Reinventing Offal Dishes Forgotten for Decades

Javi Estevez has created something truly unique in Madrid’s upscale Chamberi neighborhood, a modern tasca (or tavern) devoted to serving locally-sourced offal. The 32-year-old chef is reigniting a passion for ingredients and dishes made popular during the post-war era of his grandparents’ generation. An obsession for creating dishes from other chefs’ unused bits led Estevez to create his most popular menu item, the signature suckling pig’s head. Roughly the size of a softball, it’s poached overnight in olive oil, then deep fried and served with a salad as a simple bar snack.

Estevez’s version of callos—Madrid’s original comfort food—is a hearty stew of tripe, blood sausage, pork trotters and snouts, chorizo, chopped vegetable sofrito, tomatoes and chickpeas. You can taste the history of Madrid in each bowl. If you’re weary of the odd bits, the modern food rooted in tradition at La Tasqueria will make you a believer.

Contact

Calle Duque de Sesto, 48
28009 Madrid, Spain
+34 914 51 10 00
latasqueria.com

Photographs courtesy of Travel Channel.