Eva Longoria already knew that her journey back to her roots in Spain was going to have something epic, something emotional and something exhausting. What she may not have imagined is that she would end up with a pig’s head in her hands, ears included, in the middle of Chamberí.
In the Madrid episode of Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain, the new CNN documentary series that explores Spanish gastronomy as a gateway to family and collective memory, the Tex-Mex actress stops at La Tasquería, Javi Estévez ‘s restaurant awarded a Michelin star in 2019 for doing precisely that which so few-or perhaps no one-does well: turning casquería into haute cuisine.
The camera captures Longoria’s expression when he is planted in front of a whole fried Iberian suckling pig head, ears, snout and all. “I’ve never seen this on a table,” she says, between fascinated and incredulous. The dish is not a media whim, it is one of the hallmarks of the restaurant located at 82 Modesto Lafuente Street: a surgical frying, crispy on the outside, mellow on the inside, served with gloves so that the diner can squeeze every last gland.
“This looks like fried chicken,” says Longoria after tasting a piece of ear, before surrendering to the evidence: “This is very good”.
La Tasqueria, a temple of the entrails.
Javi Estévez, chef and host, calmly and expertly explains how to approach the dish. The actress listens, explores, bites. Her face does not invite immediate enthusiasm, but neither does it invite rejection. Rather to respect for a cuisine that others would see as a discard.
Eva Longoria’s visit to La Tasqueria is not anecdotal. It is an example of the extent to which Spanish gastronomy, and more specifically that of Madrid, is capable of defying conventions without renouncing its more streetwise DNA. The fact that a CNN production dedicates space to this type of cuisine may say something about how the global narrative around what we eat is changing.
Eva Longoria’s stay in Spain
The actress, known for her role in Desperate Housewives and for her political activism, also visits other spots in and around the city in the episode, such as the Farah restaurant, run by chef Heba Kharouf, and the municipality of Chinchón, before moving on to Galicia and Asturias, in a quest to reconstruct her Hispanic heritage through the palate.
“Spain has always captivated me,” Longoria says in the U.S. network’s release. “Knowing that one of my Mexican-American ancestors has roots in this country makes it even more special.”
The Madrid episode premiered on May 11 on CNN America. In Spain, for now, we have to wait. Although in La Tasqueria they are already celebrating the moment as it deserves: “A unique experience,” they said from their Instagram account. And they don’t just say it for the cameras.