Mannix

[pedro]

Probably there aren't many reasons to visit Campaspero, the small village near Valladolid. But we just need a reason to go there: it's the hometown of Mannix, one of the best places (some would say the best) to have lechazo.

Lechazo is the name that baby lamb receives in some areas of Castilla y León around the Duero river. It's simply a suckling baby lamb (no gender distinctions) which are slaughtered before they're 35 days old, when they weight around 10kg. The most usual breed is the churra, though there are at least a couple of places where merina is used, which is remarkable given that this breed comes from other places than Castilla y León.

But let's go back to Mannix, where they care so much about lechazo that they even have their own cattle and a butcher's shop. Mannix is located in a big building in the middle of the town, with a large dining room with decor beyond description. No smaller is the kitchen, a spacious room with two big ovens where the lechazo is cooked. Don't worry too much about what your options for the meal are. A few starters that you can count with some of the fingers of your hand, which barely serve the purpose of distract you while you're waiting the (you guess?) lechazo. It's important to make reservations since lechazos need a long cooking time of some hours, and when you make reservations you'll be asked how many quarters do you like to have. A quarter typically will be enough for two people but I asked three quarters since we were going to be a party of five. Better safe than sorry.

At Mannix, they've really mastered the art of roasting lechazo after 25 years of doing the same. Simply put in the oven in a plate with water, they achieve a tenderness which is hard to beat. The last part of the cooking when the lamb is turned gives a nice crunchy touch to its skin. When they serve it, just a couple of spoons are used to cut the quarters. No knives are required for this operation.

Yes, after that, you can get some desserts which aren't bad and coffee. But who cares about them!

PS: There are at least two other great threads dealing with the roasts in Spain:

Unfashionable Mecca

Madrid and Segovia in Semana Santa

[Bux]

. . . . Lechazo is the name that baby lamb receives in some areas of Castilla y León around the Duero river. It's simply a suckling baby lamb (no gender distinctions) which are slaughtered before they're 35 days old, when they weight around 10kg.

. . . . when you make reservations you'll be asked how many quarters do you like to have. A quarter typically will be enough for two people but I asked three quarters since we were going to be a party of five. Better safe than sorry.

. . . .

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I'm still rather a neophyte when it comes to an understanding and appreciation of Spanish food, expecially the many regional cuisines. I've had some very young lamb in various parts of Spain including chops from an animal whose size was indeterminate to me, but whose chops were certainly far smaller than any I've encountered in the US. In France, I may have had lamb chops from as young a lamb as I've had chops in Spain, but nothing has compared to the one time I had suckling, or baby, lamb in Burgos, 120 kilometers northeast of Valladolid in Castilla y León.

My distinct memory was of having half a lamb on a platter and that it was not too much meat for two people who had already shared a salad composed of several lettuce varieties and a lobster and rice dish. It was certaily the smallest lamb we had ever had and it sounds even younger than the one Pedro had. It was a few years ago. In fact it was on a trip that predates the eGullet forums.

[vserna]

No, Bux, what you had was 'un cuarto', a quarter - lamb is never served in half. I agree that a quarter is a modest portion for two people. If you're hungry, you need a 'cuarto' per person. BTW, the lamb in Burgos is not any smaller than in Campaspero - same 'lechazo', same age!

PS Naming a rural restaurant after an old-time, once popular American TV series is a classic, endearing Spanish idiosincrasy. Copacabana, Monte Carlo, Kansas are other names of small-town restaurants in Spain with, of course, no relationship to Rio de Janeiro, Côte d'Azur cuisine or the Great Plains!

[Bux]

No, Bux, what you had was 'un cuarto', a quarter - lamb is never served in half.  . . . .

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I could swear there was a fore leg and a hind leg on the platter.

[vserna]

Then you had... two 'cuartos' on single platter!

[Bux]

Then you had... two 'cuartos' on  single platter!

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. . . .  A quarter typically will be enough for two people . . .

. . . .

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That's not the Pedro I know then.

[vserna]

I was just in the Ribera del Duero a couple of days ago. I was roundly chided by the locals for lauding Mannix. "The best roast lamb in the world is that of the Nazareno in Roa!" they said emphatically. So we had lamb at the Nazareno. Well - they may be right.

[Rogelio]

I was just in the Ribera del Duero a couple of days ago. I was roundly chided by the locals for lauding Mannix. "The best roast lamb in the world is that of the Nazareno in Roa!" they said emphatically. So we had lamb at the Nazareno. Well - they may be right.

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Both are terrific, but I like Mannix better.