In November 2016, Casa Solla (Pepe Solla, Poio, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain) will turn 55. A number, that for Pepe Solla - the second generation at the helm of this establishment - revolves around another unique and magical creation that will soon make its appearance. His first book; Casa Solla. Pepe Solla. When the Ancestral Becomes Eternal, published by Montagud Editores.Its 256 pages take you on a trip around Galicia, the region in the northwest of Spain that is home to this exceptional restaurant, which continues to push the limits of everyday cuisine. In his first book, this chef takes us on a culinary journey that begins with producers who are unique, resolute and committed to their surroundings, and ends with diners. It is they who, in his opinion, give everything in gastronomy meaning.
As both an ambassador and lover of his homeland, this chef has spent years silently transforming the culinary landscape of Galicia and, in doing so, he has managed to go not only beyond the region's borders, but also those of Spain. Every dish that he creates carries his own personal mark. Each one encompasses a personal and practical vision that always offers a sincere and profound tribute to a land to which he says he will always feel indebted.
Pepe Solla thus presents us with not just Galicia, but his Galicia. This journey takes in mountains, vegetable gardens, markets, rivers and seas. It pauses and comes together in a unique restaurant. And it ends elegantly on the palates of all those who sit at its tables. It is the way that this cook envisages converting the ancestral into something eternal. He acknowledges a special region with a unique pantry that he has repeatedly praised throughout his extensive and brilliant career. He describes all of this in detail, along with a wide-ranging and in-depth selection of some fifty recipes. Not only do they include some of the classics that helped make a name for the restaurant decades ago, but also two mainstays of Galician cuisine - octopus a feira and empanada -, both described in detail by the chef.
"This book will make Pepe Solla's region known all over the world. It offers a journey via raw ingredients and their resulting creations, as well as to the soul of a restaurant's cuisine through it's chef's most intimate reflections," explains Jvi Antoja de la Rosa, head of publishing at Montagud Editores and the editor-in-chief of this book.