The inner workings of Aragonese lamb, revealed
If you were to ask any Madrid-based offal enthusiast for recommendations on the best restaurants in the city, the almost immediate answer would be: El Mesón de Doña Filo, La Tasquería (or La Barra de La Tasquería, it's all the same), La Tasquita de Enfrente, De la Riva, La Taberna de Elia, Salino, TreZe, and Triciclo.
For two weeks, between Tuesday 15 and Sunday 27 September, these nine establishments will offer recipes expressly developed for these days and featuring supposedly humble and considered unrefined products such as liver, kidneys, offal (intestines and trachea), tongue, brains or cheeks.
The three remarkable dishes Saúl Sanz has prepared for TreZe and TerZio serve as an epitome of what can be done with such a versatile and rewarding ingredient. At TreZe, he'll offer a lamb head terrine, available cold, with an intense offal flavor, or hot, a more democratic and accessible option for everyone, along with exquisitely grilled kidneys with egg and potatoes, delicate and flavorful. At the tavern, a slightly more indulgent and edgy option, meant to be eaten with your hands: a taco of braised offal with onions, chamomile, and guacamole.
Other options include De La Riva's encapsulated kidneys; the very Thai khao soi of beef cheek in red curry or the kidneys meunière with hummus, pine nuts and gnocchi (pictured above), from La Barra de La Tasquería; the offal empanada from La Taberna de Elia; the scalded brains with black butter from La Tasquita de Enfrente; the faux beef cheek risotto from Salino or the Aragonese anticucho of tongue, heart and beef cheek with herb yogurt, homemade naan and spiced jus from Triciclo.
Special mention must be made of the show that Julio Reoyo is going to put on at El Mesón de Doña Filo in Colmenar del Arroyo, who is, after all, the greatest offal master that there has ever been, and ever will be, in this country: a complete tasting menu called Ternasco de Aragón, living treasure (75 euros, drinks included), made up of seven courses as stimulating as, for example, pickled kidneys and boletus mushrooms with green salad; tongue coca with frosted carrot and ratatouille juice or cheeks in Biscayne style with cod tripe.
Although recognized as a Specific Denomination in 1989 and, since 1989, included in the category of Protected Geographical Indication, until just two years ago the Ternasco de Aragón PGI did not include offal within its scope, only carcasses. By accepting cuts such as the head, entrails, liver, and kidneys, it has become, as its managers proudly proclaim, "the first fresh meat in Spain to certify its offal."
Comprised of four companies, including La Casa de Ganaderos, which claims to be the oldest cooperative in Spain, its founding charter having been signed by James I in 1218, the Ternasco de Aragón Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) works with five native breeds of the region: Rasa Aragonesa, Ojinegra de Teruel, Roya Bilbilitana, Maellana, and Ansotana (the latter two being endangered). The certified lambs are yearlings, weighing 23 kilos live weight and between 8 and 13 kilos dressed weight, and have been fed their mother's milk for the first six weeks and cereals for the following six weeks. Until now, we've only known their most visible parts; now it's time to discover their inner workings.