MARTA FERNÁNDEZ GUADAÑO
Updated Monday, February 26, 2024-00:00
Juicy on the inside and golden and even crispy on the outside, these one-piece roasts are protagonists on the menus of recent openings and classic spaces.
'Lechal' is the common surname of the succulent lambs, piglets or kids that arrive at these tables.
Rural
Rafa Zafra explains how in his "
new meat theme park
" he did not seek to offer steak, but rather a collection of pieces prepared on different types of grills and ovens, apart from grills or stews.
Allied with Ricardo Acquista and Anna Gotanegra, Rural is his latest opening in Madrid, where the philosophy of applying a monograph to a family of products that he created in Estimar around fish becomes here carnivorous.
In his menu, the
roasting of whole pieces
also takes place in a Castilian oven that stars in one of his kitchen bars.
Through it, they pass the 21-day-old suckling pig from Segovia, shipped in whole units, in half or in quarters - they have the recipe learned with the Sandoval brothers, owners of Coque -, and the 40-day-old suckling pig from Valladolid.
As garnishes, the customer can choose from several, with options such as 'tower' of fried potatoes, grilled lettuce or escalivada.
Address: Marqués de Cubas, 8. Madrid.
70-120€
Tragabuches roast suckling goat.
Buggies
Not only is it an opening from the start of 2024 to take into account when eating in Madrid, but it is also a clue to try a rare recipe in the city.
The
roasted suckling goat
, from a goat breed from Malaga, is one of the 'hits' of Tragabuches, the latest opening by Dani García in the establishment that was Combarro-Sanxenxo, on Ortega y Gasset street.
In what becomes the Marbella chef's seventh space in Madrid, you can order goat as a main dish.
This
tasty goat
comes to the table in a clay dish, cooked in the oven and accompanied by fried potatoes and Padrón peppers.
On a cart used as a side table, it is carved in front of the diner.
Juicy meat and golden, crispy skin.
Designed to be eaten by two or three people, it is also served with lettuce salad.
Address
: Ortega y Gasset, 40. Madrid.
Tel. 911 17 92 30. €45-60
Coquetto roast suckling pig.
Flirty
Rafael Sandoval, father of the saga that owns the two-star Coque, began roasting piglets in 1976, when he opened Coque with his wife, Teresa Huertas, in Humanes, a town in the southern part of Madrid — where the hospitality saga had had in the current generation a food house called Las Olas, later renamed Peña Coque.
Prepared in a roasting oven,
'John Dallas' breed
- a cross between 'Pietrain' and 'Durock' decided by the Sandovals' father -, animals from trusted farms, tender and juicy meat and a crunchy exterior make up the 'DNI' of the famous roast suckling pig, which became a claim to that first Coke.
That recipe, as is and only improved by using even more precise ovens - which allows the skin to be puffed - is served today in all the Sandoval family businesses.
It is part of the menu of its bistro Coquetto, the tasting menu of the two-star Coque - mother house of the brothers Mario, Diego and Rafael -, the offer of Qú by Mario Sandoval - at JW Marriott Hotel Madrid - and El Bistró de Mario Sandoval —at La Romanée, an event venue in Griñón—, while it is also sold takeaway.
—made to order and always whole—."Traditional lacquered suckling pig," they define.
Address
: Fortuny, 2. Madrid.
Tel.916 25 62 92. €45-60.
The Ceferino room, a grill inaugurated a few months ago.
Ceferino
It opened at the end of 2023 on Jorge Juan Street as a grill format, the result of the project promoted by a group of Argentine friends led, among whom are Marcos Mc Cluskey, Mariano Menéndez and Felipe Williamson.
The Argentine grill master José Antonio Figueroa is in charge of taming the fire with various cuts and breeds of meat, in a space like an Argentine ranch.
The cross roast
, a characteristic and traditional form of the Latin American country, takes center stage.
The roasting ceremony can be applied to a suckling pig and suckling lamb, although in both cases the menu specifies that these are custom-made recipes.
Address
: Jorge Juan, 27. Madrid.
70-80€
Uskar room.
Uskar
Opened eight years ago in the Embajadores area, it is the business of José Miguel Valdivieso and Rita García Fuster, who renovated their space last fall.
In the kitchen of this self-taught chef, there are recipes as fusion points, but also such traditional ingredients as
Segureño lamb
, corresponding to a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) from Huéscar (a town in Granada where the chef is from), an animal present even in its interior design with sheep heads made by hand with wicker and wool.
The chef pays tribute to his land by cooking this breed of lamb as a roast shoulder with the aroma of La Sagra - the mountain range where the animal was raised, also in the Sierra de Segura -, which is also available to take away;
the meat from it as a filling for a brioche, the neck—cooking for 24 hours at a low temperature—wrapped in PX holy leaf or the tournedó of Cordero Segureño.
Address
: Alonso del Barco, 11. Madrid.
Tel. 91 139 68 63. €45-50.
Corner of Asador Aranda.
Aranda Grill
In 2023, this group of the Palomero family celebrated 40 years of existence, a period that dates back to the opening of a space in Plaza de Castilla in 1983. With that emblematic establishment, they started the 'Asador de Aranda' brand, which is obligatorily linked to the
lamb churro.
roasted in an oak wood oven
, under a model that is already present in the world with a dozen establishments—some in the Middle East.
In addition, the group has restaurants with other brands such as La Tahona.
"Slow cooking in a clay oven that improves the texture of the food and its juiciness, in addition to enhancing the flavor and preserving the nutritional contribution of the product," Asador de Aranda defines.
70% of their customers order their lamb as a dish, coming from animals in Burgos and Segovia, only fed with breast milk.
The lamb can be ordered in quarter or half quarter;
In addition, delivery to take away.
The menu also includes roast suckling pig.
Address
: Plaza de Castilla, 3, Madrid.
Tel. 917 33 87 02. €40-45
El Mesón de Fuencarral, specialized in Castilian cuisine.
The Mesón de Fuencarral
Located on Carretera de Colmenar, it opened in 1932, so it is approaching its centenary.
This famous house on the outskirts of Madrid, with several rooms and a terrace, is run by the grandson of the founders, Ramón Dios.
The
specialty
of El Mesón de Fuencarral is
Castilian cuisine
(Castilian soup, torreznos, migas with egg and chorizo...).
Within their menu, there is the Churra de Aranda DO suckling lamb, whose roast shoulder is usually ordered by around half of the customers on the weekend.
In addition, prepare lamb chops, breaded lamb brains or a chickpea stew with suckling lamb.
His menu also includes a good roast suckling pig from Segovia.
Address: Carretera de Colmenar Viejo, km.
14,500.
Exit 15. Madrid.
Tel. 917 341 019. €45-50
To know more
Rafa Zafra.
The 'near luxury' chef who prohibits shouting in the kitchen
Editor: AMAYA GARCÍA
The 'near luxury' chef who prohibits shouting in the kitchen
Gastronomy.
Six new restaurants to let yourself be tempted by meat
Editorial: AMAYA GARCÍA / ISABEL MUÑOZ
Six new restaurants to let yourself be tempted by meat
The Stone
Business opened in 1984 by Antonio de Pedro and Sagrario Meño in the Chamberí neighborhood and run in recent years in the second generation by their children, with Gonza de Pedro - in charge of the kitchen and trained with Mario Sandoval;
Mind you, her grandparents already had an inn on Cuatro Caminos.
But it must be said that although the restaurant has been in this location for 40 years, the oven it uses in its roasts is centuries old.
Built from mud and straw adobes, it was demolished in a bread oven in Aldealcorvo (Segovia) to be brought stone by stone to the premises on Juan de Austria street.
Roasting
chura lambs and suckling pigs
– in both cases, suckling pigs and with Segovia as their origin – has been the objective of this family restaurant, where they only roast with oak wood and water and salt as the only ingredients.
Both roasts, which are served in portions, continue to feature on the menu, where there are many modern dishes.
Address
: Juan de Austria, 27. Madrid.
Tel. 91 446 88 33. €35-50
Avelino Grill
Bovia family business, where in the second generation, Carlos Bovia, is in charge of the kitchen.
In this house in the Carabanchel neighborhood, the specialty is grilled meats and wood-fired roasts.
Right there comes a chapter of the menu dedicated 100% to
suckling lamb
, which is delivered in a portion of shoulder or leg and front or hind quarter.
Also, roast suckling pig delivered by portions.
"We roast daily in a wood-fired oven," they say, while they also prepare roasts upon request.
Mixed or escarole salad with garlic and paprika vinaigrette as a garnish.
Apart from Asador Avelino, the family has owned Bovia del Viso since 2017.
Address
: Joaquín Turina, 42. Madrid.
Tel. 91 508 40 80. €35-45
Botín's dining room.
Swag
You couldn't miss this classic on a route through interesting barbecues in Madrid.
House founded in 1725 and 'certified' as 'the oldest restaurant in the world' by the Guinness Book of Records, its traditional menu has suckling pig and lamb as its main protagonists.
Roasted in their century-old oven, they use animals from Sepúlveda, Riaza and Aranda to apply a recipe of pepper, onion, garlic, bay leaf and white wine.
They boast that their oven has been operating non-stop since it was inaugurated three centuries ago.
Address
: Cuchilleros, 17. Madrid.
Tel. 91 366 42 17. €50-60