Maher

Country: Spain

City: 31592 Cintruénigo (Navarra)

Address: Ribera, 19

Closed: The recipes made with vegetables and legumes grown by the Martínez family on their own or other cooperative growers’ lands are good enough to give you goose bumps on your tongue. The parish-style pochas (white beans), for example, are the best in the country, for their flavor, creaminess and imperceptible skin; they are served with an eel millefeuilles (recalling that they were traditionally eaten with this fish at the local celebrations in Tudela) made with apple and potato and enlivened with a chimichurri sauce that adds acidity and spice. Another evidence of the glory of the establishment is in the borage—green, lush, al dente, presented in two ways: well sautéed with roast pork jowl, potato cream and herring roe, or with Idiazabal cheese cream, tomato marmalade and nuts. The first is more succulent, the second lighter. The Cristal pepper, a delicacy with a full woody flavor, is a “10” ingredient that recalls the agricultural artistry of past years. It is served in multiple forms, from simply perfumed with garlic slices and frozen oil, to the brilliant fried egg timbale with pan fried potatoes, to the legendary “Ajoarriero style” cod garnished with this stellar fruit. This passion for the pepper has also been carried to the green variety, equally sweet, equally rustic in aromas and a bit meatier, served with a bonito belly that is as immaculate as it is juicy. What can we say about the thistle, celery, artichokes, asparagus—always exceptional in and of themselves, always impeccably treated so as to enhance their intrinsic qualities and complemented in each case with patent substance. This is evident yet again in the green beans with baby spring onions, glorious tuna filet a la sal (baked in salt) and Iberico ham oil. Enrique Martinez’s cuisine is exquisite in its simplicity, authenticity and idiosyncrasy. Lasting values impregnated with refinement, lightness, contrasts, chromatism and personality to produce innumerable examples of modern haute cuisine. Bringing together all of this spirit, all of these values, we find such brilliant dishes as the migas de pastor (French toast) with moscatel and cured pork fat frost; the sublime low temperature tongue, as flavorful and juicy as can be, with glazed spinach and carrots; or the Pantagruelian spiced veal hock. Nobility, historical memory, savoir-faire and, above all, immense satisfaction.

Price: 60/90 €

Tasting menu:: 40 y 75 €