The Guareña River is a river in Spain that rises in the municipality of La Orbada (Salamanca), enters the province of Zamora through Castrillo de la Guareña, then passes through Vadillo de la Guareña, La Bóveda de Toro and Villabuena del Puente (Zamora) and flows next to Toro into the Duero.
We went to Villabuena del Puente, about 20 km. away from Quesería La Antigua de Fuentesaúco, last Tuesday to taste a menu that was specially prepared for the team of the cheese factory.
The restaurant is called El Parador, and as soon as we entered we were surprised by the simplicity but elegance of the restaurant in question. The cook, Elena, a little shy at first, welcomed us with a smile and with the table already set.
To whet our appetite, he introduced us to what was to be a festival of different flavors and sensations with a shot of “Caprichos de la Pastora” sheep’s cheese cake foam with a raspberry jam base.
Smooth, pleasant on the palate, with a sweet touch, very good start.
To share, she gave us a pickled partridge salad (made by herself, as she told us later), of which not even the sauce she had used to decorate it was left. It was at this point that the waiter brought us a bottle of Gurrutxaga txacolí, a white wine that obtained a 91 Parker points in 2009. Delicious combination of partridge with a touch of acidity from the txacoli!
Once the salad was finished, two plates of fritters were served: first, cod fritters with black tempura and saffron aioli and after that, Burgos blood sausage fritters with tomato jam.
What can we say about that? The presence was spectacular, inviting you to keep tasting, not to leave even the sauce on the plate, such pronounced flavors! Unbelievable!
Once the starters are finished, we move on to the fish, this time in the form of prawns. It was Baked Prawns on Caramelized Onion and Verdejo Wine Sauce.
Another time the (almost) clean dishes returned to the kitchen. Only the heads remained, as the rest of the body had been previously peeled.
Once the txacolí was finished, we opened a bottle of Abadía Retuerta Cuvée Palomar 2003. The wine had to match the selected menu, hence our choice. No words.
The cook had chosen as meat a Grilled Entrecote on a base of Chickpea Puree and Campoestrella sheep cheese veil, and Boletus. The meat was cooked to perfection and was served immediately. The mixture of the grilled meat with the chickpea puree and the mellowness of the melted sheep’s cheese made these bites exquisite, to be savored gently. The wine paired perfectly, there is no doubt about that.
As all of us at the cheese factory have a sweet tooth and the cook knew about it, she prepared three very special desserts for us: first we attacked the Tiramisu in a spoon, followed by some small homemade cakes of Toffee and Caramel and we finished with a Chocolate Semifreddo with Strawberry Coulis. The final cherry on top of such a delicious menu, mmmmmmmm!
Few words can be found to define the culinary experience we were fortunate enough to experience. At the end, and by popular demand as they say, Elena joined us for coffee, explaining a little of the methodology of the elaboration of the dishes served.
In two words: IM-PRESSIONAL
