He’s jonathan ovalle, Asturian; she is Maria Athanasiadouand together with his family and her father they have placed the council of Valdés, in Western Asturias, in a pastry mecca to which to make a pilgrimage in the Principality.
They have been doing it for a decade after building the workshop in the house of Jhonatan’s grandmother, who After training in Cooking and Pastry, he decided to return home and it does so from the Cabo Busto Pastry Shop, close to that Asturian tip that penetrates the sea and where the waves beat with force.
A vigorous beating that Jhonatan also replicates on a daily basis, but raising meringues, creams and doughs in one tiny parish of just 200 inhabitantswhere it is proud to employ more than a dozen people and in which it has continued to beat with the same power for almost a decade.
Faithful to a secular Asturian tradition such as the world of confectionery, Jhonatan and his team bring green to life the perennial laurels of the Principality sweet shop, one of the regions of Spain with a special predilection for sweets and cakes, where to cite carbayones, muscovitas, goblets or bartolos is essential.
Jhonatan drinks from these sources, but also from innovate, create and leave the Principality with some of his works, aware of being one of the ambassadors of Cocina de Paisaje (the gastronomic and institutional brand of the Principality of Asturias) and demonstrating that confectionery can be exportable.
A millennial pastry shop
Ovalle has already grown up in a digital world and the pandemic was the definitive push to turn the Instagram account into the virtual showcase with which his pastry shop became known beyond Asturias and, as a result, demonstrate that desserts also know how to travel.
This is the case of its spreadable creams, such as orange (baptized as fundaki) or cocoa; of the roscones de Reyes that he has marketed in El Corte Inglés or one of its best representatives: the Asturias cake.
In this case, although with similarities to a Santiago cake, Ovalle opts for a toasted and chopped Asturian hazelnut basewhich raises the juiciness of a cake that has been patented and that also lasts up to a week out of the fridge, an achievement that makes it one of Cabo Busto’s favorite souvenirs.
To reinforce the Asturian character and multiply the already juicyness of the cake, he resorts to a Asturian apple compote interior which is complemented by the touch of cider jam, a small crown of icing sugar and a delicate toasted hazelnut as a tower of a cake of which he has the capacity to make more than 150 a week.
marine resilience
Apart from in large format, the Asturias Cake is also replicated in individual bites
The pairing between Jhonatan and María is the axis on which Cabo Busto works, a pastry shop where it is not difficult to see queues during the summer, stationed at the red door that gives access to the old Ovalle family homewhere Jhonatan refuses to leave palo dulce untouched.
This is where roscones, polvorones, Christmas logs and the original creations of a chef who has also managed confectionery in Michelin-starred kitchens at Casa Gerardo (in the Asturian town of Prendes) and in highly prestigious pastry shops such as Danas and Pomme Sucre, another couple of essential references in the Principality.
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Forged at the Gijón Hospitality School, Jhonatan’s domestic adventure began making cupcakes until Cabo Busto took shape. Restless by nature, his feelings also paled during the pandemic, as he has recounted on several occasions, being María who urged him and encouraged him to continue creating.
Now, aware of the treasure they have in their hands and with the certainty that Asturian sweet cuisine can be exportable —and endure outside the home—, Cabo Busto works at full capacity with the intention of setting up a summer beach bar where you can have coffee and pastries as a picnic area with a whole future ahead.
Images | Cape Bust Pastry
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