Simplicity, elegance and a logical discourse that takes root in the garden to talk about the plant world of La Mancha. That's it ababol . Austerity Castilian-La Mancha it is perceived in the product and in the pure flavors. French refinement , in the bottoms, in the sauces and in the way they treat game.
The cook Juan Monteagudo he knows where he is from, but also where he comes from: his blood is French since his father, the painter Philippe André Georges Monteagudo, was born in Paris. And despite his youth (he just turned 31), Juan knows very well where he is going: “ what I want is for people to eat well , the gastronomic experiences are too big for me”, he confesses.
Despite his honest statement of intent, he has made a bold (and necessary) gamble, because so far there was no gastronomic restaurant in the capital of La Mancha . "Everything I have is here," he explains to us as he looks around. And it seems that the accounts are coming out, because on weekends they have a waiting list.
Juan Monteagudo invites us to try his Manchegan and French cuisine.
Why Abol? It is a nod to the land of him: that's what they call the poppy here , which is one of the resources that his father used the most in his paintings and, at the same time, a widely used plant for cattle or rabbits . Philippe André Georges painted them and now his son Juan evokes them.
With that name just opened his own restaurant with Laura Caparrós , her partner, as head of the room, but she dreams high of one day having a small tavern. “This is a gastronomic restaurant and I like to cook this type of cuisine, but I eat at the bar ”, he wields it.
For this reason, perhaps, he begins his tasting menu with an “aliñá olive” which is a memory in the form of a snack: “when I was little, I went to look for morquera on my farm and dressed the olives with my grandmother”. In another of the first appetizers we know la güeña: a used sausage with which he fills a buñuelo. Pork has always been one of the most cooked meats in La Mancha.
His family has a couple of farms (one in Tarazona and another in Casas-Ibáñez) with own cattle, cereal, grape or olive . From there he obtains many of the meats or vegetables that he works with, as well as the olive oil that he serves at the beginning.
Joselito Iberian ham croquette.
To continue opening his mouth, he surprises us with a Joselito ham croquette (strong candidate for the VIII National Ham Croquette Contest), which turns everything it touches into gold. Sheep's milk infused with ham bones or the use of lard and butter in equal parts are some of its secrets.
It is the turn of the vegetables, one of his best assets, which shine in a Manchego asadillo cold that also speaks of identity. He finishes it off with a few touches of smoked sardine , since this blue fish, which traditionally arrived in this area in vats, was another of the most consumed products. Also salt cod , the inland fish: for this reason (and because he was educated in the Basque Country) Monteagudo likes the cocochas, which are desalted here, candied, finished in the josper and covered with a roasted garlic pilpil.
on the wine list , where we find about 80 references, half are from the area. “There are very good wines here, but many people still want only Ribera or Rioja”, he reflects while he serves us a glass of one from his region, The Manchuela.
Another of the meats that has filled plates in Castilla La Mancha has been the lamb , which he includes us in his proposal with some stewed verdinas, mint and ras el hanut. He says that spoon stews , for so long reviled in certain types of restaurants, are one of his specialties and we corroborate it.
Ababol is an ode to the gastronomic habits of Albacete.
But in addition to all that forcefulness treated with delicacy, the young chef from La Mancha is an expert in delving into the gastronomic habits of his Albacete natal to bring them to your plates with a twist. It happens with one of our favorites: broad beans, pine nuts and cuttlefish.
remembering the raw beans that he ate as a child , as well as the usual grilled cuttlefish in the capital of La Mancha, he created this dish. “Peas and broad beans are always served with bacon, ham or egg, but we we were looking for a protein from the sea”.
From that reflection is also born his sea bass with zanguango and turnip noisette . Zanguango is another of those words that we learn in Ababol: a typical broth from the Sierra de Albacete made with vegetables roasted over a fire, very common on cold winter days.
“This is a very complicated city for vegetables” , acknowledges Monteagudo. He integrates them so naturally and coherently that he doesn't seem like it. "I want to bet more on them because I like them a lot, but here people ask you for meat above all."
Grilled güeña fritter.
He feeds all those diners with creations like his blue duck in three services , but he at the same time makes a case for vegetables with his grilled pods, its juice and cauliflower : the roundest and most daring dish.
So was his mille-feuille of pumpkin, carrot, turnip or chard stalks that accompanied a plate of lentils with cut sticks and vegan sobrassada. It is no longer in his letter, but the vegetables have arrived in Ababol to stay. For now, he bases part of his proposal on them and, furthermore, he creates menus for vegetarians or vegans , where they have great weight. Timidly, Juan admits that one day he would like them to displace everything else. Time to time.
We finish the menu with a blue cheese cake “La Torre”, from La Roda . Yes, there is life beyond the Miguelitos. It is powerful, but refreshes a lemon thyme ice cream.
The desktop is long and relaxed. Juan also belongs to that generation of young chefs who talk about territory by the elbows. “ I want to have Manchego lamb, black Castilian hen or make slaughter with my pigs because that is being lost”. Winds blow back to the origins.
Blue duck in 3 services.