In Quest Of: Tender roast pig cut with a plate and foodie pleasures galore in central Spain

SPAIN – Spain is a country-size smorgasbord, a place to visit with an enthusiastic appetite and elasticated waist bands.

In the glitzy cities of Madrid and Barcelona, legs of jamon, dry-cured ham, hang from tapas bar ceilings while pintxo, dainty snacks on sticks, beckon from glass cabinets.

But beyond the tourist lights, the cuisine is different. In Segovia, in the country’s central heartland, I find out what the locals are eating.

From Madrid, I rocket north by fast train, arriving in Segovia 29 minutes later. The city is most famous for its 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct, with its 167 soaring arches.

This mortar-free construction conveyed mountain-fresh water 15km to the city and the striking Alcazar, or royal castle, which my guide says was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland, California.

The aqueduct gracefully dominates the scene as it traverses the Plaza del Azoguejo.

But right beside this Unesco World Heritage site-listed plumbing is another point of interest. In an 18th-century building, Restaurant Meson de Candido (str.sg/iT8g) began as an inn in 1905.

The Candido family hit the big time in 1930, when it started the tradition of serving whole roasted suckling pig, cochinillo asado.

Entering the restaurant through the narrow stairs, archways lead to rooms with low ceilings. Walls are eclectically decorated with historic murals, and strings of dried garlic hang between brass pots, vintage hunting rifles and deer antlers.

The present-day head of the family is 90-year-old Alberto Candido. At the reception desk, he is greeting customers, showing them to their tables like they are celebrities.

When the famous suckling pig is ready, a table is assembled in the dining room. With much-practised theatre, Mr Candido holds aloft a dinner plate and uses it to chop into the succulent meat before dramatically throwing the plate on the floor, where it smashes – loudly.

It is a practice that has spread across the world but, according to Mr Candido, originated right here.

My family’s two servings of pork are distributed across four plates, and consumed with traditional accompaniments of roasted potato and garden salad.

The pork is simply roasted in water and plenty of salt, and the recipe is printed on the back of the menu.

We round out the meal with a traditional local cake called Ponche Segoviano.

The cake is fluffy, featuring a luscious egg custard layer inside. It is topped with marzipan and sugar, then pressed with a hot iron to form a trellis pattern on top and giving a delightful hint of smoky caramel.

Mr Candido tells me about the tradition of suckling pig. He says it was his father who first served this dish, which was initially met with scepticism by other restaurateurs.

But soon, people were travelling from Madrid to Segovia by train for the famous cochinillo.

As for cutting the pig with a plate, he says that one day, as his father was about to carve the pork, he realised his knife was missing. A waiter handed him a plate. It worked, and the crowd applauded.

“My father thought, ‘Oh, we’re going to be very famous from this moment,’” Mr Candido says.

“Years later, he was talking to people when the plate slipped out of his hand.” When it smashed on the floor, more cheering ensued, and the tradition of plate-smashing was born.

The family’s traditions are set to continue. Mr Candido’s older son, 60, is the manager of this restaurant. His younger son manages another family restaurant and, in the kitchen, his grandson is one of the chefs.

Later, we visit another nearby institution, the historic Casa Duque (Calle de Cervantes 12, Segovia).

Aiming to avoid meat overload, we sample another regional speciality, Castilian soup. The hearty, salty broth is made with ham hock, topped with a soft egg and loaded with chunks of bread which will dissolve.

Beyond the city, the countryside of Segovia province unfolds into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains, pine plantations, grassy plateaus and fields of swaying wheat.

The region is dotted with mediaeval fortified villages, and the walled town of Pedraza de la Sierra is postcard-perfect.

Here, in the cobbled Plaza Mayor, I find a modern take on traditional Segovian cuisine.

Ms Samantha Vallejo-Najera, a host of MasterChef Spain, has created Casa Taberna (Plaza Mayor 3, Pedraza), renovating a 16th-century stone inn to become an elegant restaurant, tavern and swanky boutique hotel.

The featured dish here is slow-roasted beef, but there is a minimum order of 800g, so we opt for a few smaller dishes instead.

The steak tartare is delicate and flavoursome, and instead of the traditional plate of tomatoes, here our tomatoes are topped with pickled beetroot and fresh burrata cheese.

Filipino rolls, a version of spring rolls, are bursting with herbs and wrapped in crunchy lettuce. The spinach and almond cannelloni, although meat-free, is deliciously rich with a comforting bechamel sauce.

In a nod to tradition, the dessert menu features a seasonal spiced Easter cake, while Ms Vallejo-Najera’s chocolate cake is dense and dark, a contemporary masterpiece.

In the historic walled village of Madruelo, we duck into the 12th-century Posada del Medievo (Calle de San Miguel 4, Maderuelo), descending the stairs to the dining room.

Here, the speciality is the crispiest pork belly I have ever tasted, which shatters between my teeth.

We are recommended another regional favourite, the morcilla de Burgos, a blood and rice sausage loaded with spices. Although the description is unappealing, the sausage proves irresistible.

The Spanish omelette, or tortilla de patatas, a pan-set egg dish filled with potato is ubiquitous in Segovia, and this version is extra thick.

Lunch is washed down with a glass of 12-year-old red, a local tempranillo, and our next stop gives us further insights into the variety.

At Bodega Severino Sanz (str.sg/iT8A) in the village of Montejo de la Vega de la Serrezuela, we take a tour of the winery, including a museum of ancient, tree-trunk-size grape crushes.

Mr Jose Felix, whose father opened this winery and cellar, is the owner. The winery is within the designation of Origin Ribera de Duero, and he says the focus here is on high-quality, low-volume production, with all wines made on site.

He guides us through the tasting, including whites, rose and aged tempranillo. I leave with a bottle of albillo mayor, a speciality white wine, tucked under my arm.

Back at my hotel, Posada del Duraton in Sebulcor, I finally try Segovia’s other traditional meat: roasted lamb.

Like the cochinillo, the lamb is roasted in water and salt, and the rustic bone-in servings are preposterously generous.

Young and tender, the lamb is falling off the bone in juicy chunks. It is accompanied by a huge plate of sliced, old-fashioned tomatoes, doused in salt and olive oil, beside chunky slabs of bread.

At the end of the meal, I feel I may never need to eat again, but from experience, I know tomorrow will be another meaty, indulgent day.

I resign myself to it. To visit central Spain is to feast; waistline worries can wait.

Spanish pork on the fork

Spain is now the biggest producer of pork in Europe, and Segovia one of the main producing regions.

Cochinillo, roasted suckling pig, although claimed by the Candido family of Restaurant Meson de Candido as their invention, has likely existed since mediaeval times and perhaps dates back to the sixth century. There is consensus that the revival of the dish happened in Segovia.

The secret to excellent cochinillo is the quality of the meat. The pigs are usually two to four weeks old, weighing around 5kg.

Compared with adult pigs, young ones have about 40 per cent less fat, and slow roasting renders the fat, allowing the skin to become crispy.

Pigs produced in dedicated farms may display the Segovia Quality Guarantee.

Getting there

From Singapore, various airlines – including Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com) and Lufthansa (lufthansa.com) – fly to Madrid with one stop.

From Madrid’s northern Chamart Station, take the fast train to Segovia Guiomar Station.

For visiting rural areas, hire a car through Alamo (alamorentacar.es) or National Car Rental (nationalcar.com). They both have offices at Segovia Guiomar Station.

Staying there

In Segovia city, the Eurostars Plaza Acueducto Hotel (eurostarshotels.co.uk) may be a little vanilla, but the views of the aqueduct and central location make it a worthy place to stay. Rates are from €102 (S$150) for a double room a night.

In the countryside, Hotel Hoces del Duraton (Calle La Matilla, 1, Sebulcor) sits in the tiny village of Sebulcor. To call the small hotel quirky is an understatement. It has the feel of a retrofitted mediaeval monastery, but in fact is only 23 years old, and is mostly constructed from salvaged materials. 

The owner also runs nature-based tour company Naturaltur, which offers kayaking tours through the gorges – where you can see griffon vultures – and tours of his private nature reserve with a breeding herd of European bison, which are back from the brink of extinction. Rates are from €98 for a double room a night.

For a historic stay with boutique luxuries, try the chic Casa Taberna in Pedraza (Plaza Mayor 3, Pedraza), housed above the restaurant. Meticulous restoration has brought this 16th-century inn back to life, and rooms feature original exposed ceiling beams and unique touches, such as a timber workbench converted into a bathroom cabinet.

The four rooms overlook the main square and the mountains beyond. Rates are from €358 for a double room a night.