Imagining an entire month dedicated to the cachopo seems naive, but here we have come to be delusional. Without the need to visit Asturias (not for lack of desire), the Vallecas neighborhood builds bridges between the community and the people of Madrid to delight us with a regional route that, although it begins and ends in the restaurant Pancipelaus , takes us on a culinary journey across the country with a single dish: welcome to the second month of cachopo.
The cachopo is that flirtatious recipe, capable of making everyone fall in love with its charms, it leaves its mark and does not disappoint anyone. It's hard to do if you gather beef, serrano ham and cheese in the same plate. Asturias has plenty of reasons to conquer hearts, but he only needs one to win our hearts.
If the boat is the Pancipelao restaurant (Sierra de Alquife, 26), the captain is chef Pepe Filloa . The duration of this trip is prolonged until June 19 , enough time to try all the varieties of cachopo that he has prepared for us, each one a tribute to an autonomous community.
Cachopo de 'León', with mamona veal sirloin from the Esla Valley, Iberian cured meat from Entrepeñas and artisan cheese with raw sheep's milk from Toral de los Guzmanes.
The popularity of the recipe made it spread throughout the region, which is why now appears in different versions , all of them delicious, with some surprise factor that amazes and seduces us in equal parts.
The protagonists of the previous edition were 'Andalucía', 'Cantabria', 'La Mancha', Madrid's 'Pancipelao' and 'Clásico'. This year, the parade continues through 'Extremadura', 'Galicia', 'León' and the Asturian 'Tineo'.
THOSE WHO ARRIVE
New stops are now added to the old selection. They begin with a tribute to the origins, landing directly in the Asturian council of Tineo . The chosco, a raw-cured pork sausage, is typical from there.
In this way, the Pancipelao recipe emphasizes tradition by including slices of chosco between the Friesian beef tenderloin , bathed with cow cheese from Afuega'l pitu and sheep cheese cream.
Cachopo ‘Tineo’, with slices of chosco between the Friesian cow tenderloin, bathed with Afuega’l pitu cow cheese and sheep cheese cream.
The next stop is 'Galicia': blond cow sirloin steaks stuffed with Galician ham and semi-cured cheese. We continue for 'León', with mamona veal sirloin from the Esla Valley , Iberian cured meat from Entrepeñas and artisan cheese with raw sheep's milk from Toral de los Guzmanes.
The latest addition brings us to 'Estremadura' , which opts for the Iberian pork stuffed with 100% Iberian acorn-fed ham and wedding cake . All of them collect some distinctive note of the community they intend to evoke, and pass the test with flying colors.
THOSE WHO WERE
The permanent staff with which Pancipelao served 1,350 cachopos last year obviously begins with the 'Classic', with Iberian pork tenderloin , Serrano ham and soft Vidiago cow cheese. If we continue through Madrid 'Pancipelaus' , we go to beef tenderloin from the Sierra de Guadarrama , with cured ham and semi-cured sheep's cheese from Campo Real.
Even so, in the first edition (and with continuation in the second), Pepe Filloa dared with an ode to 'Cantabria', with Burela skewered hake with thin slices of smoked cod and salmon, andaricas cream and Vidiago cheese.
Cachopo ‘Pancipelao’, with beef tenderloin from the Sierra de Guadarrama, recebo ham and semi-cured sheep cheese from Campo Real.
The chef also went south, but first he stopped at 'La Mancha': venison loin meat from the mountains of Toledo , Duroc ham and sheep cheese from Albacete. The trip had its last stop in 'Andalusia', with Iberian pork dam , acorn-fed ham and cured payoya goat cheese.
A route from north to south that can continue to be enjoyed on this occasion, for the nostalgic and for those who had not yet discovered that Vallecas was the Madrid cradle of the cachopo . This gastronomic love letter has managed to soften our hearts… and whet our appetite!