While three new lights shone in the culinary sky of Castilla-La Mancha at the last Michelin gala at the expense of Ababol, Ancestral and Oba-, another went off without flickering and left Cuenca out of the focus of the French guide when giving the switch that took Trivio out of the gala publication.
A heartbreak that also comes with a double cruelty, because it leaves the city of Cuenca without a culinary lighthouse in the year that it becomes the Spanish Gastronomic Capital and that, nevertheless, has signs of shining brightly again.
In command of this candle is Jesus Segurathe chef who put the city on the Michelin map and who got the star with Trivio in 2018 and who now, with the restaurant Hanging houses, a gastronomic in the most emblematic monument of the city, makes enough noise to reconquer France.
A matter of time and bureaucracy prevented Jesús Segura from making an orderly transition between Trivio and Casas Colgadas and from having a impasse in which the star was in danger. However, certain permits and public procrastination meant that Casas Colgadas opened on August 23, a bad date that meant being clear that Michelin would not have time to visit the proposal.
Cook in the environment from the best environment
Segura was clear about it and the proposal of the current Casas Colgadas emphasizes what he has been doing for years with even more radicalness: cooking the environment. In Casas Colgadas, Cuenca is palpable from the plains to the mountains and everything that has little or no connection with a local gastronomy that has managed to become strong from a little contaminated traditional recipe book is omitted.
A double-edged sword that made years ago of the coarse or primary Castilla-La Mancha recipes, more oriented towards nutrition than high-flying, and that Segura reaffirms and gives room for La Mancha fits into ingredients, preparations and names and surnames.
In addition, it does so from the use and enhancement of ingredients that are far from being the protagonists of the most frequent menus in Michelin Guide. Only then can it be understood that he has the courage to present dishes such as Texturas de liliáceas, where the onion is the absolute protagonist, or the Homenaje a las Patatas de Mariana (a small town 12 kilometers from the capital), which have a very high level .
It doesn’t stop either present that stew character that was already featured in Trivio and that, for example, is palpable in marinades or in a powerful appetizer with a rabbit katsu sando with garlic and kale that is truly wonderful.
Kitchen with ID
In the speech of Casas Colgadas and Jesús Segura, the mentions to who is behind what ends up appearing on the table. A picual oil from Vellisca, a bread made with ancient cereals made in Tobarra, a blue cheese from Villalba de la Sierra or the onions that Jairo, Jesús Segura’s main farmer, puts into dance.
Along with this, an almost equally radical proposal in terms of wines if one wants to be guided by a world of grapes in recovery, small productions and artisan manufacturers that flirt with natural wines, orange wines and curiosities (as well as equally fine and local wines, more ‘conventional’).
In any case, although what Segura proposes sounds strident from the outside, the reality is that it is coherent and, above all, recognizable, tasty and honestbecause you are lucky that in addition to being creative, Segura is a guy with his feet on the ground and does not renounce flavor or identifiability.
Thus, it can be verified how it also has a almost collecting vision when talking about wild herbs (like the ones in one of the appetizers, the hazelnut pickle meringue) or mushrooms, like in the chanterella dish and snail stew with air from its broth.
A culinary master in continuous learning
Segura, when time permits, also gives classes at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián and at the Gasma University, in Castellón, and also talks about the “masters we have done in all these years at Trivio”, when he dared to open a restaurant in a city where that sounded utopian.
Thus he has learned the risks and costs of putting tablecloths; of matching a bistro area with a gastronomic menu; of the complications involved in a restaurant that allows children… But, above all, of not die of success and not be conformist.
The best recipes of Direct to the palate (Cooking)
For this reason, the loss of the star in this 2023 and almost certain recovery by 2024 They are just a few more steps in learning that in the kitchen is at very high levels and that can be appreciated in dishes such as chicken nuggets, the resounding boletus stew with cod roosters and hollandaise from the boletus itself or the fresh and brilliant integrated tataki. trout with sloe marinade.
As an auction and to maintain the ‘school’, Segura also keeps Trivio, intended for a pure gastrobar, and has also opened Mermaid House, another space almost parallel to Casas Colgadaswith a kinder and less radical average ticket, especially focused on the Cuenca public and a high rotation of dishes that will also give a lot to talk about.
What to ask for: In Casas Colgadas there is only one tasting menu, so the only question is whether to go for the pairing or not. If we don’t drive and want to go all the way, it’s better to choose it, but there is still a very interesting wine offer.
Practical data
Where: Hanging Houses, Calle Canónigos, 3, Cuenca.
Half price: 95 euros the Menu We Cook Cuenca, of 15 passes.
Bookings: 644 009 795, on their website and by email [email protected]
Schedules: Sunday and Tuesday shows at 1:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday passes at 1:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. and at night at 8:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m.
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