News
Albert Adrià: “Everything fits into our NON-philosophy”
Albert Adrià returns to present his concept in Enigma once again in San Sebastián Gastronomika, where priority is given to the product and to the style of having no style.
“I love listening to chefs’ lectures, because it’s just as important to talk about how you cook, as it is to cook how you talk. I am not worried about the new generations, but I am concerned about their discourse when defending their cuisine”, assures the younger Adriá, who came to Donostia to defend his discourse for the second consecutive year. “Congresses act as therapy or as a reflection; last year I explained what Enigma was, but after being open for 15 months my ideas have completely changed. I only open in the evenings, I offer a tasting menu which includes no finger food, I cook above all for foreigners and I do not make neighbourhood haute cuisine. I don’t even take notice of what I say”, he joked.
What he does have very clear is his passion, which he classifies as an obsession, for quality and the seasonality of the product, and for endless creative freedom. “I don’t want to tell a story nor do I want to create a philosophy: I’m looking for a style which hasn’t arrived yet, and meanwhile I enjoy cooking again”, he recognises. He claims to not have a creative system, but operates by using the theory of ideas, the moment, of starting from scratch. “My creative system is a cloud, that mutates, it comes together with other clouds or disappears after a storm”, he explained. He does recognise that he is interested in essentiality, not distorting his view to what shouldn’t be, and prioritises the essential over the unusual, above all “when the explanation of a dish leaves no doubt. Emotion should be achieved through the essentiality of the flavour, for which we should decipher its DNA” he argued.
The ingenious and nonconformist Albert Adrià finds his expressive language through a tasting menu which changes several times a year according to the seasonality of the products, by constituting a global ensemble which summarises his creative anarchy. Today he brought three dishes from Enigma to the congress kitchen such as a gelification of green coconut with caviar, accompanied by a sheet of tender green coconut painted with ham fat, and a touch of thyme and lemon; a mozzarella soufflé, “a recipe, the result of when the muse visits you”, prepared from mozzarella whey, hot foam, albumin, xanthan and fish tail, a steak tartar with ox from Burgos converted into fresh sobrassada prepared on the spot, served on his light air-filled pancake.
Related news
News
Gastronomika is consolidated as "the chefs' congress" at the best event in its 25-year history
San Sebastián Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country closed down its best congress yet in 25 years, not so much in view of the record attendance or the quality of the programme and the chefs involved, but most of all for the positive attitude over the three days. An emotional and very special event signifying a return to the foundational spirit, the spirit of the chefs' congress, where everyone wants to be and get involved.
News
From the Amazon to the Mediterranean ... with a stopover in the Basque Country
Ricard Camarena and Alex Atala put the finishing touch to the 25th San Sebastián Gastronomika with a creative Jam Session of local produce.
News
.jpg)
Leonor Espinosa, her commitment and her soul
The Colombian chef touches on the main aspects of her Funleo foundation, and underlines the importance of passion over technique
News
.jpg)
Cuisine based on the hyperseasonality of nature
Chef Matthew Lightner reconnected with his vocation in the valleys of Oregon, combining creativity with biology and climate activism
News
Gastronomika shows the power of gastronomy as a lever for social change
A day with a full house, which paid tribute to Zuberoa throughout the entire day and placed value on the commitment of José Andrés or Rasmus Munk. Ángel León surprises us once again with a sea bean which will be on the menu at the restaurant in Cadiz next year.
News
.jpg)
Narisawa, the chef who changed the way of understanding cuisine in Japan
Obsessed by sustainability and the natural environment, his dishes are inspired on the seasons of the year
News
.jpg)
José Andrés: The Trojan horses of a storyteller
Chef José Andrés has revolutionised the auditorium in Gastronomika reviewing the keys to his prolific career, moved by passion and social action
News
Munk's butterflies hit the Kursaal
The Danish chef talks about art, social conscience and research to win over an Auditorium full of applause
News
Yamamoto: “Umami is enriched by the influence of other kinds of cuisine”
Critic Masuhiro Yamamoto bases his work on the discovery of new talent, and he favours modern Japanese cookery that has overcome the clichés
News
.jpg)
The history of cuisine conspires in Gastronomika to outline the future of gastronomy
The first day of the 25th anniversary edition of the San Sebastian Gastronomika - Euskadi Basque Country has been full of history and emotion but also of future. The doyen of gastronomy congresses has demonstrated that shared experience and knowledge throughout these 25 years have set a solid foundation for building the cuisine of the future. And witness to this in the Kursaal has been the generation of chefs who changed the history of cuisine.
