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Arehucas Rum and Isla de Lobos, restaurant of Hotel Princesa Yaiza (5* GL in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote), They come together to highlight the increasingly present pairing with cocktails
It is increasingly common to have a tasting menu paired with cocktails. They call the art of mixing haute cuisine and cocktails gastro-cocktails. for once, and without serving as a precedent, there has been no need to search for any word for its definition. Nor go to the Oxford English Dictionary to see what we find there.
There is no better definition, however, to be able to verify it with the five senses.
This time the sensory experience was housed in the halls of the Wolf Island, the gastronomic restaurant of Hotel Princesa Yaiza, and 5 Grand Luxury stars in White beach, Lanzarote. Your chef, Gonzalo Calzadilla (1 Sun in the Repsol Guide and best chef in the Canary Islands in 2019), cooked so that Oscar Lafuente de Blas, Best Rum Mixologist in the World 2024 and Global Ambassador of Arehucas Distilleries, did his thing.
The origins of gastrococktails must be sought in the rise of modern cocktails and the evolution of contemporary cuisine. Some sources place its birth and expansion at the beginning of this century and in cities such as London, New York, Tokio or the closest Barcelona. Places where the combination of culinary creativity and a growing cocktail culture has given rise to this type of experiences.
Cane, harvest, grinding, fermentation and distillation
These five concepts related to the universe ronero served as a statement for a menu of seven courses. Creativity and a firm hand in the kitchen Gonzalo Calzadilla They began to show themselves with three type appetizers finger foods (There I do resort to Shackespeare's language to define the bite that is eaten with the hands). A pink pepper macaron stuffed with goat that the wise little head of the bartender Oscar Lafuente de Blas he wanted it to get wet with “The water of life”, which is nothing other than the particular water that is used in Arehucas Distilleries to make your precious liquid. A shiso leaf added a touch of mint-spicy-bitter-sour-sweet.
From there, the night opened to enjoyment. This was followed by a potato taco with Pyrenean trout and jalapeño mayonnaise and a cassava croquette stuffed with rabbit in salmorejo that Lafuente He wanted to pair it with a cocktail made with Arehucas Blanco Selección Familiar with the green of a bamboo leaf and very thin strips of chili.
The first cutlery was used to bring to the palate a subtle cheese squid from the Uga Finca stuffed with Iberian rice on a foie sauce and some tasty lentils. Lanzarote with pigeon and beetroot. There the restless mind of the Best Rum Bartender in the World multiplied the sensations with a mix based on the Family Selection White and passion fruit with the sparkling Tajín salt as a crusta.
The savory part of the menu designed by Calzadilla I contemplated an impeccable Royal suckling pig typical of the Uga Finca with hunter sauce and fresh mushroom slices. It was accompanied by a very serious Arehucas cocktail. 12 years Family Selection. In this pass, and in the dessert, were exemplified, like no other, the hours of dedication Calzadilla y Lafuente de Blas to balance some high-quality pairings.
The dessert, we said, completed the circle of understanding between the two professionals: Baba with rum with black garlic sorbet, cashews and truffle, the chef proposed; a kind of liquid blackberry pie with its Arehucas 12 years Family Selection, was the bartender's response.. all together, a solid dessert, liquid, dulce, salado, acid, crunchie, saccharine… that I should go now, for the remains, always united.
Hard to imagine a better ending. Yes. Because the last proposal, Complimentary Petit Four, They contemplated the option of being watered with the exclusive Arehucas 18 Years Family selection smoked with shavings from the staves of the barrel where it rested. Irrefutable full stop.
And everyone home. And well. Because gastrococktails, that seems to have come to stay and appear more frequently, It is not about trying exquisite bites while you get blinded by rum.. In fact, the alcoholic presence in the proposals is more than thought out and is minimal, precisely, for greater and more complete enjoyment.
This was demonstrated by the professionals of the Wolf Island and the team of Arehucas Distilleries very well represented by the host, Ana Ares, delegated in Lanzarote and always very attentive to new trends.
