Summary
Chef Eric Ripert visited Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, and one travel writer tagged along to show us the region’s best-kept culinary secrets.
I watched silently as chef Eric Ripert gamely donned an aqua-green hairnet and white lab coat, pulling ugly blue shoe covers over his black Prada sneakers. I myself had balked at the hairnet, instead stuffing my hair inside a baseball cap. He then observed carefully as a worker showed us how to remove a squishy wheel of fresh sheep’s milk cheese from its plastic mold. In another moment, Ripert was banging the mold on its side, trying to free the soft white round so it could be dunked into a saltwater brine and then left to age into manchego cheese, the beloved Spanish delicacy.
I had only met Ripert a few hours ago, yet I was already impressed and enchanted. We had arrived in the Castilla-La Mancha region of Central Spain, about 60 miles south of Madrid, with 50 Best (the organizers of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants), who were working on a short documentary about the culinary delicacies of the region. Our schedule was packed with visits to various farms, food artisans, and attractions, plus three of the 11 Michelin-starred restaurants in the region.
For Ripert, the head chef and co-owner of the acclaimed, Michelin three-starred Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City, being filmed was nothing new. From three seasons of his cooking and travel show Avec Eric to frequent appearances as a guest judge on Top Chef and countless talk shows, he was a natural. I, on the other hand, was a jet-lagged mess. Luckily though, everyone was focused on Ripert—I was just along for the food-filled ride. Here’s how we spent four culinary days in Castilla-La Mancha—and how you can, too.
Day One
Our manchego cheese adventure began at Finca La Prudenciana, a family-owned sheep farm and creamery in Tembleque, which has a population of just 2,000 residents. After we successfully sent our cheese cylinders to their saltwater bath, we learned the complete manchego-making process, from milking the resident flock of sheep to aging for between three and 12 months. In the end, we were rewarded with a huge spread of regional delights, cooked by Maria Álvarez Sánchez-Prieto, the wife of head cheesemaker Alfonso. Together with their children, Marta and Santiago, they live on the farm that Alfonso’s parents purchased in the 1950s, where they also grow almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. In addition to traditional Spanish tortillas and a roasted tomato and red pepper salad called asadillo manchego, and an assortment of cheese (a favorite of Ripert’s marinated in olive oil), the centerpiece of the spread was cordero manchego. It’s baby lamb that we watched Maria prepare with white wine and lemon juice placed in the oven before our tour began. To say the meat is juicy and succulent is a vast understatement; the special dish is usually reserved for holidays.
Before collapsing into our beds back in Toledo, the ancient walled capital city of Castilla-La Mancha, we caught a cotton-candy-colored sunset at the famous Consuegra windmills, which date back to the 16th century and are the setting for Miguel Cervantes’ “Don Quixote.”
Day Two
The next day begins with an early-morning visit to one of Toledo’s oldest businesses: Santo Tomé Obrador de Mazapan, which has been making marzipan on-site since 1856. This city is the birthplace of marzipan, invented by nuns as early as the 1500s. Most people either love or hate marzipan; I was a hater until I discovered I had never experienced fresh marzipan, possibly never even real marzipan, which is made from actual almonds and not almond extract. Ripert, however, is a resolute lover. “I even love the bad stuff, even the overly sweet ones,” he laughs. “I’m the only one.”
At Santo Tomé Obrador de Mazapan, only fresh, locally grown marcona almonds, sugar, and honey are used to make 40 tons of marzipan each year. These three ingredients are run through a mill and then combined with water to form a sticky paste, before being baked the next day into all varieties of delicious treats on well-worn wooden trays. After our tour of the bakery, we munched on fresh-from-the-oven marzipan treats.
Later, we leave the walled city and drive to a dramatic stone entrance gate, with Cigarral del Ángel emblazoned on it. This used to be the estate of the famous poet Fina de Calderón until she died in 2010. The expansive grounds are stunning, featuring views of the Tagus River and the fortified city of Toledo. In 2019, chef Iván Cerdeño moved his restaurant here at the city’s invitation. He greets us, leading us through the gate, past a manicured garden, and up to his restaurant, Restaurante Iván Cerdeño, where two hard-earned Michelin stars are displayed by the door.
It’s hard to articulate the 21-course meal Ripert and I are treated to next. Cerdeño draws inspiration from Toledo itself—mining ingredients from the river and surrounding farmlands. He also studied a 16th-century cookbook published in Toledo, the Libro de Guisados (Book of Stews) by Ruperto de Nola, the first cookbook in Spanish. Some of those recipes were updated for a modern palate. The food is inventive, with dishes like sardines stuffed with red partridge, sea urchin and almortas (grass pea) cream served inside the urchin shell, and Senador’s hare, a local wild rabbit enjoyed at the end of its winter season. A dish made with pine and black truffle holds particular excitement, with the sous chef shaving fresh green pinecone atop it as I look out onto a massive pine tree through the large picture windows. When baby eels were served, Ripert was visibly excited, noting they’re a delicacy costing over $2,000 a pound in the U.S. right now.
“All the food is really delicate and refined,” Ripert says. “And very respectful to the product.” Almost as thrilling as the food is the wine pairing, featuring local tipples like sherry, cider, and a white wine from 1985. After a stroll around the grounds for sunset, we return for dessert made from manchego cheese and some petit fours, including a pistachio apple tart and rosemary dark chocolate truffle.
Day Three
This morning, we drove to an olive oil farm in Los Navalmorales, about an hour from Toledo. At Finca La Pontezuela, there are 18,000 trees growing five types of olives, including the rare redondilla olive. The owners inform us that they are one of two farms to grow redondillas. After touring the olive mills and oil storage tanks, we explored the state-of-the-art interactive visitor center built in 2020, explaining everything about olives and olive oil. Finally, we tasted the products. The farm produces extra virgin olive oil under the 5 Elementos name, including single varietals—all grown on-site. We sampled varieties including arbequina, picual, cornicabra, hojiblanca, and the ultra-rare redondilla, which Ripert can’t wait to taste. They taught us how to swirl it in the glass while covered, releasing the rich aroma upon uncovering. We agreed the picual was the spiciest, while the redondilla offered smooth, flavorful harmony. Soon, they brought out platters of glistening strawberries and kiwis, cubes of local queso de cabra (goat’s milk cheese), and chunks of bread, pairing each with specific oil. We couldn’t get enough.
Even though we had filled up on olive-oil-drizzled snacks, it was suddenly lunchtime again, and we were due at Raíces-Carlos Maldonado in Talavera de la Reina. Upon arrival at the unmarked façade next to a graffitied wall, chef Carlos Maldonado greeted us and showed us his tiny kitchen, situated practically at the door across from a mural featuring whimsical images, from UFOs to floating chili peppers. The light fixtures splendidly showcase rooster and fish heads, while fantastically painted pottery designed by the staff and crafted by a local ceramicist adorned the shelves.
Our servers sported jackets and a single white glove, with piercings and tattoos like Maldonado himself, who proudly revealed a tattoo of a food truck on his forearm— a nod to his first job. He also operates a nearby school for troubled youth, where he once belonged, to learn culinary skills. This Michelin one-starred restaurant’s tasting menu dazzled with complexity while remaining playful and delightful. Together, Ripert and I navigated the 20-some bites, influenced by both Castilla-La Mancha and places like Puebla, Mexico. Dishes included local squab tacos with mole and tequila-lime jello shots served in the mouth of a ceramic snake (truly innovative). Each dish was presented on unique and whimsical ceramic pieces, one of which featured Maldonado’s son’s handprints, holding the “pizza” dessert made with meringue crust, beet sauce, and white chocolate instead of cheese.
Talavera de la Reina is renowned for its ceramics. Fran Agudo, the go-to artisan for custom dishes and serveware for the region’s top-tier restaurants, including Raíces, welcomed us into his studio De Juan Artesania, where we admired shelves filled with Agudo’s creations. Recognizing some of the pieces from Raíces and Iván Cerdeño, Agudo invited Ripert to try his hand at the potter’s wheel. To everyone’s delight, he turned out a surprisingly decent plate, proving he can do it all.
Day Four
Our final day in Castilla-La Mancha started leisurely. By this point, I wisely decided to skip breakfast, as our first stop was at a restaurant. We headed to the industrial town of Illescas and arrived at a nondescript block; however, the entrance to Ancestral was easily recognized. The brainchild of young chef Victor Gonzalo Infantes, who had worked at one of the best eateries in Madrid before choosing to return to his hometown, this tiny restaurant utilized live fire to create some of the most impressive dishes we experienced during the trip. Both the food and decor had a rustic charm, yet still felt stylish, featuring local blue duck with wild mushrooms and fresh trout delivered from a nearby river, alongside its roe, accented with beetroot designed to resemble saffron. One of Ripert’s favorite dishes was a traditional stew made with pigs’ ears, Castilian chickpeas, and tubers, complemented by crispy pigs’ ears drizzled with an adobo manchego sauce. Infantes’ skill is undisputed, especially in simple yet delicate dishes, like tiny wild cherry tomatoes immersed in flavorful Iberian ham soup.
The afternoon was spent back in the walled city of Toledo on a walking tour, featuring renowned sites like the Toledo Cathedral and the old Jewish Quarter, which boasts two remaining synagogues now serving as museums. We also managed to enjoy ham-and-cheese croquetas, which Ripert insisted we had to try, declaring he couldn’t be in Spain without having one.
