A great stew in the roof of paradise
Now, Antonio Cosmen and his nephew Héctor have put the icing on the cake of that slogan by celebrating—for the fifth time—the Madrid Stew Days on the Roof of Paradise.
The origin of this claim is simple: Antonio Cosmen has been serving “the best stew in Spain” for 53 years at his restaurant La Cruz Blanca in the working-class neighborhood of Vallecas.
His tables have been graced not only by the working families of this popular Madrid neighborhood, but also by kings, ministers, senior and middle managers, writers, artists, journalists, and all kinds of people who may have lived a hard life, but above all appreciated the quality and subtlety of the most traditional stew in the Spanish capital.
Like all great artisans, even though he has reached the official retirement age, Antonio continues to impart his culinary wisdom wherever he is called upon.
And that starts with his own Asturian homeland, and more specifically Leitariegos. This small parish, which claims to be the highest point in Asturias, belongs to Cangas de Narcea. However, the nearby ski resort, the last one to be opened in Spain, belongs to León. Right there, then, is the border between two regions whose inhabitants consider themselves “first cousins.”
Antonio has a more than worthy successor in his nephews, especially Héctor Cosmen, who runs the kitchen of this restaurant in Leitariegos, awarded and recognized for its “best pote in Asturias,” which, unlike the Galician version, does not contain meat and is seasoned with cabbage instead of turnip greens. It is a culinary marvel, as modest as it is splendid, which visitors enjoy without waiting for the long-awaited snow to arrive, filling this splendid spot with winter sports enthusiasts.
This family has no shortage of ideas for promoting their temple and gastronomic refuge, and therefore this meeting point for the best landscapes of Asturias and León. Their latest slogan is “Metro Cero” (Zero Meter).
Héctor himself explains its meaning: “It sums up the fact that we have all the products at our fingertips.” He emphasizes this by pointing to a calf grazing peacefully in a “prao” (Asturians do not say “meadow”) at the foot of the mountain. Its meat, like that of other animals, along with legumes and vegetables, are the raw ingredients for the traditional stews and recipes passed down from generation to generation.
The Cofradía del Cocido de Madrid (Madrid Stew Guild), founded and presided over by Nacho Sandoval, not only supports this initiative of the Leitariegos Conference, but also considers it a special milestone in the expansion and awareness of one of Madrid's distinctive gastronomic features, as well as serving to bring Spaniards even closer together through the undeniable appeal of good food.
Of course, there is no shortage of good wines to accompany these dishes. In Leitariegos, they are committed to their own “heroic” appellations for these conferences. They are so called because of the enormous difficulty of their cultivation and harvesting, so much so that there are only four in the whole of Spain: Cangas de Narcea, Ribeira Sacra, Perelada, and Canarias.
In Atalayar's relaxed conversation with the architects of this gastronomic and tourist project, a desire emerges: that Spaniards themselves should be the first to discover its excellence before foreigners come to certify it, a phenomenon that has so often occurred with our best virtues and products: that outsiders have to come and praise the paradise we have so close to home, so that we can then appreciate our own value and wealth.
This event is a prelude to the celebration, on November 3, at the Madrid headquarters of the European Commission and Parliament, of the First European Congress on New Gastronomy (ECNG), with a slogan that also points to the future: Gastronomy, the new engine of tourism. Cocido Madrileño in Leitariegos to whet the appetite.
