It is not easy to know why it happens, but sometimes there is something that makes a region begin to gain gastronomic interest. From there, the success of some probably encourages others and everyone creates a breeding ground in which the public, producers and a certain environment come together so that, far from stopping, the trend continues to evolve.
Sometimes it happens in neighborhoods of large cities or in medium-sized towns, but when it happens in rural areas it is even more interesting, because in addition to the interest in the gastronomic proposals that arise, there is added a potential to energize the local economy, often the appearance of small complementary businesses – distributors, small businesses, artisan producers – and the arrival of a foreign public attracted by this bustle.
If this is happening anywhere in a prominent way, it is in the Asturian mining basins, and in particular in the Caudal. It is not, far from it, that there were not traditionally enough gastronomic reasons to visit them but that, in recent years, a whole list of new restaurants unusual for the place have been added to these: Monte (San Feliz), Roble (Pola de Lena), TC28 (Mieres), Casa Farpón (Mamorana) which closed its doors a year ago to become, not too far away, El Asador de Abel-Casa Farpón; Pedro Martino or Bar Camacho, already in Nalón, but a few kilometers away… And in Turón, Casa Chuchu.
The town, a stone’s throw from Mieres, today has just over 4,000 inhabitants, while in 1960 it was around 20,000. The crisis in the mining sector has marked the recent history of these valleys definitively. That is why it is particularly surprising to find such a proposal in a place like this.
However, there is a historical reason. Casa Chuchu was born by Sabino Jesús and his wife Iluminada in 1931. The events of the 1934 revolution and the Civil War marked the history of what was then a chigre, which Rafael, the couple’s son, now reopened. as a cider house in 1965.
His son Rafael Rodríguez today runs the family business with his partner, Natalia Menéndez. He, at the front of the room, manages to combine the lively atmosphere of a traditional cider house with the service of a restaurant that offers much more than one would expect and manages a winery that is a real surprise.
Natalia, for her part, is in charge of a cuisine that, without losing sight of its origins, has evolved to become one of the great classics of central Asturias. With her son Rafa, fourth generation, trained at the Basque Culinary Center, already incorporated into the business, they propose a changing, seasonal menu daily, as appetizing as it is reasoned.
Rafa is specializing in doughs, so it is not surprising that the homemade bread, made of wheat, sourdough and a touch of rye, is so good, with just the right point of acidity, crunchy crust and alveolate crumb with slight acidity. The same goes for the empanada, which Natalia prepares with the blood sausages that she makes in the restaurant itself and a touch of apple. The dough is dense, but not heavy, firm, capable of containing a generous filling and not spreading in front of it, and it is surprisingly elegant.
Two bites and it is already clear where the shots are going: cuisine that takes care of the details even in the most basic preparations, traditional proposals that alternate with more product-based dishes and in which everything is reviewed and reformulated. A proposal that does not seek sensationalism but rather works on the bases, on the raw material, on the fundamental elaborations.
It happens again with the croquette, ranked second just a year ago in the Madrid Fusión competition. What is happening in Asturias with croquettes currently is not normal either. The level is really high in restaurants of all ranges. And this one from Natalia, creamy and light, with a persistent ham flavor well integrated into the bechamel and perfect frying, is among the very good ones. And that, here, is saying a lot.
We were talking about product. Fried artichoke, Maresme peas, stew broth, winter truffle, yolk. A seasonal dish (the visit took place at the beginning of spring) in which vegetables rule.
Leeks, confit and then grilled, honeyed, but still with texture on the inside, accompanying a tongue that is prepared in scarlet, in the traditional way, then lightly smoked, cut thicker than usual and served with a mustard and tarragon vinaigrette; a gourmet dish, which makes you think of the kitchen of a Parisian bistro, in which the cuisine of a restaurant is reformulated, taken a step further with an illustrated vinaigrette or just the right touch of smoke. A delight.
Pressed and ironed Asturian pork ear with sweet potato and chimichurri. Another dish in the same vein as the previous one: products that are identified with traditional cider house cuisine but reformulated from a perspective that updates and lightens them, in this case through acidic and herbal nuances. Cabbage stuffed with Asturian pork cheek, to finish with a review of a classic from the Asturian food house recipe book. Great.
In the desserts, two options that, in some way, exemplify the restaurant’s line of cuisine. Recognizable sweets from the classic recipe book in which care in preparation makes the difference. Vanilla cream millefeuille, impeccable. And tarte Tatin, another proposal that fits with the soul of the place, with that spirit of enlightened cider house that is aligned with formats that we have seen in recent years in so many places in Europe, from the aforementioned Parisian bistronomic establishments and their equivalents in Barcelona to the illustrated Italian trattories, Portuguese formats such as the Taberna da Rua das Flores in Lisbon or the original Ao Balcão by the star Rodrigo Castelo or in British gastropubs such as the original St. John.
It is there, in that context of local cuisines rethought in the key of a modern restaurant, where Casa Chuchu must be understood. That is where its potential lies, surely, in the cider house always capable of understanding its hallmarks, preserving them and taking them a little further; in the traditional recipe book that is updated with moderation, common sense and, above all, taste. But also in the demonstration that there is a place for evolved cuisines everywhere, that there is an interested public and that the prejudices regarding rural areas and the risks that can be assumed in them, culinary speaking, are ours and do not cease to exist. be more than that: prejudices.
Casa Chuchu is a great restaurant, but it is also, at the same time, great news. It is confirmation that Asturias is in an enviable gastronomic moment and that, within it, the Caudal basin is a rarity that must be visited. But this restaurant is also the projection towards the future of the classic cider house through a measured and reflected evolution, training and curiosity. And it is, above all that, a place where you can eat and drink wonderfully and the ideal place to celebrate that good cuisine knows no preconceived ideas or limits.
