22-08-2014
Iago Castrillón, 35, was awarded as Cocinero Revelación at Madrid Fusión 2013. His restaurant Acio is one of the most craveable locations in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia... and of creative cuisine
“Few people venture in the dangerous seas of creativity, their faithful having to walk towards Santiago de Compostela for the best food pilgrimage”, we wrote here telling about the slow evolution of Galician cuisine, from traditional sanctuary dedicated to products (raw materials are exceptional) to new age gastronomic cults temple.
So here we are, in the capital of Galicia: having put the pilgrim baton aside, we hold the fork, because there are at least three locations in our lay procession (in fact, there would be more: such as Abastos 2.0, where Marcos Cerqueiro and Iago Pazos propose a market cuisine – opposite the Mercado de Abastos). The alpha and omega of any gastronomic tour in town is Marcelo Tejedor’s Casa Marcelo. Born in 1967, his curriculum includes Bocuse, Ducasse and Arzak: he was among the first to remove the à la carte menu and offer the tasting one alone, fifteen years ago; and he was the first to break the barriers between kitchen and dining room, removing brick and mental walls, with the cooks serving the dishes - Redzepi hadn’t come with that idea yet. Tejedor always bets on the future so little over one year ago he converted his restaurant, on which a star was shining: no more tables, their place was taken by designer counters where one can taste (in fact compartir, that is to say share with the other guests) dishes with a new concept, a fusion of Japan and Galicia with incursions in other lands. The format is sparkling and winks at low cost without losing its signature appeal. The Hare shao mai à la royale or the Dim sum de empanada, as well as the Bull tartare are excellent. The Bica Casa Marcelo (bica is a local cake, a sort of sponge cake, in this case with caramelised sugar and some grated Tonka beans) is also very good.
Lúcia Freitas during the Fórum Gastronómico La Coruña 2014. A disciple of Jordi Butrón of EspaiSucre, she works at Tafona do Peregrino. Her strongpoint? Desserts, of course (photo credits Passera)
Verdinas en verde con toques anisados, by Iago Castrillón, a creation that won the prize for "Best vegetal dish in 2013" at Fruit Attraction. It’s a composition of broad beans, the famous green peppers from Galicia called pimientos de padrón, shallot, chalotiña de costa (a sort of marine scallion), apple and celeriac water, cream of codium seaweed, fresh kombu seaweed, marine fennel and distilled sea water
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