals the country's rich culinary tradition. In addition it is not easy to pass judgments even on the multistars, such as,say Barasetegui, without having some understanding of the culinary traditions and references(in this case the Basque traditions) that the chef takes as its premise and starting point.  . . .

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It's the multistarred restaurants that drew us over the border, but it's the local, regional and traditional food that draw us deeper into the country. For the tourist, the gastronome who's recently found Spain a destination, there's a synergy that can develop as one enjoys both the creative and traditional in Spain. There's an attraction to the creative food for me. It comes from the seductive sparkle reinforced by the press perhaps, but I can't discount my own general preference for new ideas and intellecual creativity. Nevertheless, I've learned I get more out of the creative food when I have had an introduction to the traditional food here. There is also a counterpoint between the two cuisines. Each meal makes me appreciate the other even more, without depreciating the meal I'm eating. ONot be overlooked, is that excellence can be found in the simple traditional food of Spain, particularly in the raw materials and in the materials that are slowly processed such as ham. I will still give the edge to France for cheese. No place is perfect, but Spain is intensely rewarding right now.

[vserna]

I will still give the edge to France for cheese.

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Mmmm... We'll have to do a rundown of the current Spanish cheese scene when you're here next! It might change your mind!

That said , I've just returned from a grueling Madrid-northern Portugal-Manchuela-Madrid drive, 750 miles in one day (including six hours' sleep...), half of it with my station wagon jam-packed with 1,400 grape vines ready to be planted. Grueling. But - here's the point - at least I'm coming back with a neat prize - an artisanal, unpasteurized soft ewes' milk cheese I bought at Macedo de Cavaleiros today. These little devils are good enough to be endorsed by both Frenchmen and Spaniards...

[Bux]

Not too long after vmilor was introduced to Arce, Mrs. B and I were also taken there. By the end of May, there was no question of game on the menu, but we had no complaints. In every season there is something special to be had in Spain that is special and there are special restaurants that escape the attention they merit. Although without a Michelin star, I don't know that it's accurate to describe Arce as unnoticed. It does have a sol from Campsa and was highly recommended in an article from the Sunday NY Times Travel section on restaurants in Madrid that's been sitting on my desk since the week after we returned from Madrid as a reminder to reinforce vmilor's recommendation.

It seemed that one doesn't just order from the menu at Arce, but neither is there a set tasting menu offered. Rather, chef Iñaki Camba arrives at your table asking questions about your appetite and tastes as he discusses some of the things he's prepared to cook this evening. Camba doesn't play the role of a welcoming host, he is that host. He's not making you feel he's cooking for you. He is cooking for you and it seems as important to him as it is for you to feel the restaurant is his home and that he's not just in the kitchen working at his job, but feeding his guests.

The dish I will recall longer than many others was unfortunately one I didn't order but which I had a spoonful of from my neighbor's plate. It was the most flavorful dish of spring peas. I love vegetables and really enjoy them when they're served to me, but like many people, I don't focus on ordering them often enough when I have the chance. The Spanish, contrary to the prevailing tourist opinions I've read, have some excellent vegetable dishes in the national, or maybe in the many regional repertoire(s), but this wasn't really a dish I would have associated with Spain, which only proves that I've got much more to learn, or that Iñaki is a suprising cook who follows his own dictates. Actually the latter is a forgone conclulsions, although it doesn't negate the former.

Camba seems to be an old fashioned hands on cook although his food is neither old fashioned nor fashionable. Nevertheless, I sensed a respect for the craft more than the art of cooking and and a focus on taste rather than presentation. The beauty of a macaroni dish was in its texture and depth of taste from the reduced sauce in which it was cooked. It was like Catalan pasta rather than Itallian pasta. His lightly smoked fish and meat, as well as a raw shrimp dish are very contemporary dishes, but personal expressions rather than technically ground breaking. It's exceptionally satisfying food, but it's also food you think about.

This is not to say there's an abdication of a cook's responsibility to make every dish attractive. I think his china alone speaks for his interest in the visual effects. Here's the bread plate for example. By the way, that was an excellent roll.

Mrs. B and I Had much the same menu with an exception. We started with Ahumados hechos en la casa: pulpo, salmon fresco, bacalao y presas de solomillo (fish and veal smoked in house: octopus, salmon, codfish and veal all sliced very thinly and served with a little mashed potato and olive oil).

Gambas frescas, machacadas sobre salsa tartar con gelatina de la cabeza (fresh shrimp pounded thin served over a tartar sauce with a gelatin made with the juices from the shirmp's head) followed.

Then came a Surtido de cetas (assortment of mushrooms: cepes, perechicos, etc.).

Esparragos blancos de Navarra simplemente hervidos y servidos con aceite de oliva y limon fresh asparagus from Navarra, simply boiled and served with olive oil and lemon juice for Mrs. B.

Fideau con salsa de crustaceos (elbow macaroni with a crustacean sauce) for me.

Finally Higado de cordero con el corazon, riñones y pulmones encebollados (lamb liver with the heart, kidneys and lungs with sauteed onions) for me.

What I recall as roast pork for Mrs. B. I have a photo but no notes.

[Rogelio]

Curiously I was dinning in Arce last night and it was as good as ever.

I tend to think that the best season in Arce is Fall because Iñaki is a master with the game and mushroom dishes, but this year I've been dinning at Arce on every sigle season and it has never failed to have mushrooms and an asortmen of suggesting dishes worth the experience.

Yestarday's menu was:

Starters:

- Home smoked iberic pork loin

- Cod cheeks brandade

- Bonito over salmorejo

- Rice with asorted mushrooms

And as a main course I had to choose between a confited lamb, a free range Cock with mushrooms, Guinea gen with lobster, Pidgeon two ways, Duck hearts, Steak tartare and an amazing Iberic porc snout that I had.

There is always a bounch of fish dishes but I'd go for the game, offal and poultry dishes.

In this world of fireworks, inconsistent restaurats, and pretentious chefs it is great to have Arce as unremovable reference along all these years.

[Bux]

I was very pleased with the conrast between my smoked fish and raw shrimp and the lamb offal. I would be curious to taste his cooked fish, but if I were to be in Madrid in the fall or winter, I would definitely return for game. The pigeon dish from your choices sounds appealing. I love pigeon and birds with dark meat as well as offal.

It's interesting that he serves duck hearts. I don't think I've ever seen them on a menu, but they're easy to find in NY's Chinatown and I used to prepare them when our daughter was a child. When she was very little, she liked to eat bowls of small round food. Of course we made small meatballs, but poultry hearts were ideal and they became a favorite dish.

[Luis Gutiérrez]

It's interesting that he serves duck hearts. I don't think I've ever seen them on a menu, but they're easy to find in NY's Chinatown and I used to prepare them when our daughter was a child. When she was very little, she liked to eat bowls of small round food. Of course we made small meatballs, but poultry hearts were ideal and they became a favorite dish.

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It was a good night, as Rogelio says. Iñaki seems to be in great form...

As for the duck hearts, I had them the other nigh (for the second time this month!) and they were excellent. They were stuffed with foie-gras and lightly battered and fried. What's very interesting is the texture, quite firm (softly crunchy if you know what I mean) in contrast with the foie.

BTW, Iñaki is also a master smoker, and he does not only the obvious salmon et all. His smoked octopuss is excellent!

Cheers,

Luis

Edited August 12, 2005 by Luis Gutiérrez (log)

[pedro]

Iñaki is in good shape. As he's been since I started visiting his restaurant years ago.

Restaurants like Arce, who regularly deliver great food year in year out without much fanfare, of which Madrid has more than a handful, are the gastronomic backbone of a city.

[Luis Gutiérrez]

Restaurants like Arce, who regularly deliver great food year in year out without much fanfare, of which Madrid has more than a handful, are the gastronomic backbone of a city.

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Curious to see your list...

[pedro]

Here goes a first attempt: Arce, Viridiana, Asturianos, Aldaba, Casa d'a Troya, Betelu, Errota Zar, Gaztelupe, San Mamés, Las Batuecas, Mesón Arturo, Combarro, Sacha, Dantzari, . . .

Not all of them are in the same range price, but they've been around for some time and usuallly deliver food that is worth the visit.

[vserna]

Arce, Viridiana, Asturianos, Aldaba, Casa d'a Troya, Betelu, Errota Zar, Gaztelupe, San Mamés, Las Batuecas, Mesón Arturo, Combarro, Sacha, Dantzari, . . .

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Goodness gracious, Pedro, we seem to have dangerously similar tastes!

Unfortunately, San Mamés is but a fond memory now.

A few more of my own reliable, solid, 'go-to' favorites:

Andalusian: La Giralda I.

Castilian: Asador Tierra Aranda, Támara-Casa Lorenzo, De la Riva.

Catalan: Casa Jorge.

Basque: Julián de Tolosa, Asador Imanol, Or-Dago, Zerain.

Paella: Samm, Ventorrillo Murciano.

Galician: Villa de Foz.

Not to forget our little ethnic treasures...

Chinese: Don Lay, China Crown.

Cajun/Creole: Gumbo.

Burgers and ribs: Alfredo's Barbacoa.

Peruvian: La Gorda.

Italian: Taverna Siciliana, Vecchia Milano, Casa Marco, Ouh... Babbo!

Mexican: Taquería del Alamillo.

Japanese: Naomi Japonés.

Armenian: Sayat Nova.

[Bux]

.

. . . .

Unfortunately, San Mamés is but a fond memory now.

. . . .

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Sad news, but I'll choose to be glad I had the chance to try their callos as well as some superb seasonally perretxicos mushrooms and an unusual and successful dish of pulpo, rather than regret the lost chance to return. After all, there are a number of restaurants in this thread, that I've not tried and which deserve a dance.

[pedro]

Goodness gracious, Pedro, we seem to have dangerously similar tastes! 

Unfortunately, San Mamés is but a fond memory now.

. . . .

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Well, I think I owe you more than one lead, Víctor.

What's happened to San Mamés? Have they closed or do you mean is not good as it used to?

[Judith Gebhart]

I will still give the edge to France for cheese.

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Mmmm... We'll have to do a rundown of the current Spanish cheese scene when you're here next! It might change your mind!

That said , I've just returned from a grueling Madrid-northern Portugal-Manchuela-Madrid drive, 750 miles in one day (including six hours' sleep...), half of it with my station wagon jam-packed with 1,400 grape vines ready to be planted. Grueling. But - here's the point - at least I'm coming back with a neat prize - an artisanal, unpasteurized soft ewes' milk cheese I bought at Macedo de Cavaleiros today. These little devils are good enough to be endorsed by both Frenchmen and Spaniards...

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Thank you Victor. This is the most exciting cheese information I have encountered on eGullet. Can you expand on this marvelous find? Please let us know where we can purchase this extraordinary cheese product? Many thanks, Judith Gebhart

[vserna]

Can you expand on this marvelous find? Please let us know where we can purchase this extraordinary cheese product?

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Well, as I stated in my April 20 post, Judith, this was acquired back then in Macedo de Cavaleiros, a small town in northern Portugal, just to the southwest of Bragança. Other than the fact that it can be found in the gourmet shop in the small downtown shopping center, there's little more I could add! In don't think this is too useful for an international audience, but hey, if you're ever in Macedo...

I'd also like to point out that this is not really a marvelous find of an extraordinary cheese, but just another frequent acquisition of a very good Portuguese cheese, which is no longer news, I think, here on eGullet. Portugal has a number of great cheeses that are unfortunately too little known abroad. The great, soft 'da Serra' cheeses are the ewes' milk counterpart to vacherin Mont d'Or, as are their Spanish cousins, the Extremaduran 'tortas'. But they are not the only ones.

The cheese scene in Portugal and Spain is extremely rich, and getting richer every day with new producers of artisanal cheeses. Late last month I was at the cheese and artisanal products fair at Reinosa in Cantabria to give a chat on the future of such products with some ideas about production and marketing (and I pointed out that such U.S. initiatives as the New York farmers' markets or the Ferry market at San Francisco afford much better exposure to major urban customers than anything we have in Spain). Well, there I noticed and tasted a few highlight cheeses:

* The marvelously unctuous, well-balanced, complex picón de Bejes-Tresviso made by Amalia, of Bejes (no last name needed; in Spanish blue cheese land, as in Brazilian soccer, first names are sufficient). Of course, not the slightest hint of a knitting needle used to accelerate the inoculation with penicillium: this is the real, 100% natural thing. As I believe I mentioned in another thread on cabrales/picón/valdeón, when choosing a Picos de Europa blue cheese the name of the shepherd (or shepherdess, in this case) is paramount – much more so than the name of the village where it comes from. And Amalia is to Spanish blue cheese what Jean-François Coche-Dury is to white Burgundy.

* The terrific, very original hard ewes' milk Valluco cheese from Valderredible, Cantabria's southernmost valley, actually an enclave in the Castilian high plateau. Delicate and nutty but assertive, aged for eight months, it's quite different from its neighbors to the west, the castellano and zamorano (manchego-style) cheeses, or its neighbors to the east, the Basque Idiazabal cheeses.

* The torta de Barros, from the Villafranca de los Barros creamery in Extremadura. Mind-boggling texture and pungency from a cheese that's as good as the best torta del Casar or queijo da Serra I've tasted yet.

* The hard, very finely grained, delicate, pale yellow, small Rabaçal cheese, made with a mix of goats' and ewes' milk by the Santiago de Guarda co-op in Ansião, Portugal. Yet another wonderful find from our neighbors.

What's happened to San Mamés?

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No family member to pick up the legacy, Pedro. So Santiago just decided to retire and close up shop. A frequent tale these days in family-run restaurants.

[pedro]

. . . . .

What's happened to San Mamés?

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No family member to pick up the legacy, Pedro. So Santiago just decided to retire and close up shop. A frequent tale these days in family-run restaurants.

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I thought that the guy who was in charge of the kitchen was a young member of the family. I guess I was wrong.

[pedro]

Summer vacation is over and Arce has opened its doors. The meal I had yesterday is a perfect example of why I keep returning to pay visit to Iñaki Camba at least once a month.

Right at the beginning, he just announced that he had some amanita cesarea, one of the wonders in the mushroom kingdom, which he would like us to sample. You'd have to be completely out of your mind to refuse an offer like that! It was the second time in a short period that I found amanita cesarea since Abraham García (Viridiana) had a few of them a couple of weeks ago and prepared a risotto. This time, I was going to have them in one of the simplest ways that Iñaki uses: briefly cooked in the oven with some olive oil and some grain of salt. In that way, nothing really interferes with the flavors and taste of the mushroom.

After that remarkable mushroom, which I'd like to interpret as a hint of a good mushroom season (I know, I know I'm fooling myself: not with the weather we've had), a master piece was served. Pochas with roasted tórtola. The pochas are nothing more (and nothing less!) than white beans, while the tórtola is a small bird, streptopelia turtur or turtle dove.

The bird was cooked rare and had a quite deep flavor which I thought it was reserved to birds like becada or certeta. And the broth of the pochas was rich, creamy almost like an extension of the silky and tender pochas (no hollejo, of course).

The dish was round, I mean, it wasn't like you had pochas served with tórtola, both ingredients were part of a whole. Intrigued to know how Iñaki had achieved that result, I asked him about it. Another question was the answer: Have you seen the carcasses of the tórtolas? Enough said.

[Bux]

Is there anything seasonal about the tórtola? It sounds like something I'd like to keep an eye out for.

[pedro]

There are 3 or 4 weeks in the end of the summer --all this depending on the region-- when the closed is opened: the media veda. The tórtola is one of the species that can be hunted.