EVALUATION: 19.5/20
With the closing of El Bulli, there are now quite a few contenders in Spain for the title of the world’s most celebrated trend setting restaurant. Of the contenders, the only one I have not tried is DACOSTA’s restaurant in Denia. ARZAK in Donostia used to be one of the world’s best in the ‘90s, but it has gone downhill since the transition from father to daughter. In my opinion the restaurant now merits one Michelin star. BERASETEQUI is a solid restaurant which cooks contemporary dishes with modern twists and deserves two Michelin stars. CAN ROCA used to be a very exciting restaurant where the chef created some masterpieces for complementary tastes containing a contrasting element. Unfortunately my last three meals there after the restaurant received the 3rd Michelin star have been consistently inferior to the meals of the early 2000s, and merited, at most, two stars. The chef, Juan Roca, seems overworked; too many dishes seem to be created by the underlings; and the cooking now showcases technical virtuosity at the expense of deliciousness. MUGARRITZ was one of my favorite restaurants in the mid-2000s, but since he broke his ties with tradition, the chef, Andoni Aduriz, seems to be rowing towards a no man’s land and is creating dishes which may satisfy the brain, but not the palette. My last meal at Mugarritz, at most, merited one star.
This said, I think Spain may be the most exciting place in Europe to dine out, since it excels in the so called “middle category,” often overlooked by the Guide Michelin.
When I talk about the middle category, I am referring to the restaurants in Spain which work with outstanding ingredients and cook them respecting the tradition. When I say “respecting the tradition,” this does not entail following the tradition to the letter. Traditionally, many dishes have been overcooked in Spain (as in other countries), and naturally the main task of the chef is to showcase the natural integrity of an ingredient he uses. However, a respect for the tradition implies that the cooking of the chef is rooted in a cultural/historical context, and the chef does not try to become overly original for the sake of “creativity.”
It is a sad fact of the current dining scene that many chefs now (thanks to the guides and exaggerated media attention which was spared from the previous generation of truly great chefs) consider themselves as “artists” and not “artisans.” Most of them end up by becoming too self-centered, combative, and even stuck up. A meaningless hierarchy develops among chefs, where some of the best ones truly feel the pain in their heart because they did not receive the 3rd Michelin star, and those who have the lucky feather on their hat become pompous and start turning out many dishes to satisfy their swollen ego rather than the client’s palate. (In general, these chefs are absent from the kitchen anyway.)
Against this background, which sadly characterizes the current haute dining scene, there are the true artisans which labor in their kitchens and are truly creative in the sense that they elaborate on the tradition and try to perfect a time tested dish, instead of “creating” a new dish every day for the sake of proving that they are “evolving.”
The brother and sister team, Juan, Jordi and Isabel Junka of Ca L’Enric in Val de Bianya-Catalunia/Spain are among the unglamorous heroes of modern cuisine. The restaurant is near the French border in the Pyrenees and is about two hours away from Barcelona. Once you step inside, you will be taken aback by the gray and black colors and the minimalist, even austere décor. Once seated in the lounge to sip the best Cava you are likely to encounter (“Castell de Sant Antoni” Brut Nature, Sant Sadorni d’Anoia) and start tasting the amuses, you start realizing the understated luxury and the intimate comfort of the setting. After the rather long drive, you start feeling rejuvenated, relaxed, and prepare yourself for a prolonged feast.
If he is on the premises, you can meet Juan Junka, the older brother, who, besides being a true connoisseur of great wines, is the incarnation of genuine sincerity and hospitality.
The very first bites reveal that you are here for a treat. You will first be offered a clear broth to clean your taste buds. Next comes the little goodies: homemade goat butter on a tuile, little salt and cheese crackers, another cracker colored by seppia ink and topped with fresh calamari, a natural cherry tomato with a thin skin that you dip in a homemade chive mayonnaise, dry saucisson which tastes deep and complex, a tiny tart from which olive oil oozes out if you are not careful, a layered mousse composed of excellent natural goat yogurt, and, onions and rovellos mushrooms which are prized in Fall by Catalans.
Then you will be seated at a table. The menus change often and seasonally. Having eaten there before, I can attest that the restaurant merits three Michelin stars.
Then there is a becada/becasse/woodcock menu.
If you are very lucky you can get it in late Fall/early Winter. (You have to preorder it.)
The first course of the menu is “Becasse Royal.”
The consistency, the texture, the depth of flavors…. This is an amazing dish. Very few French three star chefs now prepare a grandiose royal (Ducasse and Le Squer are also masters of this forgotten art), and even if they do, they don’t top it with a lavish amount of excellent Iranian Beluga caviar. The caviar is not there for decoration. This dish is the most decadent example of “terre et mer”, allying the sweetness (rather than saltiness, given the quality) of the caviar with earthiness. The silky texture helps to prolong the satisfaction which seems endless and seamless. Try this dish and use a lesser, salty caviar. It will not work…
This masterpiece merits 20/20.
This dish is so rich that one feels the need to refocus the palette with an acidulated salad.
This is exactly what happens next.
You will get a partridge salad. In escabeche, the cold partridge is juicy and tasty. The contrast with the slightly bitter garden herbs is convincing, and the old Jerex vinegar (Ximenez-spinola) is on par with 25 years aged Modena balsamico and imparts just the right touch of sweet and tart. The partridge jelly at the bottom of the salad blends well with the rest and enriches the flavors.
I challenge any three star chef to come up with a salad with cold meat which is on par with this dish.
This salad merits 19/20
It is hard not to let anybody down after these two courses.
But the improbable happens with the becasse soup.
The soup is so creamy, rich, and complex (and not salty) that you swear the chef used a good dollop of heavy unpasteurized cream and foie.
This is what I thought.
I was wrong!
There is no cream, nor liver. The soup was thickened with country bread (like salmorejo), and the chefs, Jordi and Isabel, followed an ancient recipe.
Another 20/20
Can you guess what comes next?
Risotto. Not Spanish rice, but Northern Italian carnaroli rice with the becasse thigh. Each bites reveals the excellent quality of the carnaroli, which has been cooked al dente, but fully soaked the becasse jus. The thigh is caramelized, and if you touch it with your finger tip, it falls to pieces.
Who will believe me if I say that I have had the best risotto to date in Catalunia?
20/20
In many top restaurants of the world, especially in Italy and Spain, the final course is often a let down, but not at Ca L’Enric.
The final course of the becada meal is the salmis.
Cooked a la brasa with salmis sauce (blood and internal organs), this final course reveals all about why the little bird is so much sought after. It is juicy and rich, metallic and complex, with a long finish.
It is like ripe tuber melanosporum or pico magnatum, the undisputed king of wild mushrooms.
Becasse is the undisputed king of the game category. (I have never tasted ortolans.)
The Junka siblings prefer to make a week long faisandage for becasse to concentrate the flavors without losing the juice. I think this is ideal.
They also use the liver to spread on toasted bread. I recommend that you take a bite of the becasse and then a bite from the toast to maximize your pleasure.
This dish merits a 20+/20!
This is not the end of the meal. Jordi sends us another main dish from the Fall menu: lievre a la royale. It is quite a challenge not to make this dish taste too dry, and, at its best, this dish is among the true time tested masterpieces of cuisine bourgeoise.
The Ca L’Enric version is true to the original version of the dish and has to be tasted even by those who don’t like to eat hare. 19/20
Desserts are quite good too. Pear, cooked in wine with cinnamon and coffee crumbles, is soothing. Chocolate truffle cake, with crumbled nuts and persimmon, is rich and balanced. 17/20
Such a feast deserves to be prolonged by moving to another room and ending it with cigar and Bas Armagnac or Cognac. This is exactly what we have done with our friend Josep Vilella, who possesses an extraordinary palette and is a food critic and businessman. It is my shortcoming that I have never smoked (neither did Linda), but I was happy to imbibe old Armagnac and breathe the aromatic cigar. (I hate cigarette smoke though.)
Such an extraordinary cuisine requires compatible wines. Juan proposed us the following.
1. Castell de Sant Antoni Cava. Brut Nature. Sant Sadorni d’Anoia. It is an excellent cava, fresh and clean and with tiny persistent bubbles.
2. 2001 DOIX PRIORAT
This is one of the best Priorat wines I have tested. It has an inky dark color with truffle, tar, black fruit, black olives, and licorice aromas that jump out of the glass. The creamy texture reveals old vines (dominated by 80+ year old Grenache and 2% Merlot). It is smooth and structured, with a full mid-palette. The first impression is black fruit, but it develops red fruits when you air it. The finish is long and spicy, with an earthy, mineral edge. The oak is perfectly integrated. It carries its 15% alcohol very well. This is one of the very few wines which manages to be balanced despite high alcohol. It is at its peak, but it will age effortlessly.
Grade: 96/100
3. 2001 BRUNO ROCCA BARBARESCO ‘RABAJA’
Juan proposed this great wine with the salmis of becada and lievre a la royale. What a great pairing!
Obviously DOIX, which is an extraordinary Priorat, did not have the steely acidity to counter the last two courses. A great Nebbiolo does have the acidity and structure to match with earthy and minerally game. This is an excellent Barbaresco from a great year and from a traditional, consistently good producer. The nose is now quite open, with rose, tar, tobacco, and mace. It is elegant and has considerable finesse and length on the palette. The wine is concentrated, but not heavy. The palette reveals sweet raspberry juice, and the long finish is spicy and refreshing (due to acidity which is perfectly balanced by rich fruitiness). The wine has excellent balance despite its 14.5% alcohol. This wine is still a few years away from its optimum drinking point, and it seems like it may still give pleasure 30 years from now.
GRADE: 97/100
4. 1989 Dr. Burklin-Wolf “R” Riesling Auslese
I am passionate about Riesling, but I don’t necessarily like the matching of any wine with dessert. (I prefer such a wine INSTEAD OF DESSERT.) So unfortunately I short-shifted this wine and did not analyze this wine as I was still savoring the Barbaresco.
The Ca L’Enric becasse meal surpassed the limits of a meal. It is a hedonistic experienced to be experienced to be believed.
Vedat Milor