Probably the phrase “give me a cold beer and a tapa of snails” be one of the most repeated in Sevillian bars since the beginning of spring.
Between April and the first weeks of July, the bars of the Seville capital chalk up the sign of “there are snails” to start a pilgrimage that goes through the city’s classics in search of recipes that go back several generations.
Indefatigable companions of ice cold beers and talks that stop between “sucking and sucking”, to enjoy them all you need is lean your elbow on the bar, a skilful twist of chopsticks and freeing oneself from prejudices because one thing is clear to us: if there are those who enjoy oysters or mussels, they will do so with the texture of these land molluscs so deeply rooted in the gastronomic culture of Seville.
Since when do you eat snails? Since ever. The consumption of gastropods has its roots in the Bronze Age, although it is not until ancient Rome when the first recipes are documented which, although logically, have evolved throughout history, do not differ that much from our way of consuming them.
In Seville, they are traditionally prepared cooked with enough garlicspices such as thyme, cumin, cloves, pepper and coriander in grain, and its leaf of peppermint to end. Some establishments add their picantón point with a couple of chillies (I personally love it), but this depends on who runs the stove.
And although each cook interprets the recipe at will, in this tour we have detected a shared discourse in the way of preparing them, and that is that “The real trick is to clean them well.” Rinse at least two or three times in clean water, and rub with a lot of salt to loosen the slime.
Then they are cooked over low heat to “fool them” and that they poke out of the shell and then, yes, they are given a light to finish them off.
You can find them served in a bowl with plenty of broth or on a flat plate with a separate shot of broth. Some eat them with chopsticks and some have more suction power than a Dyson vacuum and only need a deep sip to get them out of the shell. And there are also those that are more than drink the broth by spoonfulsdip bread or drink it in a glass leaving aside the snails.
Be that as it may, we have put on comfortable shoes to walk the city in search of snail temples where the recipes have as much history as the tiles on the walls.
Those in which the “miarma” is a “hello, how are you?”, where the pedigree Sevillians make gatherings of brothers, feriantas and bullfighting, combining all the topics that are nothing less than the most appropriate way to know the idiosyncrasy of the city.
We recognize that they are not all that there is nor all that they are. The list would be endless. But if it is a good selection to take the pulse of this delicacy from southern Spain.
Pepito House
Our route begins at the equator between La Rosaleda and the Macarena neighborhood, specifically in the Pepe Cruz Brewerybetter known as “Casa Pepito”, located at Calle Previsión, number 8.
A house that, on its best days of the season, can dispatch between one hundred and two hundred kilos of snailswhich is said soon.
Seville up close 4 (Guides Up close Lonely Planet)
To have tapas there with a frosty beer or in tubs to take away, Pepe Cruz assures that in his bar “people begin to gather after the Fair looking for snails, but at the beginning of July, already short.”
His recipe, which he carries with him from the business he previously ran, the El Tremendo brewery, is characterized by the strong touch of garlic, its combination of spices and, of course, its refreshing mint leaf.
The Cherry Tree
Also in the north of Seville, in the surroundings of La Macarena and Miraflores, we find the cherry tree barpopularly known by the residents as “La Escalerita” (Dr. Fedriani, 30).
With his good point of pique, Juan José Sainz replicates the recipe that his father served since he founded the bar in 1969. The same one that he inherited from his grandmother and that today becomes the claim of the “pro” Sevillians who stop there to the cry of “cane and tapa de snails”.
Bar G. Hijón
A few meters separate us from one of the most classic bars in the area. On the border between San Julián and La Macarena, the bar G. Hijón it comes to a head during the season, preparing up to twenty-five kilos a day with a snail recipe passed down from father to son for three generations.
Served in a clay bowl, with a spoon and the right broth, it is the favorite tapa for its loyal clientele from the first days of April until the end of June.
alfonso “King of Snails”
Having tasted the Macarena neighborhood, we head towards the center to meander through the historic center in search of the beer temples and snail bowls to stop at Alfonso “King of the Snails” (Patroness Saints, 5).
What can we say. If a bar calls itself the “king of snails” it must be for a reason. It was around the 1960s when its owner, Alfonso Pérez, began serving the first snails. Now it is his son Manuel who runs it with the same temperance as his father did, maintaining the recipe, the clientele and the essence of a classic from the center.
In season the kitchen is open all day and dand twelve to twelve it is common to see how people crowdcane and toothpick in hand, on the very narrow sidewalk of Calle Santas Patronas.
Juan Palomo
The next stop on our route is perhaps one of the most recent bars as far as conch is concerned, since it opened its doors in 2020 shortly after the last shimmering of the most severe confinement, but which, nevertheless, in its three years of life It has already earned a place in the hearts of the Sevillians.
We talk about Juan Palomo (Huelva, 22)a restaurant where pure Sevillian recipes coexist such as whiskey sirloin, montaditos or its famous potato omelette made at the moment, with a more renovated and updated atmosphere than the bars we are commenting on.
Juan Palomo’s snails are served on a flat plate and with a shot of broth to drink in small sips between snails, or to indulge when finished. Take it how you take it It is one of the most requested tapas until, as its owner, Juan Palomo, says, “we can’t take it anymore.”
From the center we go to the Nervión-Santa Justa area, the neighborhood of the Sevilla Fútbol Club, the Gran Plaza, which was said to be the largest shopping center in Europe when it opened its doors in the 2000s, and from where the BIRD.
Right there, a few minutes from the Santa Justa station, is an essential stop for anyone who wants to enjoy Sevillian-style land molluscs.
the hick
It’s about the bar El Cateto (Sinai, 25), a family business that the couple Agustín Trigo and his wife Josefa started in Umbrete, and that in 1965 they moved to “the capital”. The concept back then was simple: musts from his town, snails and the homemade stews of “grandma Pepa”.
Almost eighty years later, today it is run by his daughter Rocío, who already has two other establishments in Alcosa Park and Luis Montoto Avenue.
Two years ago, it incorporated the adjoining premises to expand the space and completely remodeled it to offer a more modern aesthetic. However, your snail recipe has indeed won the battle over timekeeping her well on edge, just the way I like it.
The Coli Brewery
Also in this neighborhood, on Padre Campelo street, we find another necessary stop on this snail pilgrimage. It’s about the El Coli Brewery, at Calle Padre Campelo, 4. The house where Antonio Serrano continues to prepare the recipe for his mother Natalia García’s snails, who for more than fifty years has been seducing the residents of the neighborhood.
Bodeguita La Chicota
Before leaving Nervión, we cannot forget one of the temples of the beer and the gatherings of the brothers, the Bodeguita La Chicota that so many springs he has gathered his parishioners to talk about canopies, carvings and, yes, also snails.
It has been more than 35 years since they opened on the corner of Luis Montoto and Alberto Duero and, since then, they have managed to bring together a large number of snail parishioners who come to enjoy his recipe, as well as his classic tapas and his frozen beers.
Our latest establishment invites us, even if only by name, to stop and do “La Paraíta”. This winery may not have as long a history as other establishments, but Yes, he has been clear about his reason for being since he opened his Pino Montano location in 2006: cold beer, usual tapas and many, many snails.
At the helm of the boat, Ricardo and Rosario, a married couple who advertise on the awning of the terrace of their establishment that they are “specialists in snails”. They are the first who told me that “the trick is to clean them well and with patience”.
And, hey, after watching their clientele flock to get them, proving the point, and enjoying the combination of spices they use… I believe them.
Images | Cristina Torres / Promotional photos of Bar Alfonso “Rey de los caracoles” / Bodeguita “La Paraíta” / Bar La Chicotá /
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