At the table with Gabriel Miró by Jordi Sanchis

At the table with Gabriel Miró in Parcent (by Jordi Sanchis)

That the interior of the Marina Alta is a territory worth visiting is something that all those who are not satisfied with the sun and beach tourism that is offered to them know. And in an exemplary way, on the coast of this region. And right there, perched on a hill in the Vall de Pop, is the town of Parcent. A peaceful and quiet place where the traveler can find numerous incentives to relax. For example, its gastronomy. On the 30th, some friends of good food met and we had the opportunity to confirm what we had known for a long time.
We were invited by the restless restaurateur Ismael Reig, an old acquaintance of ours for the delicious agapes that, on another occasion, we had tasted at the Paraiso restaurant. This man, or to be more precise the Reig-llobell family since his wife Vicenta, like his children, are excellent professionals, have been embarking on a new adventure for some time; They have equipped a beautiful mansion, in a modernist colonial style, built by a lucky Indian native of Parcent, with its six cozy rooms – and also a restaurant: Casa Júlia is its name.

And it was precisely there where the event that I am going to comment on took place... Ismael, who, as I have already said, is a restless man and very fond of his land, knowing, as everyone knows in Parcent, that Miró singularly appreciated this town and who had even spent some time there, decided to delve into his books to find out if there was any detail in them that could show his interest in the culinary traditions of the place. And I achieve it. Although the writer wrote much of his work in the town of Polop de la Marina, his first short novel, Del vivir, was conceived and completed in Parcent, in 1904. And in that text Ismael found the story of a very home-cooked meal in the that a character named Sigüenza participated, very frequent in his writings and who, precisely, makes his first appearance in Del vivir.

In this way, Miró's literary alter ego is presented to us: Sigüenza, a remote man who liked the landscape and humble hamlets, walked through Levantine land and said: I will arrive at Parcent. And later he describes the gastronomic scene to which I just alluded in this way: In the town a sartal of hours sounded. The guest counted them and when he heard them he stood up quickly, dusting off his black corduroy pants. Twelve, twelve! When I left home, I had asked them to make rice, and it should have been completely cooked and delicious. The table will be set, and dressed with a clean tablecloth: there will be fresh, fresh bread; olives in brine; sweet and golden rough cherries; a whitened chicken flavored with bacon tostones and small onions like nuts; cheese slices; arrope jam and wine from the place itself…. Sigüenza, the doctor and him will eat together. And he rejoiced, pretending to have a nearby snack

Come on, come on, Mr. Sigüenza – he repeated – because “there is nothing as annoying as hunger” as Homer said in his Odyssey.

The menu with which our palate was treated that day at Casa Júlia hotel restaurant coincided almost point by point with the one Sigüenza tasted in the last century

Well, some modifications are the result of the wisdom and art accumulated by professionals with more than thirty-five years of experience behind them: Sobrasada and botifarra sticks. Varied brine. Aspencat cokes in the style of the time. Cooked rice. Blanched chicken with bacon tostones and onions. Cheese slices with syrup jam. All of this washed down with an excellent young wine made in-house.

Unanimously, the diners congratulated the Reig-Llobell family and their team for their good work and originality in presenting a repertoire of traditional dishes with a successful touch of modernity.

After the desserts there was a brief speech about the personality of Gabriel Miró and the importance of his work. Then with the mistela and the fondillon, a lively gathering began.

The participants summoned by Ismael for this event, around twenty people, made up a varied sample of people from the region interested in astronomical topics. There were, among other professionals in the sector, restaurateurs of well-known prestige such as Diego Mena or Pepe Romany, the director of the CDT of Denia Pepe Vidal, Excellent Sommelier Jorje Lopez, the gastronomic critic Luis Ruiz, as well as representatives of the CAM social work - an institution that manages the literary inheritance of Gabriel Miró - and media.