Rosemary Parkinson, Contributor
FERRAN ADRIA
Only arrogance of the lowest order allows one chef to publicly claim he is better than another. Only respect and humility of the highest order allow one chef to publicly acclaim his fellow chefs - especially so when that chef is none other than Ferran Adria with three Michelin stars and a cookbook under his belt.
He also boasts countless accolades, international recognition, highly successful businesses - one that includes from kitchen utensils to table cloths imprinted with the tapas you might be served at his restaurant elBulli, in Spain.
His team ("never say I here, always we"), of some 50 chefs produces 30 courses for one cover of some 50 patrons in a high-end gourmet restaurant of classic design. With reservations taking up to two years, even the famed French chef Joel Robuchon had this to say: "Ferran is the best cook in the world of technique."
I met Adria, seated among top chefs such as Nobu, Norma Van Aken, Thomas Keller, Jose Andres, Jean Georges - all in South Beach - to pay tribute to him. The occasion was a press conference to discuss the particular dishes to be put before the sell-out dinner in Adria's honour and to share their enthusiasm for him. Adria turned the tables around. He hailed these men he had admired from afar and from whom he had learned everything, never thinking the day would come when he would sit alongside his mentors still feeling very much in their shadows. Ferran Adria is humble and a genius. He knows what he is. And he is what he knows. But how does one even begin to decode, to understand Ferran Adria?
I began with the DVD Decoding Ferran Adria hosted by Anthony Bourdain, famous for his own cookbooks and off-the wall writings, the owner/chef of Le Halle Restaurant in New York, but also known for his disparaging thoughts about Ferran stirring the pot of gourmet cuisine the wrong way. Watching this DVD over and over again I assimilated, sipped, tasted it - every time thoroughly enjoying it. From the experience, you also sense every time there are extra tickings there. The more you think you learn is the more there is to learn. And of course, there's Bourdain, slowly turning into an Adria fan whilst the man himself watches the transformation with an impish, knowing look - his intermittent smile accompanied by twinkling eyes.
When I first saw 'Decoding Ferran Adria' at the Wolfsonian in Miami as part of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival's happening, tears rolled down my cheeks. I instantly recognised I was staring history straight in the face. Within a few I would be meeting this Michelangelo, this Picasso, this Einstein of food - the man behind the new uprising. Just as the '60s movement grabbed the world and changed it for ever, Ferran Adria has converted the world of food with his technological dishes that look like they jumped out of a sci-fi movie - a cuisine of tastes, aromas, individualities that take one's senses into another space.
THE PAST
Ferran Adria was born in Santa Eulalia in the province of Barcelona in 1962. Having begun studies in management, he left school early for no particular reason except he wanted to visit Ibiza. Instead he landed a job as a dishwasher in a small hotel, Playafels. Adria was to be introduced to classic cooking by the chef here using El Classico, Spain's equivalent to the Escoffier handbook - a must-have for every chef worth his weight in spice. After passing through a series of restaurants, in 1983 Ferran got an opportunity to work at elBulli becoming Chef de Partie in no time at all, the rest is history.
THE PARTNERSHIP
Juli Soler had become the manager of elBulli restaurant in 1981. Within two years the restaurant received high recognition and a Michellin star. Ferran Adria came to elBulli in 1983. Realising they had common goals, Ferran and Soler landed up owning elBulli together. By 1987 the development of a different type of menu began, earning another Michelin in 1990 for their excellent cuisine and outstanding service.
Thrown into a frenzy of creativity, Ferran's brother Albert and Oriol Castro join the team and elBullitaller - a workshop from which elBulli disciples work. In 2000 the cramped elBullitaller moved into an old Gothic palace in Portaferrissa, the large space available turned into one massive state-of-the-art kitchen looking more like a space laboratory. Ferran and Soler's dreams came to fruition. It is here that year-round experimentation takes place, although the serious stuff comes when the restaurant closes for six months to revamp the menu with new and innovative ideas for the next season. This is the home of that true revolution with the usual controversy that comes with anything 'unknown'.
THE IDEAS, THE FOOD
"Cooking is a language through which all the following properties can be expressed: harmony, creativity, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humour, provocation, culture" is the first definition of elBulli. There are other sentences used here, 'technical-conceptual search as the apex of the creative pyramid', and words such as research, investigation, 'decontextualisation', deconstruction, irony, spectacle, performance, industrial design, science, taste, touch, smell, sight 'whereby the five senses become one of the main points of reference in the creative cooking process.' Every course is served in specially designed off-the-wall 'containers', dishes, cutlery for handling these morsels of art with equally modernistic glassware for optimum visual gratification. 'Tapas' here can consist of peaches that eat like foie gras; tins of caviar that when opened surprise you with green roe. Once placed on the tongue the caviar fractures into flavours of pure apple. Fried fish covered in edible gauze created like candy floss with an appearance of something that has dropped from outer space.
Pea drops the shape of an egg yolk but taste like ravioli - the team has come up with a secret scientific way of being able to congeal certain flavoured liquids at precisely the perfect temperature forming a thin shell around a discus centre, allowing for all manner of 'explosions' in the mouth! Aerosol Spaghetti made at the table. Artichoke Chips. Lemon Tempura with Liquorish. Raspberry Lilly Pads. Sea Cucumber Skin Chips with Yoghurt. Beautifully formed white cherries, stem and all, rounded with what appears to be white chocolate but once in the mouth, and the pure ham fat dissolves, the cherry within bursts delighting the palate. Herbs on the side of the plate for sniffing in between tastes. Parmesan Wafers with Ice Cream. Strips of caramelised vegetables. As Bourdain asks: "How far can we experiment on the physical side of food to make it new?" I believe he left Barcelona realising that there are no boundaries.
El Bulli
Cala Montjoi, ap.30
Roses (Girona)
Tel: 972 150457
Email: bulli@elbulli.com
Website: www.wlbulli.net
Open from March 29 to October 1.
April, May, June closed Monday & Tuesday
According to the website, no reservations are available before 2007
Simplicity and minimalism may seem unbecoming to people in high positions, but the results are good." I Ching, The Book of Change translated by Thomas Cleary.
