It’s funny that The stew route in Aragon It was the idea of a wine distributor, but yes, it has been ten years since Carlos Valero insisted on setting up this event during the harsh Aragonese winters so that he himself and all lovers of cocido could enjoy the maximum variety possible, without any intention of give prizes or encourage competition, but for the mere pleasure of sitting at the table and warming the soul.
Five typical Spanish stews (with 5 red wines) to face winter
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And so, edition after edition, it has been adding new chefs who bet on different styles, already exceeding a hundred, who mostly lean towards traditional stews such as Madrid, Castilian, mountain or, by proximity, Aragonese; that they propose to pair with their Red Heredad X, wonderful Grenache from the DO Cariñena or the cava Heredad X Brut nature reserve, which provides a great contrast to the cooked fat.
It is the case of yain restaurant, in Teruel, where they make a sensational stew from Madrid because the chef is from Madrid and has decided to wink every Saturday paying homage to the classic. Another classic stew is the candles, in Zaragoza, which has been recognized as the fourth best restaurant in Cuchara by the Repsol Guide.
The most original
Now, here we wanted to highlight the most original stews, the most surprising, because they will undoubtedly be the most difficult to try again beyond the end of this route in March 2022, given the creativity of its chefs.
On the web are all the schedules of each of the participating venues. But it is striking that many serve it on Thursdays, something that Carlos Valero explains, recalling that “in Madrid, it was said that most restaurants prepared stew on Thursdays because Franco liked it and that was the day he went out to eat it, so, for security reasons, they did not notify where he was going to go and all the restaurants had him ready in case he showed up”.
Prepare a delicious classic stew that you start by eating the cooked croquettes, very sweet, as an appetizer. Chef Rubén Marqueta continues with his broth with chickpeas, he continues with the ropa vieja with his vegetables and his typical silly egg.
And, when you think you won’t be able to eat anything else, it lives up to its fame as a rice restaurant by giving it a twist at the last turn with an exquisite paella made with the stew broth, including chickpeas, pork and even very crispy ear. Substituting potato for rice deserves a round of applause for originality.
It is a bar specialized in wines where they serve the stew, deconstructed, in the form of croquette tapas with chicken, ham and blood sausage; the borage as a vegetable, the broth separately and chickpea hummus from the stew.
It is the Aragonese tavern where Rubén Martín always pulls 100% native products, in this case, the Beceite fesols stewed in the traditional style with leg and nose of veal from the Pyrenees, as if they were tripe.
Fesols are a kind of white bean similar to a very fine verdina, which is cultivated very little, is irrigated with water from the Matarraña, in Teruel, and is in the process of being recovered in the Beceite area.
It surprises with its Cocido Marino, a dish that was born from a boat trip by the hotelier Patxi Jiménez and his chef, Nacho Leal, through Cambados, many years ago, where the sailors told them that they always cook potatoes with something preserved (chard, cardoon , cabbage, etc…) and ham or bacon with what they catch.
And from there comes this sea and mountain stew, chard with potato stuck in the base, cooked octopus, hake and its kokotxa, bacon and low-temperature egg. They finish it with Pedrosillano chickpeas cooked with a seafood and fish fumet.
It is one of the restaurants with cocktails that is giving more surprises with its well-prepared fusion cuisine. For this route, he has opted for the Japanese stew of rice noodles served in meat broth, miso, soy sauce with vegetables. And garnish of chicken and marinated Iberian bacon.
It has presented a typical proposal of Malaysian Peranakan cuisine, a noodle soup called, in this case, Laksa, creamy squid stuffed with sea and mountain, seafood soup-sauce and red curry and quail eggs, whose only classic ingredient of the stew are the noodles, which are made of rice.
Original, of course, it already is and continues to be recognized as one of the most delicious dishes in international cuisine, so take advantage of the occasion until the route ends in March.
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