Stew panna cotta, trout yolks and mint, at Besana Tapas.
It is already a fact that at some point in the 2018 calendar you will drop by Seville to try the simple but delicious sirloin tip at Las Golondrinas bar or the peculiar prawn burger at Blanca Paloma, you will even dip your spoon in the traditional stew of Chickpeas with spinach from Los Cuevas. An essential Triana gastronomic notch on the list of traveling purposes, but which must be completed with another more modern and avant-garde vision of Sevillian cuisine.
Which is not to say that it is less popular, because as soon as you mention that you are going to have lunch or dinner at Besana Tapas, in the nearby town of Utrera, you will discover that both your Sevillian hosts and their close friends, before you, once made themselves strong in their wooden bar or at one of the few tables in this gastrobar where reservations are not accepted.
"We promote that essence of the cover. The tapa is hustle and bustle, it's pushing at the bar, it's waiting", confesses Curro Noriega, owner of Besana Tapas together with Mario Ríos. Far from excusing himself, the chef, still attentive to the last orders of a busy day in which, they calculate, they have fed about 150 people, continues his argument: "but also it's dynamic, it's easy, you just have to have a little patience, another of the fundamental aspects of the philosophy of the tapa".
Grilled taco with prey tartar, guacamole and red mojo, at Besana Tapas.
THE MAGIC OF THE COVER
Grilled taco with prey tartare, guacamole and red mojo sauce or panna cotta with trout yolks and mint are some of the new recipes that will appear as if by magic on your table – which at first you might think is small, but As soon as the dance of comings and goings of full and empty plates begins, you will feel that it is more than enough.
The squid croquettes in their ink with stewed garlic emulsion are a hit and the Iberian pork cheeks with creamy colored butter and dried fruit, suitable for that fussy friend whose only gastronomic fusion he knows is to accompany a fillet with chips.
"We guarantee five menu changes. One for each season and another exclusive during the 40 days that Lent lasts, because we believed that there was a deeply rooted culture with very typical dishes of the area that were falling into oblivion: tagarninas (thistles), cod recipes, vigil stews...", continues Noriega, who takes the opportunity to explain the conscientious work behind each one of the 'simple' tapas that you can eat in Besana for less than €4: "We give everything a spin, we give it content and we evolve. Nothing happens by chance, nothing, and when chance comes, chance caught us working" (he jokes).
In Besana there are no portions or half portions, only signature tapas with seasonal products, This aspect is essential, as confirmed by the chef, to maintain the low cost of them (some from €2.90): "Cheeks, asparagus, local mushrooms, tagarnina... we have to live by the force of them ". What worries you this winter? Hunting: woodcock partridges, quail, hares...
Curro Noriega recording for a trend show on La 2.
Now Curro attends interviews for television, but there was a time when both he and Mario were just young, but educated, chefs who wanted to return to their land to dedicate themselves to their great passion, cooking: "When we finished school, we started to travel. I spent a lot of time in Barcelona. I was going for four months and, between one thing and the other, it became six years of my life. My time at Celler de Can Roca opened the doors of other houses for me: Pepe Rodríguez, Manuel de la Osa, Raúl Aleixandre...", comments the Utreran chef before revealing that "Besana is the result of that adventure, because in reality we are teachers, some teachers who missed the adrenaline of the service".
The good thing is that he is not alone in this service, Yolanda de los Santos accompanies him in the room and the talented Daniel León in the kitchen, a young promise of Andalusian cuisine, formed in the kitchens of A Poniente and Casa Solla and that treasures several gastro-trophies in his early track record.
Mario Ríos, for his part, has remained in charge of the Besana satellite in the Sevillian capital: La Fábrica de Besana. "We had many regular clients from Seville who found it difficult to get close to them frequently, plus Mario is from there and came and went every day, so the opportunity presented itself and we knew how to take advantage of it," explains Curro Noriega about his other more urban and industrial place in which the tapas maintain the Besana essence 'made in Utrera'.
Before being a gastrobar, Besana was a synagogue, a school, a hospice, a carpentry shop and a church.
PARISH FAITHFUL
With whitewashed walls, wooden shutters and tuff flooring, rather than a restaurant Besana Tapas was an old Jewish quarter, hospice, school, carpentry and church: "We leave everything as is, the coffered ceiling is from the beginning of the 19th century, but above is still the ceiling of the church, the dining room was the sacristy, with the main altar, and these two small holes, two other altars," says the physical chef and verbally.
The structural base of the building is traditional, as is Besana's kitchen: "We try to do things that we enjoy, but we cook every day. In addition, we base ourselves on the traditional recipe book, we study it and evolve it according to our concerns, like hare a la royal, which is a recipe from the 17th century. Tell me if we are classics or not?, he concludes ironically in front of those who accuse them of being too 'modern' for Seville.
Get used to it, sir(s) it is, because I sense that the "Sevilla + modern" binomial will dominate the Google search lists of this 2018.
The squid croquettes in their ink with stewed garlic emulsion are a classic in Besana.
Address: Alley of the Lost Child, 1, Utrera, Seville See map
Telephone: 955 863 804
Schedule: Tuesday to Thursday: from 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. / Friday and Saturday: from 1:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. / Sunday: from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Additional schedule information: Closed Monday