Casa Pacheco – A haven amongst the acorn fields
This past weekend, we took a day trip out to Salamanca. Neither Paolo nor I had ever been, and we had been gifted a night at the Parador, so we decided to take a nice road trip to ham country. That is, Jamon Iberico country. Wow. I am speechless as to the incredible amounts of ham we had, but it was worth the dieting that I am now embarking on.
We arrived just about lunch time, so Paolo said I should get on Trip Advisor to see what places were near that we could grab a bite. I chose the #2 ranking, Casa Pacheco. Funny enough, there was no #1 ranking, and honestly, Casa Pacheco should be bumped up to that space. Not knowing really what to expect, we certainly were incredibly surprised! Driving past Salamanca into the heart of Bellota (acorn) fields, filled with happy Pata Negra pigs roaming vast expanses of land, feasting on thousands of acorns. There were also happy cows and sheep roaming, and I love to see that an animal that I am going to consume, is having a great, stress-free life. That in itself should have clued us in to the amazing meal we were about to have.
The town itself is small, I’m talking about drive past it in 20 seconds small. And if we had not looked on Trip Advisor, we would have completely missed it. Situated right on the main road that crosses the town, is a small unassuming doorway to foodie heaven. We walked in, and my first thought was that we had made the wrong choice. A pintxos bar to your left, and two small tables on the right, nestled between two enormous bull heads. Me being an anti-bullfighting kind of person, I thought, oh boy, we’ve walked into the dragon’s lair. Then, as we were taken into the main dining room, still small but with about 8 tables, I felt as if I had just landed in Spain. Yes, I’ve lived here for 10 plus years, but you can hardly say Barcelona is Spain. THIS is Spain. A veritable shrine to a specific bullfighter was the decorative theme of the restaurant.
As it turns out, the bullfighter Julio Robles, used to live very close to the restaurant, and he was a regular and a very, very good friend of the owner’s father. I guess you could classify this as his museum.
We sat down and received the menu and the owner started to tell us what specials there were out of the menu. It was a very, very difficult choice. If it was humanly possible, I could have ordered all of it. We finally made our choice, to eat some traditional ham, Jamon de Guijuelo,
The jamon was perfect, shiny, flavorful, delicate yet robust. The croquetas were fantastic too, I have never tasted croquetas made with oxtail, and I have to say, the béchamel was one of the lightest and best I have tried. The owner told us that it was their first time making the croquetas with oxtail, and honestly, I think they need to make them again!
Then we chose to try a dish that is typical of that region, called Patatas a la Importancia. This basically translates to Potatoes of Importance. Just from the name, I had to try them.
Now get this, it’s potatoes that are sliced, battered, fried and then cooked in broth. Battered and fried potatoes. Can it get more decadent than this? (Actually yes, just wait to see what I ate next.) It was a pleasantly peculiar dish. I really liked it, and I think it is an amazing way to “class” up the simple potato, I guess hence the name Of Importance! It definitely had a very home-made feel and taste, the broth was delicious, thickened slightly by the batter and potato starch. I am really happy we chose to try it.
Now, on to our mains. Paolo and Cassia decided to share an Entrecote, cooked on the stone.
Look at that beef. It was divine. So delicious, so much flavor. It was very tender, and the good part was that they could choose how much they wanted it cooked, since Paolo likes his beef still almost moo-ing. The thing that really surprised me was the salad you see in the back,
This, I was told is called Maruja or Pamplina. On first inspection, I thought it was some type of sprout, but then after tasting it, I realized it is more akin to watercress in taste. The owner explained that this grows on the side of river banks for only a few days a year, and it is a specialty in Salamanca. It blew my mind. Obviously I looked it up, and found out that we call it Chickweed. I had never tasted it before in my life, and I find it so awesome to discover new tastes and food! It was lightly dressed with a vinaigrette, pomegranate seeds, and a good dousing of crushed garlic……not for the faint hearted I assure you. Make sure EVERYBODY else at the table eats this, if not you’re in trouble!
And, now to the most decadent dish I have ever consumed in my entire life :
Braised oxtail with caramelized onions and foie gras. Yup. Heart attack material. But man, oh man….this was beyond delicious. There are actually no “real” words to describe how good this is. The oxtail was perfectly cooked, it fell apart at the mere touch of it. Then mixed with the onions and the foie……Oh boy. I unfortunately could not finish it, because we had gorged ourselves with so much food before, but had I known how incredible this was going to be, I would have starved myself for weeks so I could consume not one, but two helpings of this.
Obviously we had no room for dessert, I was in sort of a food coma at this point so I can’t tell you what they were, even. But, let me tell you this, I recall that they all sounded delicious.
If you are ever on your way or passing through Salamanca, make this is the number one priority on your list. You seldom find little gems like this anymore, a small unchanged restaurant, tucked away and run by the 4th generation of the same family. It is food at its best, rustic, homey, delicious.
Casa Pacheco
C/. Jose Antonio s/n
Vecinos (Salamanca)
Tlf. 923 382 169
