The triumph of tuna in the land of the pig
Summary:
A logbook by Sensei Hiroshi Umi.
Salamanca has the taste of a campus (and the Campo Charro countryside), constantly partying students, monumental history (two cathedrals, no less, one of which even features an anachronistic astronaut), and immortal sages who left us immortal aphorisms. A city where you feel like you are on a never-ending Erasmus exchange… And above all the things that happen here (quite inconceivable to an oriental like myself); Iberian pork products perfume every corner of this heritage city. Aromatic hams, seasoned pork loin, chorizo and chacina, salchichón, morcón, fresh cuts of pork that go by names such as ‘secret’, ‘feather’, ‘lizard’, ‘fan’ and ‘prey’.
But all these distinctive and popular parts of the pig are joined on a restaurant menu by their marine equivalent: the bluefin tuna. We set out to sample them at Mesón Gonzalo (with its dazzling Repsol Sun, and recommended by the Michelin Guide), named the Best Restaurant in the region at the 7th Gastronomy Awards of Castile-Leon, whose leading lights found our titan of the seas to be the essential addition to consolidate their menu. “Our flagship, our hallmark, is this sashimi. We give this akami a Mediterranean touch, with a little tomato cream and a drop of kimchi, and above all a Malaga-style ajoblanco. I mix extra virgin olive oil with soy, to give it its gloss. And we top it all with a dried black olive. But I don’t want the toppings to touch the tuna at any stage, because it is a really, really refined cut. And then I serve this crunchy rice alongside,” Jesús Colorado details with reverence.
A chef combining just the right amount of avant-garde and tradition
Sendín, who is always there holding the fort, has continued and expanded the venture begun by his father, and is aware that Jesús Colorado provides just the right amount of avant-garde, blended with the finest tradition. The easy-going and chatty Colorado, with culinary DNA running right through him (Mesón de la Abuela Rosario, Puerto Real), he spent time at Nerua (Bilbao) to handle events at the Guggenheim Museum bistro, opened Pura Brasa with the inventors of the Josper grill oven (Pineda del Mar, Barcelona) and these days also doubles up at the San Sebastián Gastronomika convention and backstage at Madrid Fusión.
Sendín, who is always there holding the fort, has continued and expanded the venture begun by his father, and is aware that Jesús Colorado provides just the right amount of avant-garde, blended with the finest tradition. The easy-going and chatty Colorado, with culinary DNA running right through him (Mesón de la Abuela Rosario, Puerto Real), he spent time at Nerua (Bilbao) to handle events at the Guggenheim Museum bistro, opened Pura Brasa with the inventors of the Josper grill oven (Pineda del Mar, Barcelona) and these days also doubles up at the San Sebastián Gastronomika convention and backstage at Madrid Fusión.
His time at Mesón Gonzalo is proving a delight, and a challenge. All that bothers this southerner is when the Salamanca winter really bites deep: “man, it doesn’t half get cold”. His cuisine could be defined as refined, traditional, with novel techniques and flashes, well modulated so as not to lose focus on what really matters, and the concept which inspires this highly distinctive establishment.
Making use of the different cuts of bluefin tuna
Alongside the almost mandatory tripe, boned pigs’ trotters, Cantabrian anchovies, squid, Tudela tomatoes, cecina cured beef and croquettes, the leg of lamb and suckling pig, bluefin tuna has found a niche for itself within a culinary repertoire as refined as it is tasty. “For the cheek we make a really traditional escabeche marinade, infused with strands of saffron, and then cook the cheek in the same marinade for an hour and a half at 65 degrees. It needs a long cooking time because of all the fibres, but we still want it to have some proper bite. We texture all the marinade with the juices that the tuna has released. You get a really powerful hint of collagen. We top that off with a few drops of parsley oil, a steamed red spring onion, and a sweet potato baked en papillote, along with a few manzanilla olives. It ends up really mild, so as not to overwhelm the tuna,” the chef explains.
This is followed up by tuna belly, with plenty of fat and omega three, “seared in this copper frying pan which gives me plenty of heat, to caramelise the fat as much as possible, for that contrast in the mouth, and the tenderness at the heart of the cut. We serve it with hollandaise sauce, caramelised onion, textured tomato water,” concludes Jesús, who has a secondary role supervising Las Tapas de Gonzalo. This kid brother to the Mesón is tucked away beneath the colonnades of the Plaza Mayor, and is the perfect place for a few small plates (tuna likewise features in their scaled-down kitchens), fine wines by the glass, and a relaxed chat.
On the upper floor, another surprise: linen tablecloths and picture windows looking out onto this illustrious setting. Colorado sticks to his task. He invites us to continue proceedings with his pan-fried noten, “with a tomato sofrito really typical of Cadiz, the way my grandma cooked it, with garlic, spring onion, bay leaf, salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar to soften the acidity – it reduces by more than half in three hours or so. Meaty, with aroma. It doesn’t need anything more. This is my personal favourite recipe”. Farmyard eggs, with the yolk runny and the white set, surround this spectacular dish.
Lastly “since the tuna is the pig of the sea, with a use for every last part, tuna ribs, the difference here being that we cook them in the traditional Castilian way, over charcoal. Served with baby potatoes, carrots and herb mayonnaise”.
Colorado, a true student of seas and depths, with the look of a cheeky, talented schoolboy, leaves us with one final reflection. “I serve up my fish, my pigeon, my monkfish, my hake a la donostiarra… But here in Salamanca, they go crazy for our tuna. Bluefin tuna is a surefire winner”.
