The restauranteur who has renewed the cuisine of Extremadura the most and best has presented in Gastronimika on Monday his recipe for preparing “paté en croute”, a dish that is “versatile and may express what you want”. In addition, Pérez has set a date for his new gastronomic adventure, the Torre de Sande, just a few meters away from its parent restaurant, Atrio. 

This will be Toño Pérez and José Polo’s third establishment, taking over the control of Atrio 34 years ago. Torre de Sande, an emblematic restaurant in Cáceres, comes back to life at the hand of the pair of restauranteurs, who took possession of the property in June. “We are right in the middle of the pandemic but we thought it would be an excellent opportunity to give the more than 60 professionals who work with us a path to go down if things go awry in Atrio”, he remarked.

In his presentation, sponsored by the Cáceres Provincial Council, Pérez wanted to display his work with the “paté en croûte” first, a type of dish that “can be personalized quite a lot and to show off territory”; a type of dish that is “also ideal for Torre de Sande, an establishment which will contain more fun and casual cuisine, a complement to Atrio”, he explained. It will also incorporate a grill “for, very direct, product cuisine, also with a more affordable price than its parent restaurant”. If things do not go awry -he finished-, it could be a reality in “a month or a month and a half”. 

The original presentation of the restauranteur from Extremadura, nevertheless, talked about “paté en croûte”, a forcemeat originally from the French 18th century that Pérez has recovered because, “although it is a classical way of eating, it can be personalized and you can take the diner wherever you want”. Along with the head chef Alberto Montes, Pérez explained how the paté is made (the dough – “it is important to knead it cold, with strong flour containing no air inside” -, the filling – “this is where your inspiration comes into play” – and the mould – “brushed on with lard for it to turn golden brown”-), and he recommended not freezing it “since it can last 15-20 days”. In Atrio the “paté en croûte” is taken out into the dining room on a cart and is accompanied by salads, pickles and “crunchy products or with acid notes, which help take away the fatty notes of the paté”. 

The chef has also shown his liking in Extremadura of “Iberian pig”, which has meant the Atrio this year has only presented one menu, and with the Iberian product as the guiding thread. With 15 servings, pig appears in the aperitifs, in the paté, of course, “and combined with recipes from Extremadura, with elements from the sea, in tartare or as a filling for black pudding made with potato from the slaughter pork”. Iberian pig is even his legendary tomato soup, in this case kneaded pasta surrounding the tomato. This also occurs in the chocolate dessert, where he replaces cocoa butter with ham lard. Extremadura a land of, pigs, patés, strawberries, history and Toño Pérez.