09-04-2018
Discovering the extraordinary work of Miguel Ángel Mayor at Sucede in Valencia
The historic-gastronomic map representing the cuisine at Sucede
Our lunch at Sucede. We start with El huevo y la manzana, egg and apple, two typical elements of Roman Saturnalia
Uva gasificada, gassed grapes. Paired with Latin mursum, non-alcoholic juice of fermented grapes, with honey (in this case air of honey)
The real Roman banquet begins. Dentelle de salazones, a cracker made with sea urchin roe preserved in salt, plus herbs and flowers. Excellent. The dentelle is the lace
La fritura de la sardina. The sardine is fried not in oil but in mannitol
Mejillón ojimiel, mussels with vinegar and honey
Lovely Pan de higos, fig bread with trout and trout roe on the side
Ostra con holandesa de garum, oyster with hollandaise sauce with garum. A very elegant dish
Merengue de erizo, meringue of sea urchins
This is the Roman banquet
A sort of focus on sea urchins and chickpeas begins. In this case a snack, Pieles de garbanzo, chickpea skins
Infusión de anguila y garbanzo, infusion of eel and chickpeas
Excellent Tartaleta de anguila, a green chickpea tart with eel and Merlot spherification
Anguila al azafrán, eel filet with saffron and foam of citrus fruits
Anguila y garbanzo verde, a fantastic cream of eel and green chickpeas, not dried
Tartaleta de tuétano, bone marrow cake, a cracker of macadamia nuts with grated bone marrow and red fruits
Tuétano silvestre, wild bone marrow: a flan of bone marrow with truffle, mushrooms and cream of chestnuts
Cartílago, trufa y altramuces, cartilage, truffle and lupins. The cartilage is from pigs, there’s the demi-glace, plus lupins and a spherification of truffle
Liebre y encurtidos, hare and pickles: a nice fillet of hare with aubergines and onions preserved in vinegar, spheres of oil and cream of black garlic
Paloma con pistachos, dove with pistachios: a great dish, with pistachios in three textures (cooked in a cream, raw and praliné). Strong toasted notes, even in this case the barrier between sweet and savoury is overcome, as in the previous dishes
Consomé de tórtola and Tórtola al romero, turtle dove consommé and smoked turtle dove with rosemary. Perfect dish: delicious and very elegant
The Arab part of the menu begins with Agua de dátil y rosas, date and rose water. It recalls hibiscus, which used to be served as a sign of welcome
Flor de hibiscus, hibiscus flower, with beetroot and broccoli
Vol au vent de hibiscus y lentejas, hibiscus vol au vent, cream of lentils and ravioli with honey
Lentejas caviar y caracoles, lentils, a sphere of lentil broth and snail caviar. Delicious
On the side, Snail consommé
Ñoquis de berenjena, aubergine gnocchi with yogurt, couscous with herbs, spheres of yogurt with turmeric
Brocheta de cordero a la naranja, lamb on a skewer with orange
All the dishes dedicated to rabbit are incredibly delicious. In this case Oreja de conejo, crispy rabbit ears
Conejo mi-cuit, mi-cuit of rabbit liver
Perhaps the most fantastic dish, Lenguas de conejo, rabbit tongue (and its brain) with melon
Conejo melón, a broth of rabbit and melon with pine nuts and olives. Very good
Riñón de conejo, rabbit kidneys on cardamom leaves and melon
Another section: they serve salted, matured and smoked veal tongue, like katsuobushi
A slice of veal tongue-katsuobushi ends on the veal steak (actually it wasn’t hanged long enough): Ternera y lengua
Arroz del Mediterráneo, rice from the Mediterranean sea, fermented with honey: it’s similar to a fresh goat cheese. It’s a “cheese” in every aspect, closing the savoury part of the menu
Agua de calabaza asada, water of toasted pumpkin (it recalls arnadì, an Arab-Valencian cake with honey and pumpkin)
Merengue de calabaza, meringue of cream of pumpkin and pine nuts, a new take on arnadì
Zanahoria y mandarina, carrot wafer and mandarin sorbet, with yogurt bread
Remolacha y rabanitos, beetroot and radishes: blackberry ice cream, radish in osmosis with Campari, sponge of black sesame, crystals of beetroot and fennel sprouts
Miguel Ángel Mayor
Contemporary Spanish cuisine is not just the result of Ferran Adrià’s technical lesson and of his avant-garde. In other words, it’s not just about acquiring and presenting the innovations from that period, which led to a new scientific approach to food, including notions from chemistry, physics, and procedures that were previously only applied to industry, and not just the food one. Contemporary Spanish cuisine was and still is about having a free view of reality, of the local territory and its history, later presenting this through food. It’s a general change of paradigm, an infinite impulse towards research and creativity, looking at the future while analysing the past: if this were not the case, one could not understand the work of the following generation of Spanish chefs, from Angel León to David Muñoz, just to name two among the most famous ones.
The 19th century façade of Caro Hotel
Inside, ancient remains from various eras
Miguel Ángel Mayor in the dining room dedicated to the research of ancient recipes. To his right, an outline of Pre-Columbian historic eras and their respective food features: Roman Hispania, Christianity, Judaism, the Visigoth period, the Priscillian era (named after Spanish heretic Priscillian, 340-385), up to the Al-andalus, that is to say the Arab Andalusia
The dining room at Sucede with Arab walls and Gothic arches
The two menus: Sucede and Valentia
Some daily data at Sucede: 30 guests, as many menus, 9 members of staff in the dining room; the menu lasts 2.5 hours on average, 41 plates (therefore 1230 for 30 guests), 14 pieces of cutlery (420) and 8 glasses of wine (240)
Part of a culinary-historic reconstruction of Valencia. «The structure of the Valentia follows the still current outline of a Roman banquet: first, they serve the entrées, which must stimulate the appetite; then, the main dishes, based on vegetables, cereals, eggs, legumes, meat and fish; finally, cakes and fruits as dessert. With independent variations and micromenum within the main offer, our fil rouge faithfully follows this historic approach»
«The goal of our tasting menus is honouring the local culinary memory with absolute creative freedom. Valentia, our larger tasting menu, is named after the Roman name of the city, as a tribute to our origins, and goes as far as Balansiya [the town’s name in Arab times]. We studied the foundations of both eras, we understood their culinary principles and we try to start from these so as to make space and time meet and embrace the cuisine of the 21st century» (Miguel Ángel Mayor)
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
Sucede at Caro Hotel Almirall 14, Valencia Tel. +34 963 155 287 www.sucede.com Open at lunchtime and in the evening, closed on Sunday and Monday Tasting menus only, for 70 and 90 euros
An outdoor trip or a journey to the other side of the planet? One thing is for sure: the destination is delicious, by Carlo Passera
by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief