The best traditional cod is eaten in Santiago de Compostela
The story begins a few years ago, in an area of the Compostela old town in which there was hardly any gastronomic offer at that time. Borja Portals , recently returned from London, takes over the premises of a former leather tanner in the Fontesequelo Square and he decides to open a restaurant there that, in a short time, a name is made with an interesting offer in which rice dishes are the protagonists.
A few years later his sister Ana joins the team and takes charge of the kitchen of a To Tannery already consolidated. The next step would be the opening of solleiros , the restaurant that Ana will run for several years in the Gastronomic Hotel San Miguel.
Little by little the area has been changing its atmosphere. During this time they have been opening new premises and what used to be the isolated offer of A Curtiría is now a network of streets in which names like Benboa, Abastos 2.0, Lume (the second brand of Lucía Freitas cuisine), La Radio de Pepe Solla, Café de Altamira are crowded , Or Curro da Parra, Orixe, Casas Chico or Mama Peixe. All within a radius of just 300 meters.
The best traditional cod restaurant in Spain
And suddenly, just 4 months ago, the news breaks: Solleiros changes location . Ana and Borja take over an emblematic space, a corner in the reborn Mazarelos Square , and transfer their offer there.
In 1904 the Swiss Hotel was opened, where Hemingway stayed in 1927 and 1929 . then they would Ruth Matilda Anderson, Gonzalo Torrente Ballester and it is said that even Federico García Lorca . Years passed and that place on the corner of the square remained in the background until some time later an ephemeral place opened that returned the bustle: Silver House.
And today the Portals brothers, with Ana in charge of the kitchen, give new life to that space between the Cardenal Paya Street , the Tránsito de Los Gramáticos (if Santiago has something it is streets with sonorous names) and the Mazarelos Square , with all the atmosphere of the nearby faculties and some of the liveliest terraces in the city. When time permits, this is Santiago.
THE BEST TRADITIONAL COD IN SPAIN
Your offer remains the same as always. “ We do traditional cuisine ”, says Ana. “A stewed tongue, a millet empanada …”. It is precisely that corn dough empanada , in the style of those made in the Ría de Muros (from which the Portals are native) which has won them unconditional support and has become a reference in the city.
It is true that his commitment to tradition is clear: sardine salad with roasted peppers, cod Bilbao style , Baked Cheesecake. And on Saturdays, calluses. In that sense, the award reflects the meaning of your kitchen and whoever approaches called by this recognition will find a whole series of dishes to his taste. “We made a version of the Portuguese bacalhau a bras , but adding a few crumbs of broa bread (corn bread) and some more of our touch. In the end, it is the type of cuisine we make and what the people of Santiago have been looking for.”
His offer, however, goes further. The letter is complemented by a selection of fideuás, such as cuttlefish or esteirana (monkfish and shellfish) , and some other dishes among which you can find from a few shrimp dumplings to more informal proposals such as tuna belly salad, an octopus sandwich in pan de cristal or a barbecue rib.
The best traditional cod is eaten in Santiago de Compostela
An offer, in short, that adapts to the changing rhythm of the square, one of the points with the most movement of local public in the old city , where places like the Viños, the Pimpán bar, the Arco de Mazarelos or the nearby Pepe Payá They bring together hundreds of people every day who are looking for something different at all times: tapas, portions to share, something light to consume on the terrace or an offer with more substance to enjoy more calmly.
I was talking not long ago about Altamira District . And there, at its southern end, is where Solleiros appears, as one of the novelties, making tradition one of its flags. An award like this places them at the forefront and recognizes their work for dignifying traditional recipes , give them a contemporary wrapper and place them in the heart of the city's offer it's great news.
In the end, have a good corn empanada, one of those that are hardly found anymore, some traditional tripe or a Traditional cod And doing it in a strategically located place, overlooking one of the liveliest squares in the historic center, is something worth recognizing. And what should we do more often?.
Solleiros room
THE BEST COD IN SPAIN
Yesterday afternoon the **I contest for the Best Cod in Spain** took place in Zamora. More than 200 restaurants from all over Spain participated with a common maxim: they had to be dishes or tapas prepared with "cod from extractive fishing, with lines and hooks" . In the category of best traditional cod recipe , the Compostela restaurant Solleiros has been the protagonist; Fish and Brases (Dènia, Alicante), on the other hand, can boast of preparing the best avant-garde cod in the country.
Furthermore, in Zamora, the cod festival continues with the I edition of the Author Cod Conference (Until October 4). The restaurants of the city have turned to this initiative and, each one, presents a dish, tapa or menu with cod as its flag (and well paired with wine from DO. Toro, DO. Arribes, DO. Tierra del Vino and DOP Valleys of Benavente).
You will find the best avant-garde cod in Spain at Peix i Brases