Northern Spanish cooking has
been on everyone’s mind in recent years. Chefs Arzak and Adriá have become household names - well, in foodie circles, anyway. It’s amongst the world’s finest as well as simplest cuisine. Local, indigenous,
sustainable ingredients are au courant and that's what it's about. Why are people just discovering Spain now?
Well, during the Franco dictatorship the words Spain and gastronomy didn’t mix.
The country was closed, poor and cultural regionalism frowned upon. The local
populous barely had enough. So you didn’t go to Spain to eat.
My first trip to Iberia was
in 1984, when Spain was rapidly emerging from the dark years. I traveled
through the country for four months, eating nothing but fried meat, potatoes,
and chilled house wine. I fell in love, permanently with the artists of the ‘siglo
de oro’ (Velazquez, Ribera, Murillo), flamenco, toasted bread with olive oil on
it (perhaps the best thing I ate) and Madrid. But I didn't eat well. Another extensive trip 15
years later turned my head around, gastronomy-wise. What had changed, it
or me? A little of both. I’m much more experienced in finding what’s true and
good to eat. And with the opening up of the country, a reverse trend was set in
motion and now great pride is taken in local foods and dishes. Everywhere you
go--and Spain is a huge place—you’ll find fine cooking, dishes prepared with
pride based on local ingredients and tradition. Simple and fresh are the
keywords. So, it is only natural that here in the New World, Spanish-trained
chefs have a keen eye for what’s local, seasonal and in the market, adapting to old-world techniques and recipes. It’s no wonder Spanish cooking is currently
trendy around the world. And Mexico City’s best restaurants these days are
Iberian.
 |
| Chef Paulina Morel |
Now there’s Maja. The word, in
Castilian slang means ‘cool’ or, more specifically ‘beautiful’ as in the ‘que
padre’ of Mexican parlance. Maja the restaurant is all of the above.
Set in a restored
Porfiriano mansion, with a pretty patio, the grey-toned
post-modern décor is innocuous but it doesn't matter: the food is the
star of the show.
Young chef Paulina Morel studied for
several years in San Sebastian the mecca of Basque cooking and then worked here
at the esteemed Biko. Her menu is northeastern Spanish, i.e. it encompasses the
Basque country, Catalonia, Asturias and Cantabria, with a couple of central and
southern dishes thrown in for good measure.
Start with the iconic croquetas de jamón; a magically thin bronzed
crust surrounds velvety, smoky ham-infused béchamel – textbook perfect. Pulpo a la feira, buttery grilled
octopus is a delight. And patatas bravas,
the paprika shmeered roast potatoes ubiquitous in Spain, and so often
compromised here because of our pallid Mexican papas, are crunchy and
richly flavorful.
Although neither northern nor seasonal
(in Spain anyway) a gazpacho appears on the menu, and it’s not the Anglicized tomatoey version,
but the real thing: olive oil thickened with bread and livened with tomato, garlic and
sherry vinegar. As good as I’ve had in Sevilla.
The hot soup option, sopa
de pescado Donostiarra (or Basque fish soup) is really a reduced bisque,
redolent of the sea –a winner.
From the main menu, and a true test of any Spanish chef, is
the deceptively simple fish of the day en
salsa verde, which contains only five ingredients. This green sauce is comprised of emulsified olive oil, perfumed with
sweated garlic, finely minced parsley and the juice a couple of happy clams. A
perfectly sauteed filet sits in a little puddle of it. Chef Morel proves she
learned a thing or two in the old country as here these lovely ingredients are
precisely balanced. Brava!
The Asturian classic, solomillo en salsa de Cabrales, can hit
like a bomb: a tender steak is smothered in a cream of the spiky blue cheese of
the eponymous town. Here it is light and just rich enough.
A side of salteado de verduras pleasantly surprises: its
perfectly cooked vegetables retain the right amount of crunch and conceal a
delightful payload of Catalan romesco, the sauce of roast red peppers thickened with hazelnuts.
Top off the meal with a standout torrija
caramelizada a typical dessert that falls somewhere between French toast
and bread pudding.
The wine list is not long but varied enough in its offerings
and price range to satisfy, although on
several visits, staff was not knowledgeable as to its contents.
Dinner for two will be around $1000-1200 (pesos) with a bottle of low end wine.
Maja
Restaurante de Comida Española de Autor
Restaurante de Comida Española de Autor
Durango 279, near Av. Sonora, Roma/Condesa
Monday - Wednesday: 1:30 - 11p.m.
Thursday to Saturday: 1:30p.m. - 1:30a.m.
Sunday until 1:30- 6p.m.
Tel. 5211-7972
/ 5211-4964
See my previous post on Spanish food in the city: http://goodfoodmexicocity.blogspot.mx/2009/03/old-country-eating-spanish-in-city.html
It's now on my must dine at list. Gracias.
ReplyDeleteSaludos,
Don Cuevas
I went there las week, simply AMAZING food,place and serivcie.... will return for sureee!!
ReplyDeleteI give it a 95 out of 100... It was fabulous....you have good instincts!
ReplyDeleteI ate at Maja with a few friends last weekend and it was quite simply amazing. We more or less tried everything, working our way down the list. It quickly became an effort to find something that wasn't superb and I am happy to say we failed at that! It was a little expensive but a fabulous meal all the same.
ReplyDelete