Gastronomy and the Paradors
The following article, written by Carlos Tejero, is reproduced by kind permission of "Spain Gourmetour", published three times a year by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade.
The gastronomic philosophy followed by the Spanish Paradors upholds tradition while keeping in touch with the tastes of modern-day customers. There is no doubt that the best way of obtaining a broad overview of classic Spanish gastronomy is to pay a visit to a few Paradors. Our selection covers those in Santiago de Compostela (Pontevedra), Gibralfaro (Málaga), Lerma (Burgos), Mérida (Badajoz) and Vielha (Lérida).
Ask anyone on the street in any large city in Spain where the hotel is, and they’ll want to know to which one you are referring, but ask where the Parador is, and there’ll be no hesitation. There can be only one.
“Parador” might seem a strange name for a hotel. While it has always been a common noun which means “a stopping place”, over time it has practically become a brand. The name has obviously not been registered and is available for anyone to use but, strangely enough, it has not been adopted (unlike hotel, hostal, hospedería, posada, etc.) by any other tourism establishment and has been voluntarily set aside for the exclusive use of the network of Paradores, a state-owned hotel chain.
But then they were the first off the mark. When the first Parador was founded, back in 1928 in the Gredos Mountains in the province of Ávila, there was nothing like it in Spain. At the time, tourism was a minority activity but one that promised growth in line with the burgeoning middle class. It was in the 1920s that the first instruments for promoting tourism were created: provincial and local tourism boards, the official hotel guide and official complaints registers. That was when the Marquis de la Vega Inclán, in his role as Royal Commissioner for Tourism, adopted an idea that had been around since the early years of the century: the concept of tourism. At the time, tourism was mostly associated with health and physical wellbeing and tended to focus on spas, but cultural and artistic aspects also played a part.
Spain’s historical heritage at the time was both rich and decrepit. Architectural jewels of all sorts were in a state of collapse, and private capital had no intention of investing in crumbling ruins far away from the main tourism centers of the time (San Sebastián, Santander and some spas in northern Spain). It was the state that took the first step with the dual intention of restoring heritage while setting up a commercial activity in the form of hotels. The word chosen was “Parador” and it took hold over the next few decades—very troubled times in Spanish history—during which there was practically no private investment in the tourism sector.
Others followed in the Gredos Parador’s footsteps, which was inaugurated between 1930 and 1933, by setting up establishments in Oropesa (Toledo), Úbeda (Jaén), Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca) and Mérida (Badajoz). A number of albergues, which no longer exist, followed suit, as did the Hostería del Estudiante (in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid), an exceptional case which was, and still is, not a hotel but a restaurant. These were the seeds planted by the state-owned network of Paradores Nacionales de Turismo (now Paradores de Turismo de España, S.A.).
After the inevitable interval of the Civil War and the post-war years, Paradors were promoted and really took off, with 40 new establishments opening during the 1950s. Then came the boom of the sixties and seventies and with them the appearance of mass tourism, during which Spain became one of the leading international destinations. Tourism became Spain’s prime source of income. It was good business, and the Parador chain was in from the beginning. The chain opened some new establishments, ones with no history behind them but in privileged locations such as Aiguablava in Gerona and Fuente Dé in Cantabria, but the focus was still on the restoration of historic buildings.
Paradors today
Today things are very different. Private initiative realized years ago that there was money to be made from the sort of “cultural tourism” that the Paradors had pioneered. There are now dozens of castles, palaces and monasteries that have been converted into hotels in an effort to satisfy customers who are increasingly interested in feeding their souls with history and their stomachs with quality food.
Still a fully state-owned company, the network today comprises 91 establishments all over Spain, with the exception of the Balearic Islands, although there are plans for a Parador in the 18th-century Almudena Castle in Ibiza. Today, 14 are in castles, 14 in former convents, 8 in palaces, 4 in manor houses, 3 in other types of historical sites and the remainder are in new buildings, 16 of which were built in line with the traditional local architectural style. Altogether they offer 6,000 rooms and receive almost 2 million guests a year, 55% of whom are from Spain and 45% are from abroad, mostly from Great Britain, Germany, France and the United States, in that order.
In 2005, the Parador network posted a turnover of 279.2 million euros, with net profits reaching 25.3 million euros, up 16% from the previous year. Not only is it a state-run enterprise, but it is an efficient one as well, achieving exceptional results in spite of the enormous costs of upkeep, decoration, etc., costs that are not incurred by hotels which are normally indifferent to preservation and the promotion of the national heritage. Many Paradors, especially the most emblematic ones, frequently purchase works of arts and furnishings to add to their already plentiful collections.
The network employs almost 5,000 people, many of whom devote their entire careers to the Paradors. A large number of today’s chefs de cuisine started out as kitchen assistants and gradually rose up the ladder (apprentice, cook, line cook, sous-chef), working in different Paradors and gaining, as they went, extensive knowledge of regional cuisines. However, unlike restaurateur-chefs, many of whom become stars in their own right, these top professionals often receive less public recognition than they should because, as members of the chain, their personality is eclipsed by the institution that employs them.
Meals and menus
Paradors tend to be unfairly omitted from most culinary guides which often include many less-deserving establishments. But the results speak for themselves: Paradors served a total of 2.7 million meals (lunches, dinners, banquets, etc.) in 2005. “We are proud to report that almost half of our income comes from catering”, says Victor Teodosio, catering manager for the whole network. “No other hotel chain in Spain can say the same”.
Cuisine in the Paradors has always given pride of place to traditional recipes, but respect for ancestral eating habits sometimes enters into conflict with dietary or aesthetic considerations, and sometimes with both. In December 2005, the company decided to modernize its philosophy without betraying its original spirit. “The idea was to update traditional dishes by lightening sauces, revamping cooking times and modernizing presentations”.
Flexibility was another new concept. A creative range of selections were designed to enable diners to opt for a given sampler menu, to draw one up themselves or to select various dishes to share at the table, but always keeping things in perspective. “About 50% of the menu is dedicated to regional specialties and the other 50% is traditional Spanish cuisine with some international touches” (the omnipresent carpaccios, foies, etc.). So each chef is free to include the dishes he or she feels are most appropriate for the specific region where the Parador is located, but they all offer dishes from other parts of Spain. These will of course be faithful to traditional methods because of the vast knowledge acquired by chefs who, as stated above, travel around from Parador to Parador during their professional careers.
But that’s not all. The Parador network has also drawn up specific menus for vegetarians, celiacs, diabetics and children. It introduced the concept of “named restaurants”, that is, it personalized the restaurants in certain Paradors (with names such as Azafrán, Enxebre, Mar i Vent, La huerta del rey, etc.) to escape the anonymity of being just “the Parador restaurant”. It also modernized and extended the wine lists and increased the number of gastronomic events held in Paradors, which reached 106 in 2006.
What’s more, this is all on offer at affordable prices, which is another characteristic of the Paradors that might not be popular with those looking for exclusiveness—their excellent value for money.
A hotel that has received guests which include Prince Rainier of Monaco, Grace Kelly, the Rolling Stones and Bill Clinton can be expected to be beyond the reach of more down-to-earth budgets, but this is not so with the Paradors. They are not overwhelmingly inexpensive but both their accommodation and their gastronomy are affordable for the average upper middle-class person. Therein lies the Parador’s charm: they are unique places that are available to everyone.
The jewel of the crown
(Santiago de Compostela)
Most Paradors are 4-star establishments, the only exceptions being Reis Católicos in Santiago de Compostela and San Marcos in León which have 5 stars. The facades of both are spectacular, but inside, the interior retains more or less its original layout, whereas the latter was entirely rebuilt. This fact, plus its age, make the Santiago Parador the network flagship.
Built under the orders of the Catholic Monarchs in 1499 as a hospital for the pilgrims going to Santiago where, according to tradition, the remains of St James lie, it is unlikely that there is a hotel in such an old building anywhere else in the world. Just imagine what an American tourist must feel as he or she prepares to go to bed in a room whose granite walls were built just a few years after Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent.
The building, located in the Plaza del Obradoiro, is in one of the most monumental locations in the world and was named a Heritage of Mankind site by UNESCO in 1985. Visitors first lay their eyes on the cathedral but then they see the Parador with its fantastic Plateresque facade. A walk around the public areas is like a walk around a museum, complete with paintings, tapestries and unique furnishings. “We have an inventory of 802 works of art”, says Antonio López, the Parador’s manager. “Each one is electronically tagged, so any movement is immediately detected by the security cameras”.
Antonio, who has worked in another 20 Paradors during the course of his career, is passionate about his job, his hotel and its history. “This place is so peaceful”, he says as we stroll around one of its four Manueline-style courtyards, “even when the hotel is fully-booked, as it is now”. All we can hear is the sound of our own footsteps, the murmur of the central fountain and the chirping of the sparrows as they flutter around the gargoyles. Every day at 12 noon, the Parador offers its customers a guided tour of the building.
The Santiago Parador has two restaurants. Enxebre (a Galician word meaning tradition) is informal and relaxed and specialized in tapas and typical dishes such as pulpo a feira (octopus Galician-style), fried sardines, and pork shoulder that are on offer in the multitude of bars found in the old part of the town. Dos Reis restaurant, on the other hand, meets the needs of a luxury hotel.
This restaurant is located in the former stable block. Its large, stone, vaulted dining room, complete with round arches, seats up to 76. At the head of the kitchen is Daniel Turrado, a determined proponent of traditional cuisine. “It is the only cuisine that stands the test of time. Providing you use quality produce and know how to adapt to modern tastes while respecting the basics, you can’t go wrong”. Daniel insists that traditions do not have to be static. “You can still innovate with traditional dishes”.
The distinction this chef makes between “popular” and “traditional” cuisine is clear in his recipe for the caldeirada, given at the end of this article. His is a personal interpretation of this Galician dish, one that looks very different but has exactly the same ingredients and flavor as the time-honored recipe. It is a typical sailor’s stew made of potatoes and whatever fish is on hand—an extremely simple recipe that offers a tasty and satisfying result. But Daniel refines things by creaming the potatoes, topping them with turbot, scallops and lobster, and finishing off the dish with a few drops of the typical Galician dressing made of garlic with pimentón (a type of Spanish paprika). So, instead of the usual soupy stew, we end up with a dry but creamy dish made of top-notch ingredients with no fat but plenty of flavor: a delicious but not overwhelming result.
Mediterranean watchtower
(Málaga Gibralfaro)
In Málaga there are two Paradors, one of which is the Málaga Golf, which mostly serves golf-lovers, and the other is the Málaga Gibralfaro. We decided to feature the latter because of its privileged location perched atop a mountain next to the 14th-century Moorish castle and its magnificent views of the city and the bay.
Although it was built relatively recently, in 1948, its arches, stone walls and curved tile roof fit perfectly into the pine forest surrounding it. Since this is not a historic building, its decoration is different to that of other Paradors. The ambiance is “Mediterranean”, with blues and yellows in the rooms, and simple, comfortable furnishings.
The restaurant is an exceptional place. However outstanding the meal, everyone’s eyes are constantly drawn to the surrounding views. Three lithographs by Picasso are exceptionally interesting. The city of Málaga, where the artist was born in 1881, has a Picasso museum containing 155 works assigned to it by his heirs. In fact, one of his grandsons, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, is a regular at the Parador, as is the actor Antonio Banderas, who also born in the area.
Bartolomé Rodrigo has been a chef here for nine years. He heads a team of eight in a kitchen that serves about 110 lunches and dinners each day. The Gibralfaro Parador has one of the highest occupancy rates in the network (about 90% all year round).
Bartolomé, like all the Parador chefs, has worked in a number of them so he knows a lot about Galician, Catalonian and Castillian cuisine. However, being an Andalusian himself, his heart lies with Andalusian dishes. “Fried foods, especially the classic pescaíto frito, are what immediately spring to mind in connection with Málaga, but there is also a longstanding tradition of soupy rice dishes with fish or vegetables, gazpachuelo which, in spite of its name, contains no tomato, zoque, a sort of vegetable dip and for dessert, borrachuelos (fruit sautéed with flour, sweet wine, etc.) served with cane syrup.” Sugar cane has been cultivated in this part of Spain, especially in Granada, since the 10th century when it was first introduced by the Arabs. It was then taken to America by the Spaniards. Clearly, crossover cuisine is nothing new.
All these traditional dishes have been reinterpreted by Bartolomé in an effort to make them lighter, except for fried foods. “It’s best not to meddle with them. Provided that the raw materials are top quality and the oil is extra virgin, they are perfect as they are.” He also proposes new recipes such as salt cod with ajoblanco (a cold garlic and almond soup). “Salt cod is perhaps the only ingredient that is popular all throughout Spain. Every region has their favorite cod dish. In Málaga we often make salt cod salad with potato, oranges and black olives”.
Bartolomé is an enterprising, creative person who makes sure he keeps in touch with the latest advances (the Parador network constantly offers training courses to its staff). He enjoys experimenting, having prepared chewing gum ice cream for example, which has an uncanny way of evoking childhood memories, but his feet are firmly on the ground, and his eyes on the sea. So, when asked about the dish that best represents this Parador and Malagan gastronomy, he chooses a surf and turf dish: “sea bass, one of the best fish caught along our coast, in combination with stewed oxtail, an Andalusian classic”.
Monumental charm
(Lerma)
About 200 km (124 miles) north of Madrid, just off the A-1 highway on a hill overlooking the Arlanza valley lies the town of Lerma. Two buildings mark its profile, the Collegiate Church of San Pedro and the Ducal Palace. Both were built by the Duke of Lerma, one of the most Machiavellian figures in Spanish history.
Otherwise known as Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, this wily character governed Spain during much of Philip III’s reign, an indolent monarch who enjoying partying more than politics, until was disgraced in 1618. He avoided imprisonment thanks to skilled negotiations with Pope Paul V, who appointed him cardinal to save him from going to trial.
To maximize his power, the duke decided to set up a sort of parallel court in Lerma. He built the palace to provide a place of rest and entertainment for the king, as well as several convents and churches, a hospital, a fabric and dyeing factory, a printing press, etc. This was a time of splendor but one that faded rapidly when the duke’s unpopularity grew.
Joaquín Gutiérrez, the Parador’s manager, tells these and other stories with great enthusiasm. While many of the network’s chefs are very knowledgeable about Spanish regional cuisine, some of the managers, such as Joaquín or Antonio López (Santiago), are equally knowledgeable about history and art, which is almost an obligation for them considering the buildings for which they are responsible.
The Lerma Parador is located in the majestic Ducal palace that dominates the main square. The Parador network took over this Herrera-style building in 1996 and invested 11.3 million euros in restoring it. It was inaugurated seven years later. All 70 rooms have wonderful views, whether they face onto the square or the river banks. The cloister, with its 40 Tuscan and Ionic columns that give a solemn air to the galleries, is one of the communal areas, and it lies in a courtyard that was wisely encased in glass so it could be used as a large lounge, avoiding exposure to the Castilian climate’s extremes.
The opening of the Parador brought much-needed life to the town of Lerma. Situated on the main road between Madrid and Bilbao, it grew from having three or four restaurants to a total of 18 today, not bad for a town with just 2,500 inhabitants.
Cristóbal Sáez, the chef, spent time at the Parador in Sos del Rey Católico (Zaragoza) before coming to Lerma, and Zaragozan influence can be seen in the menu. “The cardoon is a popular vegetable in Aragon, Navarre and La Rioja but is hardly known here. I included it on the menu from the start and it’s been a great success”. But the emphasis in this land of bitterly cold winters is on stews and roasts. The former include garlic soups (mainly garlic, bread, egg and pimentón)—“very popular with foreign guests”—and olla podrida or “rotten pot”, a standard Castilian dish but served under a different name. “If I were to use the traditional name, nobody would ask for it, so I call it ‘Beans from Ibeas’ (a local village) which includes all the parts of the pig (blood sausage, chorizo, ear, belly, etc). It’s a great favorite with Parador customers”.
The star among the roasts is suckling lamb, or milk-fed lamb which, in this area, is of exceptional quality, as denoted by its Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). “Local lamb has a special flavor that comes from the pastures and is passed on in the ewes’ milk”. Cristóbal has chosen this dish to represent Lerma Parador’s gastronomy and has “updated” it. But is it really possible to update such a classic? “I use smaller lambs—5 kilos (11 pounds) rather than the usual 7 (15.5 pounds). That makes them less fatty so they retain all the flavor.” It is important to roast them over a wood fire, and the accompaniment he recommends is bread made with oil and a good local red wine. These do not exactly reduce the calorie count but they certainly do enhance the meat.
Rooms with a view
(Vielha)
A conical slate roof, reminiscent of the typical Pyrenean stable, covers the round, spacious restaurant at the Parador in Vielha (Lerida). The glass walls afford a panoramic view in different shades of green (or white, depending on the time of the year) from this exclusive spot. The Parador is not in a historic building, but the location is monumental: a superb spot looking over the Aran valley, one of the most beautiful in the Pyrenees.
Built in 1966, the architectural style is now dated but the interior was renovated in 2001 and is very welcoming. In addition to an outdoor swimming pool, there is a spa that was inaugurated three years ago and has been a great success with customers. This was the first spa in the Parador network, but from now on these will be included in all new or newly-refurbished establishments. “Spas have become yet another competitive element in hotels”, says Francisco Contreras, manager of the Vielha Parador. “In a few years time, a spa will be as essential as satellite TV in the rooms”.
The Vielha Parador receives many guests from nearby France, and businesses based in Toulouse (a French town with 700,000 inhabitants just two hours away by car) frequently choose it as the venue for their conventions and celebrations.
The French influence is reflected in the restaurant’s menu (duck confit, onion soup, etc.) but the focus, obviously, is on Catalonian cuisine and Aran valley specialties. “Game, which we usually prepare en civet (in its own blood), also mushrooms, mostly ceps and milky agarics which we cook on the griddle or sauté with white or black butifarra (a typical Catalonian sausage) and, of course, Aran valley stew are on the menu”, comments Julián Roque, who has been chef here for three years and has chosen this dish as the Parador’s most representative gastronomic offering. Aran valley stew is a mixture of white beans with chickpeas, noodles, veal shank, chicken, pork belly, butifarra and vegetables (cabbage, carrot, celery, leek, etc.). It’s a thick, hearty stew that is served in both winter and summer.
Julián acknowledges that this traditional dish cannot be updated without altering its flavor and potentially losing some popularity. “I tried to serve it in a more stylish way, separating the meat from the rest so that customers could make their own combinations, but I had to give up the idea because they wanted a stew that looked like a stew”.
Monastic peace
(Mérida)
The Mérida Parador is in the heart of the city of Mérida, founded by Augustus in AD 25 and designated capital of Lusitania. In 1993, UNESCO declared the archaeological wonder a Heritage of Mankind site. It includes a theater, a bridge, an aqueduct and a temple for Diana, among other outstanding ruins.
This Parador, which was one of the first, was created in 1933 as a 17th-century Franciscan convent and was later used as a hospital and a prison. It is an attractive, whitewashed building with large windows, each with a decorative wrought iron railing and two belfries topped by storks’ nests. The quiet courtyard, the chapel, which is a lounge today, and the “garden of antiques”, a beautiful garden with Roman columns, bases and other ruins are the communal areas that lead to the seclusion of the rooms, furnished in Castilian style.
The restaurant has been managed for 11 years by Juan Sanguino, himself from Mérida, who is clear about what it means to update traditional dishes and has even breathed new life into ancient, forgotten ones. Juan is an expert in Roman, Visigothic, ancient Andalusian and Sephardic cuisine, all cultures that influenced Spanish history to different extents in different areas but with more or less similar importance in this area of Extremadura.
Mérida is the home of the Spanish National Museum of Roman Art, and Juan had the opportunity to get to know a number of professors and experts, including Carmen Gasset (who died last August), former President of the Foundation for Roman Studies and author of the book El arte de comer en Roma (The art of eating in Rome). As a result of such contacts, he started to explore Apicius’ cuisine, whose book De re coquinaria is considered the oldest in the history of gastronomy. “We had to add quantities because the original recipes only listed the ingredients and gave vague instructions for preparation”. Then, with the help of his son, Juan turned his interest to other ancient cuisines. This resulted in their book De cocina antigua: viaje gastronómico desde Roma a Al-Andalus (Ancient cooking: a gastronomic journey from Rome to Al-Andalus), published in 2004. Juan continues with his research and will soon be publishing his second book, La cocina del Descubrimiento (The cuisine of the discovery).
Dishes of this sort are served in Mérida on special occasions, but the most common type of dishes are specialties from the Extremadura region, suitably updated by Juan. “We don’t add as much pimentón (a basic spice in this part of Spain) and, for example, we prefer to serve tench (a freshwater fish often served fried in Extremadura) off the bone, minced and in balls”.
Other typical local dishes are the Extremaduran gazpacho (cold vegetable soup, in this case different from the Andalusian version in that it contains no onion and is served chopped rather than crushed), migas (bread soaked and fried with pepper, chorizo and pork belly), sautéed desert truffles (Terfezia Arenaria, a hypogeal mushroom known as the truffle’s “poor relative”) and stewed lamb. But Juan has selected veal sirloin, which he describes as al castúo, a term used in Extremadura that means “authentic” and “rural”. The veal comes from the local Retinta variety, which is a red meat (covered by a PGI) and is reared in semi-freedom in the local pastures alongside merino sheep and ibérico pigs, competing with them for the grass and acorns.
This traditional dish is garnished with sweet-sour figs (lightly pickled in vinegar) and covered with slices of ibérico ham, but Juan adds a “crossover” touch by diluting a little foie gras in the sauce and adding a few sautéed green asparagus spears.
Carlos Tejero is a journalist and editorial coordinator of Spain Gourmetour.