Jaén’s gastronomy has been nourished, since time immemorial, by a privileged situation; Bathed by the Guadalquivir river and surrounded by the natural parks of Sierra Morena and Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas, it has managed to perfectly capture the flavors that nature provides.
Meats, mountain spices, the tradition of the peoples is the basis of a cuisine rich in products that translates into unique preparations that take the name of our province around the world. Today we are talking about one of them: loin in orza.
When we talk about Jaén, lomo en orza comes out as the star dish, an easy way to preserve meat with delicious results.
The time to prepare this simple recipe is the secret to obtaining a tender, juicy product with durability, slow cooking in lard seasoning the meat with spices and herbs with which we are all too familiar: bay leaf, garlic, fresh thyme, cinnamon , cloves, pepper…
After hours over a very low heat, the meat will be ready to go to the daggerboard, an earthenware container where little by little it will cool down, the fat will begin to curdle and be completely solidified, this natural seal will keep the loin protected and ready to store while enduring. in perfect condition for at least 4 months.
As a result, a stew with country aromas that transmits the culinary tradition and the good work of our ancestors.
At Artemonte we embrace the heritage we have received and make our pork orza the old-fashioned way to offer the public a finished product, with all the essence and flavor of our land.
We breathe Jaén and we transmit that feeling to you in the best way we know how to do it, TASTING IT!
the voice of the mountain
We begin September and day by day we feel the arrival of autumn, one of the most special times of the year to experience what the Aldeaquemada environment offers us.
A privileged enclave, in the heart of Sierra Morena, which allows us to enjoy a unique spectacle: the bellowing of the deer.
Nature takes its course and, with the first rains, the fight for survival will set a dizzying rhythm in the lives of our deer, who, in a few weeks, will rise up as the sole owners of the mountain, wearing their fur and antlers in splendor. with a single goal: to find “companions” with which to perpetuate the species.
The winner of this peculiar battle will reign in the herd until next autumn and once again this proud animal will have fulfilled his mission.
The bellowing is a fierce fight between dominant males, a challenge to win the favor of the females where the bellows and the constant clashing of horns mark the passage of everyone who, attracted by the beauty of such a singular act, moves to our people to observe, always cautious and to be able to be guided or advised by the park rangers, this wonder that the natural world is capable of offering us.
We now remember the passionate words with which D. Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente described the magic of this moment:
“The voice of the deer, the rutting call of the deer, the challenge… A new chapter begins in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula: the annual meeting between the champions, the fight of the fittest, the selection of the best prepared.”
The bellowing is, after all, the essence of the forest, the power of the earth, the continuity of life.
Live it and you will not be able to contain the emotion.
