Savor Spain

This time we enter in a region that belongs to Castilla La Mancha, where you can imagine Don Quixote travelling around and fighting with those gigantic rivals that in the end they were windmills. We are in the province of Albacete, which its capital city Albacete, famous for its clasps knives among others.

Albacete is located in a strategic position between Madrid and the east coast giving always some importance in historic events from Spain like the Spanish war of succession or the Spanish civil war.

Nowadays agriculture and livestock are some of the main pillars of the economy and every year there´s the biggest livestock fair in Castilla La Mancha. And also, don´t forget the party, every September there´s the “Feria de Albacete” celebrated since XIV century.

Don´t forget to visit some of the nicest towns in Albacete region such as Alcalá del Júcar, Ayna, Almansa, Alcaraz or Lietor.

In food terms, Albacete have some of the new generation of Spanish Chefs that they´re making good things like Juan Monteagudo from Ababol or Javier Sanz & Javier Sahuquillo from Oba and let´s not forget Fran Martínez at Maralba, probably one of the cheapests 2 Michelin star restaurant from Spain.

Typical food in Albacete are elaborations that remind us of old times, simple elaborations to feed our shepherd´s while they manage the livestock, simple ingredients with the Lamb from Castilla La Mancha as a main source. Protected with an IGP (Indicación Geográfica Protegida) certification: Migas ruleras, Atascaburras, Ajo mataero, Gachas, Orza, Caldereta, Gazpacho Manchego (not to confuse with the Andalusian) or Miguelitos de La Roda, a cream-filled puff pastry cakes.

Today we´re going to to learn how to prepare “Atascaburras“, a version similar to a French brandade de morue and I have no clue why is it called like that “clog-a-donkey” but apparently some people say that this recipe it can be quite heavy is you eat too much than it´s possible to clog the stomach of a donkey.

Ingredients for 4 pax:

• 350 gr unsalted cod
• 4 pieces medium potatoes
• 3 pieces cloves of garlic
• 4 eggs
• 250 ml olive oil
• salt
• 60 gr of walnuts from Nerpio (Denomination Protected Origin in Albacete)
• chopped parsley

Elaboration:

1. Start by washing the potatoes, don´t peel them yet, and put in a pot with water to boil about 30 minutes.
2. After that, carefully, start peeling the potatoes helping with a paring knife.
3. Combine the peeled potatoes and unsalted cod in a pot with water with a splash of olive oil and cook all together for another 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure the potato is fully-cooked.
4. In a different pot, with water, hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes, then refresh with iced-water and peel.
5. Remove the fish carefully in a plate, the potatoes in a colander and remove the skin and possible bones from the fish. Keep this water for later.
6. Take a mortar and a pestle and make puree your garlic.
7. We´re ready to emulsify now: Take a bowl, add your garlic puree and your potatoes and with the pestle start breaking and mixing all.
8. Add a bit of the cooking water to help you make a smooth texture. And start adding olive oil slowly to emulsify, like making a mayonnaise sauce.
9. Add your fish and mix all together.
10. Taste and season. Finish adding some walnuts, your pieces of hard-boiled eggs and chopped parsley.