Stop in India.
Everytime that Javier Aranda and his team face a new season, like so many other chefs (and creatives from any field), they start to investigate and read everything they can get their hands on about products, cooking techniques, processes...
“Searching, informing ourselves, we saw a couple of cases in which the products had come to Europe from Asia thanks to the silk route and speaking with Jaime, my right hand and with whom I develop the projects, We decided to follow these great routes that started in Xian and arrived in Europe by different paths”, says the young chef with two Michelin stars, one per restaurant, The Goat and Gaytan.
Italy in one bite, according to Javier Aranda.
In his constant desire to evolve and expand its cosmopolitan-based cuisine, the discovery of these silk routes was a perfect fit for allow him to create a menu that would travel not only through different countries but also through different times.
“Our insignia is that of a global cuisine based on Spanish raw material, without that meaning saying no to a product from outside”, explains Aranda quickly, as fast as his creativity probably goes. “We are not closed to anything and all those elaboration techniques, of conservation that we can bring and transfer and increase to our kitchen are always welcome adding our touch”.
This menu is a continuation of what Javier Aranda has been doing and for what he has achieved prestige since he opened The goat in 2013 and Gaytan, his most personal bet, in 2015. “We always go to the same thing: cooking with a lot of flavor, cooking 100% flavor. We do not give light dishes: lamb, duck... It is essential that each dish is important, is independent and shines by itself”, he counts once the route is over.
With Greece we approach dessert.
Now that menus with a certain order and harmony are gaining weight, Aranda continues to bet on giving each one of them personality. the 12 steps of the Grand Route menu. After China jump to Mongolia, where he experiments with techniques in the mackerel fish tartare and bets on a daring pairing: the mare's milk airag.
In Nepal he introduces one of the first cleansers, those little parentheses that he allows himself, to later return to the 100% flavor in India where in a single step he tackles and reinterprets several classic dishes of his gastronomy (cigala tikka masala, mango chutney, naan bread, lentil fudge...).
He also stops at Persia and in Turkey, with his version of a kebab, he makes the transition to the European continent: in Italy there is a great main course (free range chicken ravioli) and with Greece he opens his mouth for dessert, cleansing the palate again, with a halloumi cheese with dill chlorophyll. France Y Spain they are the countries of the dessert, where he returns to the tradition of the mille-feuille or the mostillo from his native land of La Mancha, to finish in Madrid, with a very, very traditional surprise.
In China, he starts this great route.
WHY GO
Because this Great Silk and Spice Route "won't last long", assures its creator, Javier Aranda. “Because of our way of being and the rhythm we have, this is how it is, it will last as long as it lasts,” he says. He has just started, and he still has a few months to go, but he is already investigating in the new season and when he arrives, everything will change again. "There are people who tell us not to remove certain dishes, but we think that if we have done something good, we can try to make something better," he explains. "Today we still don't have to settle down."
The positive part is that what lasts allows many variations as many as the various routes that existed and the wealth of the countries through which it passes... or what the season allows him to which he is always faithful.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
The pairing either harmony that accompanies the route (for €70 on the Great route; €55 on the route) is worth it. It is not the typical wine accompaniment, but you go from a sake to an unexpected beer, a milk liqueur, cocktails...
And Javier Aranda's other project of the season: he is the official restaurateur in Home Decor.
Address: Calle Príncipe de Vergara, 205 See map
Telephone: 91 348 50 30
Schedule: From Tuesday to Friday from 14-16 and from 21-23h. Saturdays from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and from 9:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Additional schedule information: Sundays and Mondays closed.
Half price: Great silk and spice route: €140. Silk and spice route: €100