The evolution of a menu

The relationship between man and food throughout history, captured in a tasting menu. A complex task that Cantabrian chef Miguel Cobo tackles at his restaurant Cobo Evolución, in the center of Burgos, supported by studies from the University of Burgos and the Atapuerca Foundation.

It is precisely the proximity to those Atapuerca sites, located just fifteen kilometers away, that gives meaning to such an ambitious proposal, which the chef pulls off quite successfully, supported at every step by well-documented historical information.

Cobo, who became known on television programs such as Top Chef, trained mainly at El Vallés, a well-known hotel-restaurant owned by his family in Briviesca.

There, on the banks of the N-I highway, fried hake, the "Vallés hake," was very popular. Miguel gave it a twist by improving the batter and adding a pil-pil sauce made with the hake heads and citrusy carrots. He then settled in Burgos, where in 2016 he earned the first Michelin star in this Castilian province with Cobo Vintage, the precursor to the current Cobo Estratos. A chef with excellent technique and a touch of creativity, he prioritizes flavor in his dishes.

Maintaining a high-quality fine-dining restaurant in Burgos is a difficult task. That's why, within the spectacular building that houses Cobo Evolución, there's room for a second restaurant, Cobo Tradición, with its own kitchen and a menu of classic dishes ranging from Iberian ham croquettes and rice black pudding to grilled meats and fish.

This restaurant is packed every day, while the chef struggles to fill the mere twelve seats at Evolución. Burgos, like so many other Spanish provincial capitals, isn't exactly a place for experimentation.

But Miguel Cobo is not daunted and faces the challenge with this menu entitled Humanity that begins in Africa six million years ago when human beings fed on whatever they found and continues through Atapuerca, Altamira and the Neolithic period, to culminate in the times of the Roman Empire.

All of this is summarized in a long sequence of more than twenty courses, with its highlights including the chilled tomato, galangal, and cucumber soup; the bone marrow, beetroot, and offal tartlet; the turbot with seaweed and mushroom pil-pil sauce; and the marinated venison loin with mushrooms, legumes, and chestnuts. The evolution of gastronomy concentrated in one menu.