Best Magazine Of Haute Pâtissere

Lemon so good #17

Citric green by Abel Bravo

Citric green by Abel Bravo

Two pillars support the Pastelería Glea in Murcia, run by Abel Bravo and his partner, Poli Gómez: land and innovation. Glea means land in panocho, a local dialect of this part of the Spanish coast. And in pastry terms it translates to a firm commitment to citrus and fruits that in many cases come from the very garden that Abel’s family owns. Citrus, almond, but also the most popular combinations of the area, starting with the most important cake in the region, a savory product based on puff pastry called meat pie. The second of the pillars is innovation or modernity. Having mainly trained in Barcelona by the hand of some of the city’s great chefs (Carles Mampel, Josep Maria Rodríguez – so good #15 and so good #8-, Rafael Delgado), Abel Bravo has developed a taste for new formats, for unglazed cakes, for extremely fresh products and, at the same time, for perfection in the finishes. This is clearly seen in all their variety of products that go from pastries and savory products, to a spectacular collection of bonbons.

The combination of local demand with the air of modernity results in something totally new in a city like Murcia, which despite having about half a million inhabitants is not very used to this type of offer which is so refined and current. “At first, we didn’t know how people would react,” Poli says, “it scared us a little.” Fortunately, after a few months, the public acknowledges Glea, “ they know our products and know what they want,” Abel explains.

This is contributed by the fact that they always use ingredients that are very recognizable to the public in the area and, in addition to identifying the flavors on the labels, they can identify the flavors later on the palate. Abel Bravo refers to this by saying that “one must be honest”, another aspect that places his proposal as a reference to the most restless pastry that is done today.

 

‘In Glea one can breathe the winds of modernity without losing the local reference, using the products offered by the fertile land of Murcia’