Long before “kilometre zero” became a fashionable addition to the culinary lexicon, El Lago was at the forefront of Costa del Sol restaurants sourcing local produce. Chef Diego del Río and manager Paco García have had a long-standing and genuine commitment to working closely with local producers, one reason why the restaurant (located in a picturesque lakeside setting in the Greenlife Golf clubhouse) received its first Michelin star in 2005, and has maintained it every year since.
The latest “green” innovation at the restaurant involves an ingredient which has not had a particularly prominent place at the head table of Spanish cuisine – at least not for most diners – but which offers an intriguing alternative to more classic, or popular, meat dishes such as pork, beef and lamb.
“Chivo” (kid or young goat) is not a new addition to the El Lago menu (they have been working with the Málaga breed for seven years and have played a key role in boosting its popularity in haute cuisine) but it is in a new guise that they have taken the delicacy to an even more exquisite level.
Diego and Paco have reached agreement with a local Costa del Sol producer of the famous “payoyo” breed of goat to supply the restaurant from an organic farm in the hills above Marbella.
Specifically, the Sierra de Crestellina protected nature area near Casares and a fourth-generation farming family from the area, where great-grandson Juan Ocaña is now running an artisanal cheese manufacturing business officially launched in 1997 by his father. Juan’s company, Quesos Sierra Crestellina, raises payoyo goats that are allowed to roam freely around the mountain-side farm plot and are fed with their mother’s milk.
Apart from the goats (which are delivered whole to El Lago, thus further enhancing the sustainability of the product), Juan and his team produce cottage cheeses, cured and semi-cured cheeses, and yoghurts flavoured with natural honey or chestnuts. They also hold workshops, and organise school and other group visits to the farm.
Back at El Lago, the restaurant’s first dish created with the Sierra Crestellina payoyo breed – introduced for the winter 2015 menu – is baby goat with smoked cream cheese, Guadalhorce mandarin, and vegetable salad with mint. As the restaurant notes (and as Home & Lifestyle was able to confirm at a special tasting with Diego, Paco and Juan), this is a dish that is elegantly rich with “visual and culinary emotion”.
El Lago Restaurant
Urb. Elviria Hills, Marbella
Tel. (+34) 952 832 371
restaurante@restauranteellago.com
Quesos Sierra Crestellina (Casares): www.quesossierracrestellina.es
