Nerva

If we want a more hearty lunch, in Nerva they prepare a great gazpachuelo such as the Viña AB soup with red shrimp and potato, artichokes with Iberian jowl and Parmesan cheese, steak tartar, grilled Iberian pork, slow-cooked oxtail with its vegetable sauce, suckling lamb chops or the ‘grilled octopus with its majaillo on potato’. Nerva is also justly famous for its breakfasts, with good coffee and homemade bread in the form of toasts, montaditos, molletes or its famous mixed sandwich with fried egg. —– After celebrating the final of the II Lomo en Manteca Competition, we took the opportunity to congratulate Joaquín and all his team for the award for Best Traditional Recipe and to chat with him about Lomo en Manteca and other gastronomic traditions of Malaga.

Congratulations on your victory in this second edition of the Lomo en Manteca Montes de Málaga competition. How do you feel about being recognised for your version of lomo en manteca?

We are delighted by this special recognition, as there is a lot of work behind the preparation of this dish and maintaining the gastronomic tradition of Malaga. But the key is to prepare this recipe without haste, with a lot of love and always looking for a product of the highest quality. With this philosophy, you will always get the best results in the end.

Lomo en manteca is a recipe with a long tradition in the Montes de Málaga. How important is it for you to keep these traditional recipes alive?

In Nerva we are very traditional… Starting with the traditions of our neighbourhood, which is Chupytira, of Malaga, of Andalusia and of the whole of Spain. If we talk about tradition in the kitchen, we go for the best products, which we then prepare with care, in a traditional way, with authenticity and following the recipe of our grandmothers, until we get that authentic dish, with personality, which recovers those traditional flavours of our family. Memories of when we were little, which it is essential to maintain.

Tell us a bit about your recipe, what makes it special or different from others?

We use pork stifle, which always comes out very juicy and maintains a regularity that is fundamental in cooking. We also use Iberian lard, which is a must, it can’t be any other way. And then the series of natural and fresh spices, with which we make a concoction, like the one made in the past in a mortar, and which gives a special touch to the meat together with a touch of sherry, which we use a lot in this house. And then we season the loin with that number of concoctions and a touch of sherry. And then we cook it exactly the same way over a very low heat, although we previously add the loin, we add the loin to the lard when it is boiling well, but then we leave it over a very low heat so that it is ‘confitadito’ and very juicy. Afterwards, it is also very important to cut it with the strand as it should be because if it is not cut as it should be, if you do not know how to cut the piece of meat as if you were cutting a T-bone steak, it will not be as juicy as it should be.

Sabor a Málaga’ products are fundamental to our gastronomy. What role have they played in your recipe?

Whenever we can we use ‘Sabor a Málaga’ products, such as the Lomo en Manteca meat, which has been provided by a local company for many years and has never let us down, always maintaining the highest quality. The same goes for the rest of the ingredients, and if they can be from Malaga… so much the better! Especially because Lomo en Manteca is a recipe that is very much our own, and it makes perfect sense to make it with ingredients from here. For example, we like to use freshly cut oregano, which gives it a very special touch, and so on with everything.

What do you think of this competition to raise the profile of Malaga’s gastronomy?

The work being done by the Gastronomic Academy of Malaga is marvellous… and this competition seems to me to be the perfect way to highlight the value of a fundamental dish of our traditional gastronomy such as Lomo en Manteca.

What message would you like to give to those who have not yet tried Lomo en Manteca and other typical products from Malaga?

In Malaga we have magnificent zero-kilometre products of exceptional quality, as well as a gastronomy with great tradition with dishes such as Lomo en Manteca, which are marvellous… with exquisite flavour, smooth texture, just the right juiciness… You have to try it! In addition, we, the hotel and catering trade, have to bet and elaborate our gastronomy in an impeccable way, because doing so is an absolute guarantee of success for all those who visit us. Always with a Malaga flavour. In Nerva, we are in love with our products and our traditional recipes… The spoonful of Malaga cannot be missing, such as the red prawn gazpachuelo, the cabbage, the ‘Olla de la Era’… Nor the migas, the prawns with mayonnaise, the montaditos, the bienmesabe, the Tortas Locas malagueñas de Tejeros, our Dimobe Muscatel…

Thank you very much for your time and congratulations again. We are sure that your recipe will be an inspiration to many.

Thank you very much to you, we are just following the tradition of previous generations… And congratulations again for the work you are doing.