Food pilgrims in Santiago

“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.

Speaking about cakes, one needs to move to Tafona do Peregrino, a hotel in the centre, in whose restaurant work young Nacho Tierno and Lúcia Freitas. The latter, in particular, can boast a nice curriculum - including Celler Can Roca and Mugaritz – marked by the lessons in creative pastry making given by Jordi Butrón (EspaiSucre in Barcelona). The tasting menu with 9 courses at 39 euros, with the savoury part including the excellent Suckling pig with endive and orange, culminates with two high quality desserts, that do credit to the master: the fresh and aromatic Passion fruit, mango and rose sorbet, with the crumble giving a delicate crispy-fat-salted note, before the luscious Chocolate, praline and coffee.

However, the great promise in the Galician tables needs to be found somewhere else. It goes by the name of Iago Castrillón, 35, previously working with Ricard Camarena. He was awarded as Cocinero Revelación in Madrid Fusión 2013 and his cuisine was defined as “la cocina más atractiva del momento en Santiago” by Abc [the most attractive cuisine in Santiago at the moment]. El Paìs, thanks to José Carlos Capel includes him in the list of the “10 young chefs to keep an eye on”. His restaurant, Acio, looks like a high quality bistronomy and has the ambition of becoming something more, also thanks to sumiller Eva Pizarro, Castrillón’s wife. Our tasting menu had no flaws (around ten courses for 43 euros): delicious Artichokes and clams in succulent concentrated stock, tasty Cuttlefish with veal sweetbreads and roasted cabbage, sumptuous and balanced Lamprey à la royale with beetroot and Cebreiro cheese (a Dop matured cow cheese), the perfect savoury finish before the sweet part, which was inferior to the rest. We will hear people talk about him in the future, be sure.