An express guide for you to eat the Castilian-Leonese capital in bites.
Valladolid is earning the title of skewer capital (with ch , with permission from Donosti or Bilbao). What of the pintxos we leave it to them, but the miniature haute cuisine It has been standing out for some time in the center of the peninsula.
City of table and tablecloth, of suckling lamb and cellars, ** Pucela, always so formal, correct and polite **, began to claim that of eat with your hands . Here is the list that you must keep, like gold on cloth, to cross out, one by one, on your next visit to Valladolid :
1.**ESSENCE, FROM PUERTO CHICO RESTAURANT (€2.50)**
Recently elected **runner-up of Spain in the XIV National Pinchos and Tapas Contest City of Valladolid 2018 **, the also winner of this year's Provincial Contest fuses tradition with the traveling spirit that characterizes the establishment.
The first, because they carry 42 years making baby squid stew which forms the base of the skewer and the second, because every week, with its original theme dinners, they invite their customers to go around the world.
“Esencia is a baby squid that travels through six countries and, from each one, it picks up an ingredient: from Japan, the shiso leaf; from Mexico, the chipotle chili; from Spain, the stew of the grandmother of the baby squid itself and the bread from Valladolid -which even has a guarantee mark-; from Vietnam, pickled mango; from Ecuador, marinated onion and from the Philippines, bacon in soy broth”.
Isabel González González, head chef of Puerto Chico , she thus speaks of her creation which, moreover, It is a tribute to The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry , since it is presented in a white cardboard box with some small holes. The essential is invisible to the eye, she tells us, but we have verified that it is eaten with the hand and in two bites.
Pincho Esencia at the Puerto Chico restaurant
2.**THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, FROM VILLA PARAMESA (€3.20)**
This gastronomic temple in Pucelano has become a mandatory stop on any sybaritic route through Valladolid. You can't not go. Stay with his name, because Villa Paramesa is the favorite place of the new Spanish Master of Wine, Almudena Alberca , and other local foodies like Paul Lazarus , who tries everything and tells about it at @recomiendo_valladolid .
Here it is difficult to choose just one skewer, but The three Little Pigs -Silver Pincho in this year's Provincial Pinchos Contest- takes the cake: it is a ode to the pig , as a product that is consumed in different parts of the world and is presented in the form of a story.
“We have started from a raw material as Castilian as the roast pig. It is boneless, candied, pressed in the form of an ingot and crowned with three different sauces: ajoblanco, traditional in our Spanish cuisine; ponzu, which is Japanese and gives it an Asian touch, and pibil, Mexican. We always advise eating it in three small bites, in this order.”
Jose Ignacio Castrodeza , chef de cuisine, thus explains his masterpiece, which this year has deserved the Silver Skewers of the Valladolid Provincial Skewers Contest.
If you go, he also asks for his Iberian pork cheek with liquorice and pear or their Ferrero , a dessert for which you will return.
Pincho of The Three Little Pigs, from Villa Paramesa
3.**TIGRETOSTON, FROM LOS ZAGALES (€2.95)**
We are probably before the best-selling pincho in Valladolid : they currently make more than 40,000 units per year . Yes, as you read it.
He was chosen as the best pincho in Spain in 2010 and, since then, his career has been meteoric. For a time, they asked a cooking school for help to be able to take on such a volume; later on, he was a person who dedicated his whole day in charge of preparing them and now, they have outsourced their production to a specialized company but without sacrificing their quality standard.
On the contrary, since they undergo strict controls to ensure that all tigretostones are exactly the same.
Why so much expectation? “It is a black rye bread with toasted suckling pig skin and blood sausage cream that replaces chocolate, cream cheese instead of cream, candied red onion that serves as raspberry”.
Antonio González, owner of the restaurant, also tells us that his appearance, identical to that of the famous Tigretón, is one of the main claims of him. So much so that it is already sold in bars and restaurants throughout Spain. Although, he warns us, even there are unauthorized copies, but others yes, they are sold with his approval, as in Evboca (Madrid).
This Castilian trompe l'oeil sells like churros.
Tigretoston from Los Zagales
4.**ANY OF THE JERO RESTAURANT **
And we leave it to your choice, because whatever you ask for, it is impossible for you to be wrong. Don't be scared of her crowded bar nor its strange mixtures , because once you try their appetizing canapé-shaped pinchos, you'll wonder what you've been doing in other bars.
Always on bread, they combine such disparate delicacies as cream cheese, apple compote, fresh foie and Pedro Ximenez sauce with raisins (“Christmas” skewer) or cod with boletus (called "Mission Impossible").
"Angelillo", "Zapatero" or "Rajao" are other of the most demanded.
5.**CASTELLANA PARROTCH, FROM THE AQUARIUM RESTAURANT (€3)**
Valladolid also tastes like the sea. Small but powerful, this skewer is an explosion of flavor in the mouth.
“The base is intended to be a kind of crunchy waffle, so typical in Valladolid fairs , but made with nori seaweed, hondashi butter and cocoa butter. On top, an unctuous guacamole of peas with tiger milk, seasoned with red onion, cucumber, tomato, coriander and chili ", do you already notice the salivation?
"We finish with a sardine that we first marinate in salt and sugar for ten minutes and then put in charcoal oil so that it acquires a smoky flavor, as if it were a skewer from Malaga. And we use up the scrapes : We fry them and crush them with dried peas, to create a pea powder that looks like green snow. With the ember oil we make a smoked mayonnaise that decorates the skewer and, finally, some codium algae spherifications”.
who speaks is José Antonio Guerrero, head chef of the Moga Valladolid Group , which gives us the keys to his masterpiece for traveler.es.
An advice: if you arrive in Valladolid by AVE, it may be your first stop , as soon as you set foot in the Castilian-Leonese capital, due to its proximity to the train station. They are specialized in rice.
Castilian Parrochita
6.** FENIX AVE, FROM ÁNGELA RESTAURANT (€3) **
This kind of montadito of royal duck stew goes on a brioche bread tile with truffle oil ash, orange powder and edible flower petals with a truffle visura.
His trick? They marinate the meat in wine and then make the stew with the same wine . This skewer, devised by Juan José Alejos, its chef, has been the winner of the Bronze Pincho of the Provincial Contest 2018.
Ave Fénix from Angela Restaurant
7.**LA TASQUITA SHRIMP TOAST (€2.30)**
Always full, this place from Valladolid is one of the best kept secrets of the pucelanos. Here you eat too well, even today's menu.
Its star skewer is the shrimp toast with mayonnaise and garlic, although others declare themselves more fanatical about their montadito sirloin with roquefort or their gratin cod brandade toast. It will cost you to choose.
8.**MORE MARÍA BONBON, FROM THE MARÍA RESTAURANT (€5) **
Served on a plate and made only with Castilian-Leonese products, he was the winner of the Pincho de Oro of the Provincial Contest in 2013 and, since then, it is the most requested by the clients of the Valladolid restaurant, specialized in traditional spoon recipes.
It's a boneless pork foot stuffed with boletus and foie gras with traditional fritter accompanied by pine nuts from Pedrajas de San Esteban and black truffle from Soria with the aroma of Tierra de Campos.
Take advantage of the visit to try their important potatoes (on request), their stewed tail or their Castilian stew. For dessert, their coulant cheesecake, which, if it were in Madrid, would already be sweeping Instagram.
Bonbon More Maria
9.**HAM OR COD CROQUETTE, BAR EL CORCHO (€1.10) **
Not everything is award-winning pinchos. Leaving aside the formalities and getting (really) dirty hands, there is one that, if the people of Valladolid voted, would win the public award. And that is the famous ham croquette Cork , which, as we always say, is one of the best in Spain.
if you want to try the cod one , something highly recommended, you can only do it one day a year: the Holy Friday . At this point, surely many Pucelanos are throwing their hands up, because, just as there are potato omelettes with or without onions, pizza with or without pineapple, there are also The Cork or the Ceyjo.
Our advice? Go and try. In the variety is the spice.
10.**LA TERRETA, FROM THE 5 GUSTOS RESTAURANT (€2.80)**
Winner of the Pincho de Oro in the 2017 Provincial Contest, and work of Palmyra Soler, owner and head chef, is made from a galley cream with a sesame tile.
The best thing is that due to the seasonality of the product, the galera is an ephemeral pincho: you can only find it at certain times of the year, such as winter and spring.
BONUS TRACK
If you've been wanting more, don't leave without stopping by the cuttlefish and ask for a portion of their star dish, without trying the squid sandwich with aioli in The Mussel Farm or without a good rice pudding tartlet from bucket, one of the most traditional confectionery and pastry shops. Traveler, Valladolid (and its bars) await you.