Carrillera De Ternera appears as a signature dish in 1 Spain cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Carrillera de ternera · San Sebastián
Carrillera de ternera is San Sebastián's slow-braised beef-cheek pintxo: meltingly tender cheek finished in a deep red-wine reduction, plated on a slice of bread at the pintxo counter.
Slow-braised beef cheek became the marquee pintxo of San Sebastián's Parte Vieja in the 2000s, when La Cuchara de San Telmo opened on Calle del 31 de Agosto in 1999 and the pintxos-de-autor wave moved the genre from the counter-cold tradition to hot small-plate cooking. La Cuchara's carrillera al vino tinto is now widely cited (Lonely Planet, Eater, San Sebastián tourism) as the canonical version. Borda Berri across the alley runs an even more concentrated reduction; Galerna Jan Edan in Gros plates a refined Iberico-pork-and-beef-cheek hybrid. Order at the bar; the cheek is dished from a steaming pan beside the till.
Where to eat in San Sebastián:
- La Cuchara de San Telmo
- Borda Berri
- Galerna Jan Edan
- Sirimiri Gastroleku