Yucatecan chef Pedro Evia opens an establishment in Madrid that will smell of “smoke, earth and tradition”
Owner of 33 restaurants and ambassador of Mexican cuisine around the world, el yucateco Peter Eva has chosen Madrid for his first European project with Q78, “the first Mexican in Spain without tacos” that will smell of “smoke, earth and tradition,” he says in an interview with EFE.
Before opening the restaurant at Calle de Villalar, 6, he thoroughly investigated the market for Mexican cuisine in Spain to “do something different”, and decided to focus it on his land, Yucatanalthough “like Mexico there are 32 countries in one” -referring to its states- there will also be in the letter proposals from the kitchens of Oaxaca, Jalisco, Puebla or Michoacán.
tequila and mezcal
Q78 refers to the quiote, the tender stem of the maguey flower, the plant from which the tequila and mezcaland to the date (1978) on which tequila is registered in Switzerland in the International Register of Denominations of Origin of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
And it is that both distillates will be protagonists of the restaurantthrough small producers with whom Evia wants to transport its “magic, symbolism and tradition” to Spain in tastings and cocktails by Mario Parrawhich has been inspired by the Mayan deities to create combinations such as Ixchel (goddess of love) with mezcal, lemon and spiced piloncillo sugar.
“The best pibil suckling pig to be eaten in Spain”
Cocktails that can be enjoyed at the bar, where you can also eat, or at tables to which the Yucatecan chef promises to take “the best pibil suckling pig to be eaten in Spain“, thanks to the smoker that one of its partners, Eduardo Rukos, devised to replicate the pre-Hispanic technique of ‘pib’ -cooked underground- for K’u’uk, the gastronomic restaurant that has made Evia famous in Mérida (Yucatán). ).
Seeks to surprise with recados, sauces typical of their state“an infinite universe that can include up to 26 species” and that are “very unknown in Europe” and with the absence of the popular tacos: “We are the first Mexican restaurant in Spain without tacos, because the cuisine of my country is ten million more than a taco; I’m going to give you the tortilla and you eat it in a pinch or however you want”.
Lentil stew, longaniza papadzules, suckling pig cakes, yucatecan ‘poc chuc’ grill, ‘tikin xic’ shrimp, Oaxacan tetelas, drowned cake from Jalisco, mixiotes from Puebla, carnitas from Michoacán or ceviches from the Pacific are some of the dishes that Evia wants to make known in Q78where there will also be proposals for vegetarians and vegansin addition to Mexican beers and wines.
spanish ingredients
The dishes will be made with Spanish ingredients, except for the recados, run by “Yucatecan masters,” says Evia, who is already planning to open “two or three other stores” in Madrid, a city that “gives for more” in the field of Mexican cuisine “if you don’t try to do what is already “. She before she plans to disembark in Berlin.
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because you think the Mexican gastronomy It is increasingly appreciated in the world, especially since it was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.
Of his 47 years, he has spent 20 dedicated to gastronomy and, in addition to his restaurants, he undertakes projects with NASA such as ‘Mars City’, with which he seeks to bring “terrestrial flavors through apple or raspberry gum” to the red planet.