Unique businesswomen
It's not a bad idea to remember your suppliers, even if only occasionally. Or, as in the case I'm sharing today, your female suppliers. At the initiative of Myriam Ortiz, director of the Molina Lario Hotel in Málaga, her restaurant Matiz has paid tribute to some of the Málaga businesswomen whose products they use.
Among them are three winemakers: Marta Suárez, Clara Verheij, and Julia Losantos, from the Quitapenas and Bentomiz wineries, both located in the Axarquía region, and Doña Felisa, from Ronda. Their wines, of remarkable quality, are stored in the Matiz winery.
Another, Chelo Gámez, is the driving force behind Dehesa Monteros, a company nestled in the Serranía de Ronda mountains that produces top-quality hams and cured meats. In their pastures, they raise over a thousand purebred Iberian pigs that feed on chestnuts during the pre-montanera season, which imparts a special sweetness to their meat.
A tribute is also paid to Mirian Gálvez, who raises the Malaga suckling goat, a native breed, with her family business Caprisur, near Antequera. And finally, to the architect and ceramicist María Monasterio, whose original, sustainably crafted pieces can be found in prominent restaurants, including Matiz.
To complete the tribute, Matiz's chef, Pablo Molina, was joined by Charo Carmona, chef and owner of Arte de Cozina, to create a special menu. This Antequera restaurant is a must-visit for anyone wanting to discover traditional Malaga recipes, which Charo has researched and revived with the help of Fernando Rueda, author of the seminal book "La cocina popular de Málaga" (The Popular Cuisine of Malaga), whose fourth edition has just been published.
Magnificent are both the white porra, which gave rise to the current tomato porra, made only with bread, garlic, oil, vinegar and salt, and the San José stew, a soup to which meatballs of birds or other meats are added, or of chickpeas or bread in its humblest versions, which used to be eaten at Christmas.
The chef also presented a third dish, goat stew, a dish with almonds that also uses the kid's liver. These dishes will be available at the Matiz restaurant until the end of the year. The menu was rounded out with appetizers and two excellent fish dishes (sea bass with Iberian ham consommé and red mullet with dogfish sauce) prepared by Pablo Molina. A menu worthy of the producers being honored.
