This is my favourite tapa of all time. A big call. Well it’s at least in the top 5. You will find a dish by this name in many areas of Spain, for me this is the one and only solomillo al whisky. If you’ve been to Sevilla, you will have seen it on the menu, it is the home of this simple marvel of blokes in the kitchen. I have 4 different recipes for it, but I haven’t been able to get the recipe for it from the joint that makes the best one I’ve had, Bar Monolo in Plaza Alfalfa.
This is the simplest, the others vary from slowly oven roasting a whole garlic (which I highly recommend), cooking the meat in the whiskey, and making the sauce ahead of time and refrigerating overnight (ok, but not great). The sauce is also put over Tortilla de Patatas as well.
What you’ll need:
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 15g butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon whiskey
- 1 tablespoon of beef stock
- 5 or 6 small and very thinly sliced bits of pork loin (think schnitzel thickness)
What to do:
Put the oil in a pan and gently cook the garlic until it’s mushy. Add in the butter, lemon juice, whiskey and stock. Stir it up so the garlic is mashed up and gives the sauce a bit of thickness. Keep the heat fairly low and cook it for 15 minutes until it’s reduced, you may need to take it off the heat every now and then if things get too hot. Add salt and pepper if you think it needs it (it usually doesn’t).
While the sauce is reducing heat a frying pan until it’s super hot. Throw in the pork and cook it for 30 seconds, then straight into the sauce. If you prepared the sauce ahead of time, add it and pork to a super hot pan for 1 minute. Plate it up straight away with some bread.
I’ve tried all types of sherry with this, I like it with manzanilla as it cuts through the fatty sauce, but most Sevillianos drink oloroso.
BTW the photo was taken at one of the meat markets in Sevilla, note the ‘Cerdo Iberico’ sign. (a bad photo with my old point and shoot Canon…the only slightly pork related photo I had handy)
Great post Dave! I’ve never tried Solomillo this way, but now I will! Thank you for the suggestion.
These are worth getting down to Sevilla for! I haven’t seen it done like this anywhere else, but there is clip on YouTube of some nice Spanish lady making another version..
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=2bMm8h4IlGU
I have actually been to Bar Monolo and had the solomillo al whisky. It is truly fantastic. I will make your recipe for this tonight!
I try and make it to Seville every time I’m in Spain just for this dish!
Have a go and let me know how it turns out for you.
TRY THE POLLO CON SALSA ALMENRAS ALSO, HUGE PORTIONS AND SUPER FOOD HAD SOME OF BOTH, THAT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO I STILL HAVENT FORGOTTEN
We just came back from a cruise which ended in Spain and we had 9 days to explore all the tapas places we could fit in. One of our favorite tapas bars in Sevilla is Bodega Santa Cruz. We had the pork in whiskey sauce there and I am recreating it tonight with help from your recipe. I used a veal demi glaze in place of the stock.
Just got back from Seville and had to look for a recipe for this; it is awesome. One of my favourite versions was at an unassuming cafe bar somewhere in the maze of streets north of the cathedral called bar levie. It served up a really generous portion with a pile of roast garlic and papas fritos for 3euros. delicious.
Thats so wierd, I was just talking about this reciepe to someone yesterday. Might have to make some this weekend!
Thanks for this recipe. Just back from 10 days in Andalucia and enjoyed a delicious Tapa of Solomillo al Whisky at La Teresa in Seville. Excited to give this a go with the Manzanilla we brought back from Sanlucar.