Olive grove of Jaén from a bird's eye view.
Chup, chup. Something is cooking in Jaén. Until recently you had heard nothing or almost nothing of the Jaen gastronomy , and now in the gossips of good eating there is not a day that the subject is not brought up, or that someone confesses that this or that restaurant in the province is on their gastronomic wish list for the coming (and uncertain) times.
Beyond the gossip, proof of this "sudden success" are the two Michelin stars (Bagá and Dama Juana) that have been taken home in recent years (and the rest of the establishments that red guide review in its latest edition) and a new generation of chefs, increasingly common in the most prestigious gastronomic forums in the world, where they fall in love with honest, well-grounded and very well-updated cuisine.
Jaen
Juan Aceituno , chef at Dama Juana, the second Michelin star in the city of Jaén, believes that the area is becoming a kind of "Basque Country in miniature". What he means by this is that this success (which is not so "sudden") is actually a good slow cooker, the fruits of the work of many years that are now being harvested. of the work of anonymous cooks , from his own grandmother, who introduced him to the kitchen trade and gave her restaurant its name, to that of the youngest, who increasingly go out to see, learn and experience abroad, and they come back wanting to do great things inside.
From the work, also, of the farmers and, especially, of those "arrogant olive growers" whom Miguel Hernandez dedicated the poem to him.
Oyster with game marinade of Canela en Rama, Linares
"The one in Jaén is possibly the most interesting emerging kitchen in Spain, with a group of very committed professionals who are very well defending the fantastic products that we have realized we have, and with a great desire to do things well," says Juan Carlos Trujillo, chef at Canela en Rama.
Pedro Sánchez also affects that point : "In Jaén you eat very well from the base, in the taverns, in the houses... Jaén has a very rich gastronomy, with olive oil as flag . But it's not just olive oil, we also have the largest hunting ground in Europe and there are more and more people who dedicate themselves to testing pieces and making controlled maturations with deer and wild boar; we have mushrooms in the Natural Parks... and also one more batch of young chefs who have been abroad and come with interesting projects".
For this reason, when people go to Bagá for dinner, Pedro sits down to talk with customers, and tries to introduce them to the gastronomy of the area, "I invite them to take black pudding, take cherries (we are the second largest producer of Spain after the Valle del Jerte), that they go to taverns and try those delicious little kid kidneys, the gizzards..."
Chefs are not the only ones who believe that Jaen gastronomy is experiencing its sweetest moment, Matoses , one of the most renowned gastronomic critics in Spain, affirms that, despite the fact that Jaén had always been a culinary power "from the field to the table"; It is for a decade that producers, distributors and restaurateurs have been orchestrated to value the local product and inherited recipe books".
The trend "emerges under the supertrend of Andalusia as a great world gastronomic destination, where Jaén has its own identity, and with chefs like Pedro Sánchez, who are leading this movement in a very successful way".
everything is born from here
THE MAGIC POTION
Jaén has a gigantic cauldron of "Obelix's invincible magic potion", more than 6,000,000 olive trees that give their oil, mostly of the Picual variety, with that characteristic final bitterness . It is the basis of everything. The way to dress, preserve or fry. It does not matter whether it is in old recipes, in updates, in new creations, in tandem with a tomato, an ounce of chocolate or a piece of bread. It has always been like this.
But this, which seems obvious to the rest of mortals, has not been valued as it deserved until very recently at home. For this reason, Juan Aceituno is one of those who believes that every time the extra virgin olive oil is brought to the table, it must be charged . With gestures like these, it is possible to put this product in its place, which is increasingly more respected, more claimed in haute cuisine and more awarded; and that it is produced and marketed better. What Matoses commented. The chicken or the egg.
Castle of Canena (Canena, Jaen)
The prophets in their land in this matter of boosting extra virgin olive oil have names and surnames: Rosa and Paco Vañó , brothers and owners of Castillo de Canena, one of the first brands, if not the first, to bear the name of the province walking around the houses and the best restaurants in the world with its bottles.
They have also been among the pioneers in approaching the world of oil tourism , to open the doors of its mill (and its castle, which gives its name to the company), to show the production process and even to start shaking. Furthermore, they are the promoters of Castillo de Canena International Award for Olive Oil Research Luis Vañó , which supports innovation in the sector.
Pedro Sánchez, in Bagá
THE TABLES THAT RAFFLE
This oil is the main link between all the restaurants in Jaén. Also from Bagá and Dama Juana, who have a lot in common. both are two Proposals that do not leave the ground , who live in premises of a few square meters, where you dine practically as if you were doing it in your living room (especially these days), and who have turned them into cult restaurants , with waiting lists of many months.
Bagá, by Pedro Sánchez, is coquettish, it's warm, and it's like his food, personal and unpretentious, but with a lot of height. It has the charm of hidden places, those that one reaches almost by chance; although in this case nothing is further from reality.
The first, because it is in one of the most popular squares in the city and the second, because you know exactly where you are coming from, among other things, because to come you have had to book well in advance. But once inside it is like a sealed compartment, a bunker without space or time, where everything invites you to let yourself go, to sit at the bar or at one of the tables and be all ears to what Mapy, Pedro's wife, and the rest of his team, they sing as they bring each of the dishes from the tasting menu.
This, for example, can be at the time of the starters a warbler consommé , a fig from Jimena with bottarga or a black pudding fritter in a boiler... To follow, some dishes as glorious as the Motril prawns with marinated partridge , the original beet cooked in prune juice and rose vinegar or the surprising oxidized potato with smoked eel skin foam... in addition to the ortiguillas gazpachuelo, the tomato and roasted garlic praline or the pigeon royal, bitter almond and baby squid sauce with its ink.
Chef Juan Aceituna, from Dama Juana, Jaén
After passing through different restaurants, Aceituno began his most personal project just a couple of years ago, Lady Joan , in which there is no more secret than a good product, which takes shape in fantastic bottoms and round plates , and where after only a few months open it gained "stardom".
In his two menus, short and long, he pays homage to his childhood, to the countryside where he grew up and to all those recipes from the towns of the mountains that time is taking little by little and that he is determined to recover. From his famous lettuce gazpacho , which has become the emblem dish, to the typical tatters , hunting (so traditional in this area), his versions of dishes such as cocido and the use of some herbs that his friend Juan Carlos, an eminence in the matter and to whom he has dedicated a pass of the menu, helps him collect . Everything convinces here. From bread to desserts.
Robuchón egg and crumbs, in Dama Juana
FROM LINARES TO ÚBEDA, PASSING THROUGH BAEZA
Jaén's haute cuisine lives not only in Jaén capital. Not from the stars. Bib gourmand is a category that encompasses those restaurants that offer very high quality cuisine, but at a reasonable price and that may "sound" like future stars.
In addition to a historic center that is reason enough to plan a visit, Ubeda It has a gastronomic offer that has made a good spurt in recent years in substance and form. Station Canteen It is your banner. A restaurant decorated like a train car with a bar area and a dining room where dishes such as sweetbreads, cuttlefish noodles, artichoke and oyster sauce or the Cod confit in homemade ratatouille, bacon sabanita and green asparagus.
Odorous partridge pâté toast with autumn truffle in Los Sentidos
Although Linares cannot boast of a monumental heritage like that of Úbeda and Baeza, it has always been one of the places in the province where is the best tapas (or as it is said here "is linked"). It continues to be so and to understand the local idiosyncrasy it is essential to check it, which does not mean that it also has a gastronomic height that has not been overlooked by the inspectors of the red guide .
The senses , by Juan Pablo Gámez, goes beyond the trend of the city, both in the space itself, a historic house with different rooms decorated in a contemporary key, and in its proposal. The name of his tasting menu, A wink to the Earth, cannot make his intentions clearer; and its Odorous partridge pate toasts with autumn truffle , the pipirrana from Jaén with seasoned trout roe, the wild meat cannelloni with cuarrecano and the pigeon rice and scraps makes them come true.
Cinnamon Stick is the other Bib Gurmand from Linares. Here what they embroider like nobody else are "the traditional recipes of the northern countryside of Jaén, next to Sierra Morena". Pork in all its expressions and a rich vegetable garden are the basis of them, cooked with modern techniques, sometimes seasoned with exotic seasonings, and always with olive oil.
In addition to the gastronomic restaurant, Trujillo has two more informal taverns focused on tapas, one in Linares and another in baeza . The latter, with its unbeatable patio overlooking the cathedral tower, is perfect for summer (or a pandemic winter). Trujillo goes step by step, consolidating his proposal and his personal style, increasingly recognizable, like the gastronomy of the province: "Our natural evolution is to continue establishing ourselves, working with a local cuisine with very good products and defending Jaén; which is what unites us all".
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