Savor Spain

Asturias patria querida… Today we are in the north of Spain, at the Principality of Asturias, a mountainous region with vast greenery and lush vegetation. Full of history and, of course, good food.

Asturias, with lots of history behind, from Celts to Visigoths, have one of the most famous episodes in the Reconquista with the Battle of Covadonga and Don Pelayo.

The capital city is Oviedo, but you have lots of towns and cities to visit like Gijón, Avilés, Mieres, Cudillero, Cangas de Onís… and of course lots to see like Lagos and Santuario de Covadonga, Picos de Europa, el Descenso del Sella, Taramundi, playa de Gulpiyuri and museums like MUMI or Museo Fernando Alonso if you´re a fan of Formula 1.

In terms of food, Asturias is well known for lots of small restaurant, bistrot-vibes, with traditional food and perfect for the cold weather, where you can eat very good and at a good price. With such a good “larder” and produce, you can see in the typical Asturian cookbook dishes like: Fabes (Beans, in “Pote” or “Fabada“), Cachopo, Tortos, Chorizo a la Sidra, Sidra, Pixin (Monkfish), Pitu de Caleya (Cockerel) and a excellent variety of seafood, cheeses and livestock (Gochu asturcelta Pork, Asturian Beef…).

Asturias region is home of different D.O´s and IGP´s, specially on cheese: Cabrales, Gamoneu, Casín, Afuega´l Pitu… but also drinks like Cider or Vino de Cangas, pulses like Fabes or cereals like Escanda.

No wonder how you can find such wonderful restaurants like Casa Marcial, Güeyu de Mar, Casa Farpón, El Molín de Mingo, El Corral de Indianu, Regueiro, El Retiro or Casa Gerardo among others.

For today´s recipe I don´t bring the Fabada (but I will put it soon in the blog) but a recipe that not everyone knows but it take few hours to process… but believe me, you´ll never tried a tastier rice dish than ´Arroz con Pitu´

Pitu de Caleya is how in Asturias they call to the cockerels that they been raised totally free range and it moves around the village. They´re tough dark meat chickens that can reach about 4 kg weight and the meat need to braise long time to make it tender. It´s more like game than normal poultry.

For this recipe we´re going to braise the Pitu first and then what do we need to make a “meloso” rice with this.

Pitu de Caleya, base.

Ingredients for 4 pax:

• 1 Pitu de Caleya
• 5 cloves of garlic
• rock salt
• 7 onion
• 1 green pepper
• 250 ml white wine
• 250 ml brandy
• 200 ml olive oil
• water
• salt and pepper

Elaboration:

1. Cut the chicken in 1/8 (thigh, drumlet, wing + half breast, half breast). Put in a container.
2. Slice the garlic, pour over the chicken and a handful of rock salt and marinate each piece of chicken with garlic and salt giving a massage. Keep overnight in the chiller.
3. Next day, remove the garlic and salt and, in a pot with olive oil, start cooking the pieces of chicken until they´re caramelized from each side and keep aside. The excess of oil and chicken fat keep it for later!
4. Slice the onions and pepper and, in the same pot as you panfried the chicken, start cooking until really caramelized. It might take couple of hours and lots of love but the result need to be a almost black onion but not burnt (need to stir all the time and keep adding bit of water and scratching the bottom of the pot every time).
5. Put the pieces of chicken back to the onion, pour the brandy and white wine and let it reduce all by half. Can add salt and black pepper now.
6. Cover with water and at slow heat start braising your pitu until it´s totally cooked, tender but not falling out of the bone yet.
7. Remove the pieces of chicken and then you have two options: blend the sauce together with the onion or, if you fancy old school, use a food mill.

Now you should have some braised chicken in one side, a dark and rich gravy and the fat that previously you kept … Like this you just need some mashed potatoes and French fries and you have an awesome dish… but even better: let´s make rice.

Arroz con Pitu.

Ingredients for 4 pax:

• 4 pieces Piquillo peppers
• 400 gr Bomba rice
• 4 pcs braised chicken (from the base)
• 8 tablespoons chicken gravy (from the base)
• 2 tablespoons chicken fat (from the base)
• 1.6 lt chicken or vegetable stock
• pinch of saffron
• salt

Elaboration:

1. Take a pot or big pan with enough place to cook the rice. Start adding the chicken fat, 2 tablespoons of chicken gravy, the rice and the saffron. Sautee all together for 1 minute at medium heat.
2. Add the stock, make sure it´s boiling, and straight away you can add salt and the piquillo peppers. Let it cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes first, stirring from time to time (Since its not a Paella, can remove the rice in order to get some starch and make it thicker)
3. Bring the heat to low for the last 5 to 7 minutes, add your pieces of chicken carefully to don´t break and let if finish slowly.
4. Once the rice its cooked, turn off the heat and let it rest couple of minutes. It´s now when you add the rest of chicken gravy and give a stir with spatula. Same as a Italian risotto when they add butter and cheese at the last minute, but with the thick chicken gravy instead.
5. Portion and serve.

My favorite you can try it at Molín de Mingo.