05-03-2014
Javier Olleros, chef at restaurant Culler de Pau in O Grove in Galicia, while foraging on the Atlantic coast. Awarded as Chef-revelation at Madrid Fusión 2010, Olleros is only one of the many people to discover in a region that is slowly getting emancipated from its (great) gastronomic tradition
«A new generation of cocineros has born, Galician food has boarded the train of contemporary cuisine», smiles Pep Palau, director of the Fórum Gastronómico, a congress that has just ended in La Coruña. Gastronomist Philippe Regol was walking around, after historicising the kitchen evolution of this extreme North-Western part of the Iberian peninsula with these words: «Modern cuisine took a while to take off here, paradoxically this was due to the excellent quality of the raw materials. Today, the dichotomy between tradition and modernity has vanished».
Fórum Gastronómico 2014's audience, just passed in La Coruña
The fact that it is possible to witness a generational transition is shown at the Fórum itself, which has nominated 25-year-old Diego López – from restaurant La Molinera in Lalín, a small village between Santiago and Ourense - chef of the year. This is a good place: if you have the chance – as the author of this piece did – try to taste the cocido gallego, a pork celebration with a quality as high as the heaviness of the dish. How about the creativity? It’s not in the menu but is only dished out when reserved.
Tomato confit with San Simón cheese mousse, presented at the Forum by Chisco de Llano of Culuca in La Coruña
In La Coruña a good group of restaurateurs with a moderate creativity is overshadowed by starred chef Luis Veira with his Árbore da Veira, who plays with techniques and pays particular attention to the aesthetics in his dishes, adding that extra oomph. We have also enjoyed La Coruña’s bistronomic alternative, that is to say Culuca, of chef Chisco de Llano, the upholder of a “high informal cuisine”; his Tomato confit with San Simón cheese mousse and the Lime cheesecake were both good.
GALLEGO HERO. Marcelo Tejedor of Casa Marcelo in Santiago de Compostela (photo by Miguel Riva)
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