Two nights at one of Spain's culinary capitals, and we ended up sampling Segovia's celebrated Cochinillos -- i.e. Roasted Suckling Pigs -- at three different restaurants.
For those who would be queasy about seeing a whole slaughtered piglet -- or a quartered piglet served on a plate -- you should return to the previous post now. But for adventurous foodies planning a visit to Madrid and vicinity, you would be missing an amazing gastronomic experience if you skip Segovia.
And that's why we had suckling pigs three times, in different forms.
RESTAURANTE EL SITIO (Segovia)
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Dozens of competing restaurants all claiming to serve the best Cochinillos in Segovia, and this restaurant was our choice. And honestly, if we ever revisit Segovia we would be back in a heartbeat.
Diners entering El Sitio would first pass through a typical tapas bar downstairs occupied by a raucous local clientele, watching La Liga matches on TV and munching on your standard deep-fried croquetas and pinchos de tortillas while downing endless cañas of beer. But that's not what we're here for -- we headed straight upstairs to a fancier restaurant with limited seats.
And now, my best advice for any reader planning to visit this restaurant.
ASK FOR THE MENÚ.
No, I don't mean the menu book. In Spain, MENÚ typically refers to what might be called "set menu" or "prix fixe," a multi-course meal typically including bread and alcoholic drinks for a discounted price. Most restaurants in Segovia offer the famous Cochinillo within such meals and El Sitio is no exception ... well ...
... except the waiters didn't automatically provide that Menú sheet, especially to non-Spanish-speaking clients! I had to specifically summon our waiter and ask for it, at which point he produced his sheepish grin and showed us their Menú Tipico Segoviano.
How much of a difference in price are we talking? We're talking a full feast of local Segovian favorite from the pictured Judiones de la Granja to the legendary Suckling Pig to the locally celebrated dessert of Ponche Segoviano, plus bread charge, a glass of local red or white, and including tax, for just a few euros more than ordering the main dish of Suckling Pig on its own. The waiters must be getting a cut on the nightly profit, otherwise why would they hide this excellent deal from clueless non-Spanish tourists?
Appetizers such as the pictured Sopa Castellana offered a window into the philosophy behind traditional Segovian cuisine -- starchy with a heavy dose of protein and fat for those cold wintery nights on the windswept Castilian plains. As if the chunks of Jamon Serrano and croutons weren't filling enough, the locals also throw in a poached egg for an 18th century version of a protein shake.
Behold the gastronomic miracle known as Cochinillo of Segovia.
I love suckling pigs in a multitude of culinary traditions -- Cantonese, Spanish or Filipino -- which all seem to converge at contrasting that melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of the flesh versus the thunderous crunchiness of the skin. Whenever I stopover in Hong Kong I always try to get my fix for Cantonese Yue Jue, and this time in Spain ... well you get the idea.
The Segovian version sounds deceivingly simple yet extremely tricky. Brine a suckling pig in salt water before air-drying overnight and roasting it in a specially designed oven. While the meat stays soft and astoundingly juicy -- more so than the Cantonese or Filipino version -- the fat melts away to reveal an amazingly thin and brittle crackling that some restaurants show off by cutting the suckling pig with a ceramic plate. When my wife showed the above picture to her coworkers, one even asked if the piglet was covered in pastry ... that's how incredibly crispy the skin turned out.
Once again, for any readers planning on visiting Madrid, do your tastebuds a favor and don't miss this gastronomic experience.
As if the suckling pig wasn't filling enough, we were also served an elaborate local dessert known as Ponche Segoviano. Despite the name it is not a punch, but a sweet multi-layered cake soaked in light syrup, filled with custard cream, topped with a coat of marzipan and typically decorated with a lattice of burnt sugar. The drenching of white and dark chocolate on the plate here was hardly necessary as the cake itself was sweet enough.
As we finished our rice pudding our neighboring table of four English speakers received their bill in the range of 230 euros if I wans't mistaken -- for the same range of dishes and a few glasses of wine, but ordered a la carte. We asked for ours, and it worked out to exactly 25.3 euros per person, taxes included. While the suckling pig was well worth the money, I must advise readers again to not let sneaky waiters get in the way of a better deal. Ask for the Menú.
Bill for Two Persons
| Menú Tipico Segoviano x 2 | 50.6 Euros |
| TOTAL | 50.6 Euros (CAD$75.9) |
That was our first dinner of Cochinillo upon arriving at Segovia, and it turned out so addictive that we decided for an encore the next afternoon, but in a lighter meal.
RESTAURANTE LAZARO (Segovia)
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Just 30m down the block from El Sitio, Lazaro Restaurante is another local establishment specializing on the art of the suckling pig as announced by its window display of air-dried specimens in the pre-roasting stage. But our main reason for selecting this place was its offering of a Racion of Cochinillo, just what we needed without getting overstuffed, for 16 euros.
The Menu del Dia presented yet another local specialty of Trucha Segoviana, the Segovian pan-fried trout with a sauce of diced Jamon Serrano and mushrooms. Main, dessert and beer of 15 euros was a reasonable price in a tourist-oriented town.
But it was the Cochinillo that we really came for.
The previous night both of us received the front quarter of the a younger suckling pig as evidenced by the paper-thin skin. Here we're presented with the mid-section of a slightly larger piglet, possibly re-broiled and divided into six portions with the baby back ribs earmarked for our 16 euros deal. It was time to test the crispiness of the skin with a fork.
The way it crunched was markedly different, but equally enjoyable.
If the previous night's pork crackling exhibited the brittleness of a fine pastry, this was a harder, roaring crunch akin to kettle-fried potato chips, almost comparable to the skin of a Filipino or a Cantonese suckling pig. While I personally preferred El Sitio's version, my wife thoroughly enjoyed both and declared no winner between the two.
Once more we had Ponche Segoviano for dessert, still overly sweet for my tastebuds and not quite as exquisitely presented as previous night. But that's okay. The wonderful crackling of our Cochinillo had already made our day.
Bill for Two Persons
| Racion de Cochinillo Asado | 16 Euros |
| Menu del Dia | 15 Euros |
| Cerveza | 2.5 Euros |
| TOTAL | 33.5 Euros (CAD$50.3) |
For our last dinner in town we opted for a lighter meal in the form of tapas, as we had been introduced to a locally-renowned taperia that featured at national tapas competitions on an annual basis. We did not purposely look for the Cochinillo -- it just somehow ended on our plate.
TABERNA DEL FOGON SEFARDI (Segovia)
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Hidden in a narrow alley in the medieval Jewish Quarter just east of Segovia's Cathedral, Fogon Sefardi is best known for its award-winning taperia that perennially represents Segovia in national tapas competitions, featuring recipes inspired by the culinary traditions of Segovia's Sephardic Jews.
Note that we're reviewing the tapas bar downstairs, not the fancy restaurant upstairs with wait staff, white tables cloth and an upmarket set of menus such as Cochinillos in a traditional sense. Why would a Jewish-inspired restaurant be serving Suckling Pigs I have no idea, but I'm certainly no expert on what's Kosher and we weren't going to ask.
As usual we started our tapas night with a couple caña of beer, which came with a couple of generously-sized croquetas with a minced meat filling. The small menu was full of award-winning tapas from various years dating back to their first national tapas competition in 2007.
With my dreadful Spanish I started picking from the list, only to be stopped by our cordial but stern waiter after the fourth tapa -- that's enough for two people to share, and he wasn't going to see his taperia's proud creations go to waste.
We started with their award-winning tapa from 2007, Milhojas de Berenjena con Cordero al Curry, layers of deep-fried eggplants smothered with a mild curry of minced lamb. This was an amazing tapa with complexity and texture for merely 3.75 euros. You absolute can't get a deal this good in Madrid!
Slightly more upscale was their winning tapa from 2010, Lomo de Bacalao Superior con Crema de Ribeiro Gratinada, which contained a cod loin baked au gratin, served in a scallop shell with the humorous touch of a pair of walking sticks to commemorate the Holy Year of St. James when tens of thousands of pilgrims traveled through Segovia en route to Santiago de Compostela. I was accustomed to paying upwards of 10 euros for bacalao for main dishes elsewhere in Spain, and this was about half the price for a sizeable tapa at very respectable quality.
Moving onto Year 2011, Flor de Patata bajo Pecho de Ternera al estilo Argentino con Salsa de Achicoria y Sherry. This was a thin slice of veal breast served in a Sherry glaze atop a bed of mashed potatoes, probably my least favorite among tonight's creative tapas due to the relatively lower level of complexity.
Last but not least, Segovia's famous Cochinillo would make its appearance once again, only in a hardly recognizable form as part of Fogon Sefardi's winning tapa from 2012, also our most expensive tapa of the night for a cheap 6 euros. Here the suckling pig was preserved in confit form and served atop creamed vegetables with the acidity of a citrus sauce to balance the fattiness of the confit. No wonder this little taperia is winning competitions year after year.
Our stern-faced waiter was right -- four tapas were filling enough for the two of us. Our final bill for a gratifying dinner came to slightly over 20 euros for two, certainly the best deal for tapas over our 16 days in Spain, especially considering the remarkable creativity and quality of raw ingredients.
Bill for Two Persons
| Tapa 2007 | 3.75 Euros |
| Tapa 2010 | 5.20 Euros |
| Tapa 2011 | 4.10 Euros |
| Tapa 2012 | 5.95 Euros |
| Cañas de Cerveza x 2 | 3.40 Euros |
| TOTAL | 22.4 Euros (CAD$33.6) |
Those were our three meals featuring suckling pigs in one way or another, traditional and contemporary. There was one more eatery that gave us fond memories, one that should not be a surprise to any Segovian.
CONFITERIA EL ALCAZAR (Segovia)
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Situated in the shadow of the Cathedral is the most prestigious confectionery in Segovia, a 90-year-old institution reputed to have invented the Ponche Segoviano at the behest of King Alfonso back in the 1920s. Except I'm not a huge fan of the heavier Ponche Segoviano especially in the aftermath of a glut of suckling pigs. I'm recommending something that they're not quite as famous for.
If you're overstuffed like me and are craving something less rich for dessert, consider this feather-light and crunchy Rosquilla, still handmade with the same love and attention that they put into their Ponche, but much more manageable after the calorific feast that most visitors to Segovia can't resist.
Bill for Two Persons
| Rosquilla | 1.5 Euros |
| TOTAL | 1.5 Euros (CAD$2.3) |
Segovia is 30 minutes from Madrid by high speed AVE trains or 90 minutes by highway bus. More highlights of Segovia can be found in the previous post.
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