Cooking with the Asturias Guisanderas' Club

Annalisa Lusso welcomes us with a broad smile and waves us inside, where we are greeted by the subtle, pleasant aroma of stew. We are there just before they begin serving lunch, and her sisters-in-arms are about to arrive. It's been a while since they last saw each other, and their excitement at this meetup is palpable.

She cooks with ease and discipline, taking her time as she lovingly prepares some of the region's most popular dishes. They include fabes and cachopo (ham and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of beef). The awards displayed on the wall are a testament to the quality of her cooking. However, Annalisa is not Asturian, but Italian. She went to Spain to finish her studies in catering, falling not only for her husband, Joaquín (who also runs the restaurant) but also the local cuisine.

She learnt everything she knows about traditional Asturian cookery from her godmother, Mayte Álvarez of Casa Lula in Tineo. Mayte is part of the third generation of Guisanderas, and it was she who suggested that Annalisa should join the group. It doesn't matter where you were born, as long as you have Asturian cuisine in your blood. The same is true of Lola Sánchez of the restaurant Yumay in Avilés, who is originally from Murcia.

Lola, Mayte, and another 11 of the 42 current club members have just begun to arrive. They flit from one person to another, wanting to know all the news, and asking after the others' families, their work, and their health. In their spotless chef's whites, they forget about cooking for a few moments, instead immersing themselves in conversation, in a scene of firm female friendship.

“Above all, this is a club for friends," says Amada, the president and doyenne of the club. With 20 years at the helm, she tells us that they have been through a lot of personal experiences, from becoming mothers, to experiencing death or illness.

The Guisanderas all agree that their work is about protecting and compiling traditional recipes, but also about using local products. And when they say local, they really mean it.

They all use what is available to them in their own small geographical area, from nearby producers. This has an influence on their recipes. “Compagnos from Tineo are not the same as compagnos from Oviedo, and black pudding is made differently depending on where you are," says Teresa Camacho, of Bar Camacho in Anieves. "We share the same resources, but everyone has their own style.”

“I promise to be faithful to the founding principles of our club and, as a professional, to fly the flag for traditional Asturian cookery. I pledge to research and protect the most ancient and traditional recipes, and to share my knowledge with my fellow club-members. I proudly accept the honor of, henceforth, being known as an Asturian Guisandera." Wording of the agreement conferring membership on a new Guisandera.

A photo album full of memories of those early meetings stirs up mixed emotions for Amada, Mayte, and Yvonne. "Four of us, all Guisanderas from different parts of Asturias, went to Barcelona to cook and it was a great success." She remembers how, at one event, they didn't ask for any of the cooking utensils using their proper names, and when the head chef said that the mise en place would be ready in five minutes, they panicked because they didn't understand what he meant. "We're not professionally trained. We learned from our mothers, our grandmothers, our neighbors."

Teresa joined the club just under two years ago. She explains that there is a series of requirements for becoming a club member: members must own a restaurant, belong to the Hotel and Tourism Association, and have a proven professional track record.

“Guisanderas are the guardians of ancient recipes and, although you might have something innovative, your restaurant has to respect the basic elements of traditional Asturian cuisine," she says. This is verified by the Guisanderas themselves, who eat in every restaurant before making a decision.

“Asturian products are like our children: one area represents fabada (bean stew), while another is known for its Asturian stew. We've got cheeses, and are one of the best food-producing regions in Spain. What's more, we know how to cook with what we've got, and there is so much to cook," says Amada. They all have their own businesses, and also their own families, and the whole thing requires a gargantuan effort. That includes their get-togethers, but as far as they're concerned, it's worth the effort.

Lola is a whirlwind of energy. She gets going straight away, lighting the stove. Today she is preparing a rice dish with shelled seafood. The dish is a nod to her Murcian origins, and she cooks using local produce: variegated scallops, lobster, mussels, crayfish, and spider crabmeat.

Meanwhile, Isabel Alonso of La Tenada (in Illas) is rolling up her sleeves to start chopping the compango for her stew, before it is served. This is one of the most popular dishes in Asturian cuisine. Collard greens, potatoes, beans, chorizo, black pudding, and lard are the ingredients for a dish that, she says, "is simple but takes a long time, and needs to be left to sit for a day or two before it is at its best."

Also on the menu is pitu de caleya (free-range chickens that are a specific local breed) prepared as a terrine by Joaquina Rodríguez of Casa Chema in Oviedo, with the help of Beatriz Fernández of Los Pisones in Gijón. The chicken is cooked, flaked, arranged in layers, pressed with its own juices, then served sliced with a sauce made from the bones.

Lydia Vázquez, who works in Oviedo's Café Plaza, is working nearby on some pumpkin fritters, alongside her colleague, Maite Fernández of La Costana in Granda. They are stuffed with pistachios and raisins, and the ingredients include soda water and baking powder, which are essential for these perfect fritters.

Yvonne Corral and Sara López of Casa Telva in Valdesoto are mother and daughter. While Yvonne rolls out the dough for some delicious butter cookies, Sara is working on a nut cake: a traditional, unassuming dessert made from eggs, flour, sugar, nuts, oil, a dash of powdered sugar, and cinnamon.

“It's baked at a low heat and the result is somewhere between a pudding and a sponge," she explains. Sweet and traditional, just like the frisuelos (Asturian pancakes) being carefully cooked by Hermi Nuevo, of Casa Nuevo in Castrillón. They are made by beating together a mixture of flour, eggs, milk, lemon zest, butter, anise, and sugar, then spreading a thin layer inside the frying pan.

A type of bean known as a faba is the star ingredient in Asturian puchero, a type of stew. They are long, flat, large, and kidney-shaped. Their skin is thinner than that of other varieties, and they have a very creamy texture. When cooked with compango, the result is one of the most highly regarded dishes in the region, known as fabada. A top tip from our experts: “Cook them with mineral water so they don't break.”

Cachopo is one of the most popular dishes in Asturian cuisine. Its substantial proportions make it ideal for sharing. At first glance it looks like an escalope, but inside it is rather different: it is two fillets of beef, stuffed with cheese and ham. Guisandera Annalisa's trick is to "flatten the meat really well so that it's nice and thin, so you could eat the filling in one mouthful," and to choose a ham "that has a bit of fat on it, which makes it juicier.”

María Busta, of Casa Eutimio in Lastres, is the youngest club member. She is 35 years old and the daughter of another Guisandera. She runs the restaurant while looking after her three children, as well as teaching and taking care of the other family businesses. Just like her fellow club members, she is as tenacious as they come.

“We might have different views, but our values are the same: ingredients from here, local cuisine, recipes from our mothers or grandmothers," says Sara, who runs Casa Telva's sideline in catering and events, Flor de Cerezo.

At 36 years old, she says that she never wanted to work in catering, but over time she realized that, "what you've experienced and what's inside you," can turn out to be a really rewarding career. “My mother is a Guisandera and I absorbed that as a child. I see it as a really big responsibility. You don't just have to do it properly for yourself, because as well as your own restaurant, you're responsible for all the others, and for Asturian cuisine. It's how we keep our history alive.”