ur cuisine draws from the past, but looks to the future," said Elena Lucas, chef at the La Lobita restaurant in Soria, in her opening speech at Féminas. Memory, the environment and the importance of mushrooms and vegetables over meat proteins are the hallmarks of Elena Lucas, chef at the La Lobita restaurant (Navaleno, Soria). Her talk, 'Looking at the forest: cooking among the pines', opened the fourth edition of Féminas, the International Conference on Gastronomy, Women and the Demographic Challenge.

Elena Lucas is the third generation at the helm of La Lobita, which her grandparents opened as a roadside restaurant and which was later run by her parents. Today, the third generation has managed to elevate this rural establishment to the Michelin firmament, winning a star with a cuisine that, in Lucas' words, "draws from the past but looks to the future".

The importance of memory at La Lobita can even be glimpsed in the selection of dishes presented in Lucas' talk: escabeches, callos, pepitoria and a traditional shepherds' stew linked to transhumance: ajo carretero. In the past, ajo carretero was made with sheep that had died accidentally or with male sheep that were not suitable for breeding. We have replaced this meat with lamb because we practice a modern cuisine where the balance of flavours and textures is very important,' he explains.

The other pillar of La Lobita is the absolute link with the local larder and the season. I even like to go to the forest to get my own ingredients," explains the chef. The modernity of her cuisine is also reflected in the replacement of meat and fish as the main ingredients with local mushrooms. This year we have a fantastic mushroom season, both in terms of quality, variety and quantity. In our cuisine, mushrooms are the protagonists, replacing proteins, but the type of mushroom used depends on the season.At the moment, for example, we're making tripe with cauliflower mushrooms, sparassis crispa, because they have the perfect appearance to evoke the texture of animal callus, but if we can't find any next week, the dish will change.

For Elena, who was practically born and raised in the restaurant, memory is one of the great values. We try to recover forgotten dishes: who made a pepitoria this year, for example? It's important to us that it doesn't disappear. We recently had a lady who hadn't had pepitoria since her mother used to make it for her. For her to eat it was to relive her experiences and emotions, and for us that is of immense value,' she said.

Her cooking even revives old remedies for illnesses. Honey with green pineapple, for example, which she updates and serves as a dessert. Identity, the environment and memory are our values," she sums up.

The Feminas Congress, organised by Vocento Gastronomía with the support of Asturias, Cocina de Paisaje and Asturias, Paraíso Natural, is based in this autonomous community that is renowned for its gastronomic values. Since its first edition, Féminas has travelled to different regions. This year, the protagonist region is Western Asturias. The first edition was held at the Hotel Las Caldas.