Recommended: Sagardi’s autumn menu with a starring role for the Caesar’s mushroom
Do you love autumn with all its special colors and seasonal produce? Then I have a tip for you: Sagardi’s autumn menu is now available, with a special role for the Caesar’s mushroom.
Sagardi is more delicious than your Spanish holiday romance, I wrote earlier after visiting Sagardi. I returned once more later, and yes: once again, I had a fantastic meal at this Basque restaurant. Since opening their very first restaurant in Barcelona, more than 25 years ago now, brothers and chefs Iñaki and Mikel López de Viñaspre have been taking the dishes of their Basque grandmothers beyond their own homes; Sagardi now has several locations worldwide, including in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Porto, London and Amsterdam (on Spuistraat).
Caesar’s mushroom
Mikel has come to Amsterdam especially to prepare Basque autumn dishes behind the stove. Meat is not on the menu this time, because Sagardi is much more than a meat restaurant. Exhibit A: the first dish of Caesar’s mushroom, a relative of porcini (also known as the Caesar’s mushroom), finely chopped on toast. This toast is homemade sourdough bread that has been fermented in the oven for 48 hours. It is so delicious!
This special mushroom owes its name to the fact that it was highly prized by the emperors of Rome. They sent mycologists (fungus researchers) into the forest to point out exactly where the Caesar’s mushrooms could be found.
The texture of the Caesar’s mushroom is both firm and delicate at the same time, a little like the texture of an apricot. You can taste that very clearly in the dish in which the bolete is cut into larger pieces, grilled and served with pigeon jus and egg yolk. We drink typical Basque wine Txakolina with it; juicy white fruit, minerals and fresh acidity—very delicious.
Piquillo peppers
Another delicious vegetable dish is the fresh, hand-picked “piquillo” peppers, grilled over a wood fire. The flesh of this ‘star among peppers’ is red and sweet, and then: grilled, peeled and caramelized in the oven. Oil over it, salt—fantastic!
Black beans with lardo
A true comfort-food dish is the plate of black beans. It is served with blood sausage, lardo (back fat from the Italian Cinta Senese pig) and cabbage. You can place these on the beans yourself and then finish every bite with a fresh (not spicy) pepper. Incredibly delicious!
Mandarin ice cream
We finish with a lovely refreshing dish of mandarin ice cream with sheep’s yogurt and apple cider, and once again we completely agree: Sagardi is a fantastic restaurant where you eat truly beautiful products, prepared with love and served in an original way. No ping-ponging on the plate, but pure products in which you can taste the flavor of the Basque Country. Highly recommended!
Sagardi, Spuistraat 304, Amsterdam
Read also:
