September Fair
Hundreds of members of the orchard clubs work every day of the Fair to serve the best of the typical gastronomy on the Malecón
Zarangollo, michirones, Murcian salad, ratatouille, roasted potatoes with garlic, broth with meatballs, sobrasadas, montaditos, paparajotes, party blowers, pot coffee… Deciding on a single delicacy of typical gastronomy is practically impossible when sitting down in one of the tables of the fourteen Orchards installed on the Malecón for the Fair.
A dilemma that diners solve by asking for “a little of everything”, moved by the desire to fill the palate with flavors that make them relive the visits of yesteryear to the houses of the grandmothers of the orchard, dressed in the eternal apron. Behind the culinary experience that these traditional establishments have been offering for seven days, there are hundreds of people who work so that thousands of Murcians and visitors enjoy the festivities with the best taste in their mouths.
Loli Pastor and Isabel López are two of those grandmothers who were “desiring” to return to the Huerto de la Virgen de los Peligros that the group of choirs and dances of the L’Artesa de Aljucer peña orchard puts on every year. “We are the peelers”, they introduce themselves with a smile from ear to ear while cutting a good handful of bunches of chard that they will later serve fried. Although onions, courgettes and aubergines also pass through his hands. “Everything except the potatoes,” these two neighbors from El Palmar, 82 and 84 years old, point out. “We arrive the first and we leave the last”, explains Isabel, who claims to be “the oldest in the circle”, but she does not think that is why she is the wisest. “Here we all know, each to his own and we organize ourselves very well.” When asked about the secret of her vitality, she replies that “take no regrets, live and let live” are the keys to staying young in spirit over time.
Zarangollo, ratatouille, Murcian salad and michirones top the list of most requested dishes
One hundred kilos of potatoes a day
While the peelers continue with their task, Benigno Bernal cuts identical slices of bread, as if he were using a ruler as well as a knife. «I do it by eye and in different sizes because it is not the same to cut the bread for the sobrasadas, than to make montaditos or serve at the table».
Next are Manuel Gálvez and Pepe Cuartero, “the patateros del Huerto”, as they define themselves with laughter. While one cuts with a device that has been invented, the other takes care of the oven from which about a hundred kilos of potatoes come out every day. “Here we are always messing around. If we didn’t like this atmosphere, it would be impossible to keep up, because there are twelve nights of a lot of work”, says Pepe. And Manuel adds that, when he arrives at his house, he will put his feet in a basin with water and salt, as he has done every day for a week.
The iron is another of the obligatory stops on the tour through the entrails of the Huertos. Joaquín Nicolás and Francisco Carrilero already have “the point caught” after twenty years turning and turning sobrassadas with fresh cheese and montaditos that delight customers. “The montadito that is most requested is the sausage one.”
frozen lemon leaves
The most demanded dessert in the Huerto de L’Artesa is the paparajote. “We take the lemon leaves in the morning and put them in the freezer to keep them fresh,” explains Trinidad López, who is in charge, together with Carmen Navarro, of making more than four hundred pieces of the Murcian sweet each “normal night”. by excellence.
In the kitchen is Puri Fuentes frying aubergines for the ratatouille that Fuensanta López, “the senior cook”, culminates following the recipe she learned from her mother. Surrounded by pots and pans, she points out that she is the one who goes every morning to prepare the arrangement of the michirones and the broth for the balls, the dishes that cannot wait for the afternoon to be prepared. “We work a lot, but we love this.”
#bowels #Orchards #Murcia