Paco Morales and Rut Controneo

I managed to get up to Hotel Ferrero where Spain Chef of the year for 09, Paco Morales is wowing his followers with his food and partner Rut Controneo pushing the front of house to high levels.


Let me tell you about the Hotel first, for me its one off the best I have stayed in, I dont have big budgets, and managed to stay here on a lower rate but having worked in and seen some of the finest  country house hotels in the UK a let me tell you they are pretty amazing, this is up there at the top, Attention to detail is impressive, style impeccable and the location, perfect.

It took me a while to get a taxi with my broken spanish from Villena to the hotel, but when I got there I felt at home straight away. A beautiful pool area, amazing gardens and orchards and oh so quiet compared to the hustle of madrid where i had just been.

Aidan Brooks of aidanbrooks.blogspot.com suggested on a forum on Egullet that I come visit and see what I think, and having read up a bit I was very excited about the food. The one downside to my stay was that I was the only guest but boy, did I get looked after, 3 waiting staff, an army in the Kitchen , Paco Morales and Rut Controneo both there, which made the stay feel so much more special.












As you can see from the pictures its a little piece of paradise and Im sure that within time the place will reach the acclaim it deserves, 
So then onto the food.


I was the only diner which felt very strange but the team made me feel at home, taking me to the kitchen and meeting the Chef, it amazed me to see the whole team on , with just me dining, I felt a twinge of guilt about having them work just for me.. but well they made a great experience. The first course that came was of young Walnuts, beautifully white and nothing like the dry ugly walnuts you may be used to , these were succulent, served on a sable, at the same time the bread wafer standing proud in a piece of stone along with butter and goats cheese mousse like texture.

Next from the kitchen came the salad of Jerusalem Artichoke with Sea Lettuce, Arbequina Olives, Green Apple, Citric Melisa and Hazelnut.Beautiful fresh hazelnuts with bright green cubes of Apple , again great textures and flavours.

followed by Cubes of Cuttlefish with Asian pear impregnated with black garlic. Reminding me a little of Mugaritz with many different contrasting herbs, the pear was slightly warm lovely cuttlefish. The Herbs here were so full of flavour.

Next up was possibly one of my favourite dishes, sublime, It was the Baby Prawns of Santa Pola with Guacamole, black olive and Almond milk. The balance was great , I loved everything about this dish, the simplicity, the impact so good. A real highlight. The Black olive seemed to be brushed onto the bottem of the bowl with the prawns and guacamole on top, finished with a almond milk, simply delicious and as good a dish I had anywhere.

I think this is one of the Chefs Signature dishes, It was a Consomme of Smoked tuna, with baby Courgette, and Marine Pine Caviar.

Fresh flavours, with a great impact from the consomme. the marine pine caviar I think being mock caviar, but my memory fails me there,

Thin Slices of Fatty Salt Pork with Judas ear wild mushrooms, Lambs Brain and Pimpinalla followed and how beautiful is this dish , again the look is simple but the flavour was amazing, 

This was the monkfish foie, with Cauliflower and turnip water , another favourite of mine, I love the texture ,  you dont get monkfish liver very often in New Zealand so I was quite excited to get this dish, the presentation is so clean, turnip water added a great secondary flavour to the dish,

Here is dish similar to one I had at Martin Berasategui, It was called the Market in the Dish, and was all the vegetables and herbs found in the locality of Hotel Ferrero, something of a palate cleanser before the hearty main courses arrived.

The Flavours were so clean and pure, I recall it was a slightly jellied Tomato water with everything arranged on top, so clean and pure, good flavours.

This was the first of the main courses, It was The Crusted stuffed cod with Tender onions lentils and Pancetta, The crust was scorching hot, a beautiful white colour encasing the Cod inside cooked to perfection, The crust was made from Potato Starch, The textures were great, Crispy crust, really sticky and a fantastic rich sauce, The only thing for me was I burnt my tongue on the crust. other than that beautful dish.

This was the first of the Desserts, Apple compressed and made an amazing green colour using spinach and applying the osmosis technique, with Pastry Cream , Apple Puree, biscuit crumble and Apple Sorbet, Really refreshing after the marathon of dishes I just ate,  good textures. The Pastry chef at the time was Aidan Brook, sorry we didnt make it for a drink after, 
This dessert was followed by Elderberry meringue with Blackberry Sorbet and dried lucky clover(not picture) . again really fresh and light and a perfect way to wind up the meal.

 

All in all Paco Morales in my opinion stays true to the values of food, you could be blindfolded and still know what you are eating unlike in some other restaurants I ate, The flavours produce were superb, technique was interesting. The hotel has just this past week been entered in to The Relais and Chateaux Guide book which is fantastic news, now all they need is Michelin to have a look, surely deserve more than one 'Estrella' from Michelin!! Paco and Rut are a fantastic couple and so welcoming, and I'd like to thank them again for looking after me so well. hope to see you guys in New Zealand some day

Comments

[Alessandra]

Sometimes I miss Europe, reading something like this really makes me homesick for a place full of ideas, maybe sometimes complicated and overworked, but still ideas....one after another, and not only in the gastronomic sense...time for a sabbatical????

[Trig]

Hi BrianThanks for a great write-up. Im so pleased you enjoyed your stay and the meal. As youll know by now we didnt manage to get that first Michelin star this year, but Im sure the guys will pull it off soon.Ive now moved on and Im planning a major change of scene (and climate!) with a spell in Galicia.I hope I can make it to New Zealand one of these days. Wishing you all the best.Aidan Brooks

[Brian Campbell]

Its my pleasure Aidan, it was a great experience and well done on your work there and pass on my Thanks to Paco and Rut for looking after me so well.Good luck with the new job.keep in touch, Alessandra, there is always time for a sabbatical, It was so well worth the trip and even just from observing, tasting, and understanding how food in these restaurants makes it to the plate taught me so much, and that was just in a month, Im definately considering moving to spain for a while just to develop my career more.