The millor terreta del món is the cradle of rice
Rice in the terreta is religion, so much so that many restaurants in the capital have been grouped under a registered brand called Alicante City of Rice . Of course, not everyone can adhere to this distinction if they do not meet the quality that encourages the excellence of Alicante rice dishes, banishing those hated frozen paellas.
There is no rice in the area that we have not tried, so if your destination is Alicante, take note: this is the final list of the best.
1.RIQUELME HOUSE (Vázquez de Mella, 17)
It has been three decades Moncho Riquelme behind some stoves that left the Plá to settle definitively in front of the Santa Barbara Castle . His good work has always been based on traditional cuisine, the one that has made him succeed with his almadraba rice (tuna, prawns and monkfish). For Moncho, the secret is in the point of cooking, never past and that he always has to carry his socarrat. "It has to be a caramel-colored cape, never burnt black. The key is the power that is achieved with a very powerful fummet and a rice that absorbs the maximum flavor".
The chef's pairing: in summer, Moncho recommends the region's white wines. "The Pallet they are spectacular".
His good work has always been based on traditional cuisine
2.LA ERETA (Ereta Park)
Possibly the restaurant with the best views of the whole city. But it is not only they who attract us to the house of Dani Frias , a vocational chef who has not hesitated to put his stamp on the most traditional with a location facing the Mediterranean Sea. His rice is made with octopus, potato and paprika alioli: simply a scandal, with a balanced flavor and at its perfect point. "We use an Bomba rice and as it is a dish that is served in a tasting menu, we do it in two courses", explains Frías.
The chef's pairing: "Purity Pepe Mendoza it's a good option".
3. THE TAILORING (Plaza Gabriel Miró, 20)
After living in countries like China, Turkey, Greece or Russia, Mary Louise Rivera She decided to return to Alicante to open a restaurant like the ones she likes: small, cozy, with personality and committed to the local produce. This is how La Sastrería was born more than 15 years ago in the most charming square in Alicante, during which time it has built an excellent reputation among the most demanding gourmets and rice cookers. Their baked rice It is based on freshness, on Ñora de Guardamar and, as she says: "on lavish love on those you are going to feed. Fine in the paella, that is not thick. Balanced fat and that little stain the plate ".
The chef's pairing: "Passion of Monastrell or Passion of Bobal, any of the two".
Her baked rice is based, among other things, "on wasting love for those you are going to feed"
4.MAESTRAL (Andalusia, 18)
This nice restaurant is located in a villa with a garden a few meters from the Albufereta beach . Well-deserved fame of having one of the best rice dishes in the capital, thanks to the savoir faire of its master rice cooker Francisco Jose Garcia Linares , in charge of achieving the exact point in his star rice: the mellow with lobster monkfish popieta and red prawn. "The key is fresh and local produce. We use the best fish and shellfish from our fish markets brought in daily, vegetables and meat from our friendly producers, and the best pego rice”.
The chef's pairing: "A good rosé, like La Reserve from Casa Cesilia, 100% Grenache".
5.POCARDY (Nice Avenue, 38)
This restaurant is the personal bet of Gonzalo Bone , director of the Hotel Almirante, who did not hesitate five years ago to invest all his efforts in creating a gastronomic restaurant with products at the forefront of the San Juan beach . In the kitchen, run by William Severa , Alicante rice dishes of all kinds shine, made with contemporary techniques, as well as with fish and shellfish from the Santa Pola fish market. Their plain rice with Iberian jowls, chanterelles and crispy ears of suckling pig is from another planet. And he reveals his secret to us: "The natural enhancers that we use, because each rice has its own. In Alicante the use of brine it's excessive, that's why all the rice dishes taste very similar", he affirms.
The chef's pairing: "A muscatel very cold dry or any Monastrell grape".
pocardy restaurant
6.FOP (Announcer Vicente Hipólito, 37)
You don't have to go too far from San Juan beach to find one of those dishes that cannot be missed on the terreta, which is the senyoret rice and that in Petimetre they embroider it. Located in the Golf Club, your chef Jose Pallares talks about the importance of a good base, a good sauce and a good grain. "The weather is vital and quality of the product is key; that's the rice speech. Also that affection that is imprinted on him from the elaboration of the product base and the money "he explains, emphasizing that the rice he chooses passes rigorous quality controls.
The chef's pairing: "For a band, for example, we recommend a good atlantic white . Better cut dry, acid, so that it contrasts well with the flavor of the rice."
AND LEAVING THROUGH THE PROVINCE...
7. CASA SANCHIZ (Departure Cases Roges, 9. Monóvar)
The rice with rabbit and snails from the interior of Alicante is characterized by being cooked in a polished steel paella, in which, after having cooked it, a thin layer of rice is discovered and, at the bottom, the socarrat. The one that follows this axiom perfectly is the Casa Sanchiz in Monovar . There, the chef and owner John Lawrence Alfonso reveals to us that despite being a dry rice, it must be creamy and al dente. "Traditionally it is cooked with vine shoots, to give it the flavor and aroma of such characteristic firewood. But at Casa Sanchiz we have gone a step further, cold-smoking the grain of rice to give it the flavor and aroma of the countryside. limestone, we eliminate the harmful products that come off in the combustion of the vine shoot".
The chef's pairing: "The variety of Monastrell grape , which abounds in the area".
8. EL GRANAÍNO (Josep María Buck, 40. Elche)
The name of this restaurant is not by chance. Back in the 70s, a man from Granada named Ramon Martinez began his career as a restaurateur in elche . Today your Crusted rice it is an institution, and his legacy is still more present than ever at the hand of his grandson Odon Martinez . "We treat each product with the utmost respect and select the one with the highest quality and proximity. We use the bomb variety , which hold up well once cooked," says Odón.
The chef's pairing: "Without a doubt, I would opt for one of our great Monastrell from Alicante".
9. THE SIREN (Av. de Madrid, 14. Petrer)
If you haven't eaten at La Sirena de Petrer you still don't know what a Aioli . the of Carmen Velez , the driver of this gastronomic locomotive that has been able to position itself very well on the map of Alicante with a rice like that of seafood with monkfish and tuna . "In La Sirena we first add the rice and then the broth, stock or fish stock, and cooking does not exceed 18 minutes. We also use different varieties according to the recipe to be developed: bomba rice, senia, bay, J. Sendra...".
The chef's pairing: Mari Carmen makes as many pairings as she is capable of preparing rice dishes. "In general, fish rice dishes go well with white wines with a point of acidity and very fresh. Rice dishes with more intense flavors go very well with rosés and young reds".
10.PONT SEC (Camí Vell from Gandia to Dénia, km1)
Dénia is a gastronomic destination that you must visit. And not only for Quique Dacosta, but also for rice dishes – watch out for the octopus with dried tomato – like the one from Pont Sec, by the hand of pep romany . "The first thing to take into account is the product. Our octopus is from the local markets and we can have it available throughout the year, we already need to freeze it to soften it; the tomatoes dries with the iodized breeze of the sea and the garlic Tender are from the orchards of La Marina. There is also no lack of good virgin olive oil and ours is a mixture with different varieties from the interior of our regions: alfafarenca, blanqueta and manzanella. For the rice we choose the variety chocolate , native to the Marjal de Pego, which facilitates two essential qualities very well: ease and flavour".
The chef's pairing: "With any of the multiple proposals of our wines from La Marina. A Muscatel breeze like the nimi tossal by Joan of La Casa de Benissa. Or a quieter one, like the dry muscatel De Jesús Pobre, The Strawberries . A sparkling pink, like the danses , of the Mandó variety from Celler del Roure de Moixent. And, why not, a fresh red of the Gironet variety, from Agricultural House of Lliber".
Chef Pep Romany