Spain, in winter, is a country of stews.

Practically each region has its own, which is the same in all (basically, broth, meats and vegetables) with some slight variation.

At La Maragatería León, the peculiarity is that it is

eaten the

other way around:

first the meat, then the vegetables and finally the soup

.

There are several theories regarding this custom.

The most reliable is that it

comes from the muleteers who went from town to town

to sell all kinds of products and who carried lunch boxes with their food.

When heated, they ate the meat first so it wouldn't get cold and finished with the soup.

Another theory, perhaps more fanciful but certainly less prosaic and much more epic, refers to the Napoleonic Wars.

In the maragatas houses, while the men worked in the fields, the women prepared the food.

When it was ready, they would be alerted by jingling a metal object and they would come to the call.

But so did the clever and hungry French soldiers, who usually caught them eating the soup and seized the next turnarounds.

So they

turned the order around to leave the liquid part to the invaders

.

Although the first is most likely true, the second is much prettier.

Second roll over.

Whatever the origin, the truth is that the cooked maragato is still served the other way around and there are those who claim that this makes it more digestible.

Throughout the Leonese region there are good places to take it, but

perhaps the temple par excellence is

Casa Maruja Botas

, in Castrillo de los Polvazares

.

La Peseta

, in Astorga,

also enjoys great popularity

.

In Madrid, on the other hand, and despite the relative proximity to León, there are not many options and for many years its great representative has been

El Astorgano

of the Fuertes sisters, so it is very good news for the residents of the capital that the

Le

tavern

Qualité

, located at number 48 of the very mesonerísima calle de Ponzano, has begun to offer it from Tuesday to Friday at noon.

Although the French-style name of the place seems to indicate the opposite, it is a place that has been betting on the national gastronomy and small artisan producers for seven years.

In fact, the name refers to that interest in finding, selecting and offering only products of proven quality.

Thus,

all the ingredients of their maragato stew bear a name and surname

.

For example, in the first turn, the pork (shoulder, ear, marinated rib, bacon, chorizo ​​and spine) comes from

Cárnicas Julio

, in the Bercian town of Molinaseca.

Also from El Bierzo, specifically from Valle de Fornela, veal and old cow arrive, bearing the

Valle de Fornela Meat Products

seal

, from the casina, Asturian from the valleys and black angus breeds, raised in extensive livestock farming.

The hens grow freely

in Pedaque (Segovia).

And the Leon black pudding that is served as a 'garnish', of onion, without stuffing and with a very light and very pleasant spicy touch, is produced by the artisan José Suárez.

Third overturn.

The second turn includes chickpeas of the pico pardal variety, originating from La Bañeza (León), Astorgan potatoes and

cabbage (refried and well paprika) from Cacabelos

.

The third and last, the soup, creamy and with fine noodles, is prepared with the hens mentioned above.

The price per person is 20 euros, drink apart.

Although

Le Qualité

also offers, for ten euros, a

wine harmony option that follows geographical and proximity criteria

.

For the meats, Buencomiezo, a mencía aged for 12 months from the DO Bierzo.

For the vegetables, 3 Palomares, a black weevil (native grape from León) with 12 months of aging from the DO Tierra de León.

And for the soup, Catro e Cadela, a young Mencia wine from heroic viticulture from the DO Ribeira Sacra.

It has all the logic that if the stew goes from more to less power, the wines will also do it ...

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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