I have gone to Cuenca deceived. He thought he was going to teach something and I went to learn more. They told me that it was about explaining little things about well-being with friends of the SER and other gourmets. How to choose a restaurant, for example, or to what extent in times of virtual guides we continue to guide ourselves by where truckers eat.
But above all I have discovered a brand new Capital of Gastronomy that shows off cheeses, wines, honey, garlic, saffron, mushrooms, trout, zarajos, mortaruelos, alajús and some marinades that were already cooked in the Kunka citadel. I have also had a great time walking up, down and across the bridge through a city that knows how to turn the slope into virtue and the steepness into character, thus pairing its distinctive landscape with heritage architecture to build a historical framework deliciously filled with contemporary art.
The famous Hanging Houses are the best example of such synergy. Overlooking the Huécar river canyon since the 14th century, her slender figure hosts two excellent samples of this aesthetic dialogue between the past and modernity; the essential Museum of Spanish Abstract Art and the restaurants -Casas Colgadas and Casa de la Sirena- led by Jesús Segura.
I have savored the place and the food, a commitment to proximity and the Cuenca personality. It combines the best local produce with traditional wisdom from the radically current approach of an author chef who has returned to his origins.
Among those with whom I have had the privilege of sharing a table was Andoni Luís Aduriz, from whom I always learn. He has enthusiastically recommended a specific binary dish, a kind of “river and mountain range” crowned with Júcar trout roe which, like much of the delicious menu that Jesús Segura has offered us, is based on game. Bet that forms part of its intelligent valuation of the autochthonous to revitalize the territory and give opportunities to the rural world.
I propose to the authorities responsible for financing the I D I and the infrastructures of the Green Deal with regard to the future of the European food system, its sustainability, the well-being of citizens, the competitiveness of its companies, the excellence of its universities and rural development community that they come to Cuenca to enjoy it and, said with all due respect, learn in passing how, even though the world is global, it is impossible to design the future without a local look with their ancestral wisdom.
I say this because we know that feeding an ever-growing humanity on an ever-shrinking planet is posed as a challenge. And that much effort is devoted to exploring new sources of protein whose sustainable production could also be an opportunity to create wealth.
I wish it would be possible to finance all the lines of research and the necessary investments in infrastructure or technology, but unfortunately this is not the case. Put to prioritize, better what makes more sense because we need it, because we can do it better or because the conditions are more appropriate here.
To give examples, in the aquatic environment, wild species must be protected from overexploitation, so responsible aquaculture must be promoted. As for the terrestrial environment, the bet is on new or little-explored sources of nutrients such as insects, fungal proteins, cultured meats, precision fermentation... That's fine, as long as they are easily socialized, that is, hardly monopolizables since it is about the universal right to a good diet. They must also be accepted by consumers and compatible with the environment. The ecological balance is tremendously unstable and the rest of the ecosystem must be preserved.
Today there is a serious problem of overpopulation of certain wild species in some of our territories that threatens other resources with which they share a habitat. It harms farmers and their food production (which is ours!), compromises road safety and even endangers the very viability of these animals since, as is known, excessive density favors the transmission of diseases.
The solution may be to eat the problem in a controlled manner. To do this, a system must be consolidated that guarantees the safety of game at the table and promotes its well-deserved local gastronomic appreciation.
Food innovation must always be open to the world, beginning by exploring the circular economy of local resources and the strengths of its food culture. I am incapable of killing a fly, but I believe that making the most of hunting is investing in sustainability. As it is to investigate the immense food possibilities of our native mushrooms.
As for insects, they will surely be welcomed by trout farms. To those who whistle, by the way.
