Jose Andres
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Posts posted by Jose Andres
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Actually the food was prepared by the Napa Culinary Institute, and they did a great job serving over 900 people, following my cookbook recipes, plus a pintxo from Patxi Bergara with Boquerones..................
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Thanks for a great report! Gracias amigo
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The source of inspiration for a number of your restaurants such as Jaleo and minibar are obvious given your culinary background. What made you open Zaytinya and do you have any other surprises in the works?
everyone knows I am from Spain and ultimately that will always be big part of my identity and say a lot in what I do. Is where I come from, is my context we can say. What you see on the plate from me is my story........Who I am where I am from where I worked where I lived who I work with. Is all there........But that is not all.
To me the food of Greece and Turkey has always been fascinating. there are lot of ingredient and flavors in common olive oil, citrus, lots of fish and seafood, they are wine cultures. Also some special things like avgotaraho which is pressed mullet roe a very special product that is rare even in Greece......I have been very lucky to have people in my life who can share with me the secrets of those cuisines. This week we have a famous Greek writer my friend Aglaia Kremezi who has been cooking with us at Zaytinya sharing her recipes People like Aglaia made Zaytinya possible
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Chef Andrés, I recently bought some of the excellent chorizo ibérico de bellota from La Tienda and noticed that your name is on the package. Can you share with us the story of your involvement bringing the legendary ibérico pork products into the US?
For long time it has been my dream of seeing Spanish products everywhere in to America. I want to go to a supermarket in Jackson Wyoming and find pimenton! Sinece I arrive 15 years ago I have been trying to sell Spain. We can say I have dedicated myself to telling our story. It cannot be that we have many wonderful products, cheeses like cabrales, jamon, saffron, rice and no one know about it. So I have been talking and talking and slowly, little bit at a time people in America have been discovering and later asking for these products......
To me iberico is like icon, the icon of Spain, a luxury product like caviar or something. So good you think man! I thoguht this was THE product to really sell Spain..... So what happen? I have been telling the story, preaching the gospel of iberico all over America......
I work on creating the interest but ultimately there was a limit to what I can do personally. Has to be the government, has to be the producer, has to be the importer involve in this process to make it move........So I look for a partner, someone who produce the iberico, and I found this man called Santiago Martin in small town of La Alberca. His family company Fermin makes iberico. Sanitago was the one to bring ibercio to Japan! This was my guy.........Then I look for someone to bring it and sell it in America. Someone who knows how to bring imported product and sell them and can make it a success. I find the people at Rogers Collection....they each do their piece and me I still do what I do I keep talking about iberico. Just I try to open doors and move things, a facilatator
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Chef Andrés,
You mentioned a little while ago on egullet that you're planning to follow up on your excellent Tapas book with one devoted to the more experimental work of Minibar. Any news on when this might be published?
as I have said before minibar is very important to me. It is my project, my baby. A place to dream, to work with my team without any restrictions. I wanted to be free from expectations about what was sweet and what was savory, about what came first and what came last........ Every day is new. We are thinking of something new like new product, new technique, new way of working, we see something new, we find a better way to do things......... We are still refining, growing, we are in process of evolving. Do we go bigger? Do we move? Many questions.
Obviously a minibar book will be part of our plan. A book to show what we learn what we do beautiful foto of dishes and technique..... I hope to do this but with the tv show and the restaurant and so many projects, I have to wait.
The minibar book will still happen. it is a matter of finding when we can make it happen.
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Dani's reputation is already strong. I am lookoing forward to seeing him at the WOF Conference. Is Marcos the son of Pedro Moran or are they the same person? What is he becoming known for in particular?
Marcos! That is him! Pedro Moran makes the most amazing fabada at Casa Gerardo. They are all cooks. His family has had the business for many generations. Marcos is the same. An amazing young cook
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That does not sounds right. I can tell you that one of the great things about eating padron peppers is that is normally like russian roulette. You are eating the peppers. They are fried in olive oil and have a little salt. Most are nice and mild and full of flavor. You relax and then one hits you! Suprise! Spicy! Maybe they sell you the wrong seeds?......
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Fogive me for being terribly reductionist, but I would say that the work of forward-thinking Spanish chefs in the field of molecular gastronomy/hypermodern cooking has had two major processes that have really changed the way many of us eat across the globe.
1) The creation of N2O espumas and lecithin-infused airs have fundamentally changed the way we think of the presentation of flavors. Traditionally heavy purees, sauces, etc ("tastes," to put it broadly) have been restructured toward lightness.
2) Gelifications and spherications of various methods have become quite the rage across the globe in the past couple years. From a presentation perspective alone, sphercation allow us to really see and taste the essence of food in a neat, compact, but novel package. Chef Adria is pushing forward in this regard as seen at the Spain's 10 Summit in NYC.
My question is, what's next? What watershed technique or process will next spring from the hypermodern kitchen to spark massive discussion among the world's dining community?
I think we are in the process of looking back now to see and understand everything that has happen..........And the techniques you are talking about are only known to very FEW people like yourself......Still far away from really influencing a big number of people..............
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Jose,
What is your take on Sherry in all of its glorious forms. Here in Vancouver we have a great selection primarily from Lustau but sadly they still do not sell that well. How does Sherry interact with your cooking and menu?
Cheers,
Stephen Bonner
Vancouver
Sherry is still in Spain an Old good lady that everyone loves but everyone forgets to invite to their parties!....So if this is the case in Andalucia imagine away from Spain.
I LOVE SHERRY FROM SPAIN, but producers are in need of a REVOLUTION from the inside to start projecting themself to the world in a new way.....
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Chef-
In the US we have relatively few authentic Spanish restaurants as opposed to say Italian restaurants or French ones. It is true that Spain and it's food (besides tapas) is gaining popularity and I am very happy about that becuase it is a remarkable cuisine, but still in a city as big as Houston, you will find maybe one or two Spanish restaurants, and even those they mainly emphasize tapas.
In her book, The New Spanish Table, Anya Von Bremzen attributes that to the extreme regionality and ingredient specific dishes that can be only found in Spain. Meaning that many Spanish dishes cannot be made properly outside of their hometown.
Do you agree? If not what is your take on the subject?
I'll reserve my opinion of her statement till you post yours
Many thanks for taking the time to join us Chef!
I will have to disagree with my good friend Anya......................Spanish restaurant in Amercia or the lack of them is because is not Spanish chefs here..............................Another thing is about the ingredients........What happen we can not make a Gazpacho with tomatoes from Good Morning FArm in PEnn?
Yes, we only need good Spanish Sherry vinegar and good Spanish olive oil!...But if we take out vinegar and oil from spain and we used from lets say California, Is not Spanish anymore?...............I will argue that the dish is still Spanish at heart...................
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Thanks for doing this, chef. And cngratulations on an extremely strong showing in the Post's dining guide. You must be a culinary Midas -- every restaurant you touch seems to turn to, if not gold, at least silver.
My question is, with all the demands on your time, how much time do you actually get to spend cooking? How do you keep your chops? Have you ever considered starting -- as Roberto did -- something like Il Laboratorio, where you can indulge in "sky's the limit" cooking one or two nights a week in a small setting, without having to take too much time from your other responsibilities or break the rhythms of the excellent chefs now winning stars at Jaleo, Atlantico etc.?
Well MINIBAR is my place!
And I cook as often as possible........Cooking to me is not really the moment of doing it yourself but EVERYTHING has to happen to make the moment possible........So as far as I know I'm cooking ALL THE TIME........That is my two hands the ones that cook is not possible...My Brain does
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Chef Andres & those chefs out there who own any of the el Bulli series...
Do you use many of the recipes/techniques represented? If so which ones?
&
How long has it taken you to sift through all the info in these massive tomes?
I'm still "decoding" #3 which I've had for 3 years...i've had #2 for about a year and I'll probably get to it sometime in 2008 if I'm lucky. ;-)
Well I've been lucky enough that by the time the book is out I know much of it.....But forget El Bulli
How many traditional techniques we dont have time to really master?
El Bulli books can take few life times to understand and digest
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Can you identify any young Spanish cocineros who may be currently unknown to most of the world, but who we should expect to get to know?
Marcos Moran from Casa Gerardo in Asturias
Dani Garcia from Calima in Marbella
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I'm watching this weekend's Real Madrid - F.C. Barcelona soccer game with some friends. Any suggestions on dishes I should prepare? (There will be both merengues and culés there).
Any predictions on the score?
Barcelona will win 0-5.............And I will only do a Barcelona-catalan menu!!!!!!!!
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Jeeze, this is exciting, I have about a zillion questions and don't know where to start. I guess I'll make the most of your combined knowledge of Spanish cuisine and American tastes. The U.S. is an increasingly important market for Spanish wine in both volume and money. What do you think Americans' attitude towards Spanish wine is the moment? Are they more aware of it?
In know this is a pretty broad question, but I would love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject.
¡Gracias!
Well Spain thanks to Wines from Spain and the different Bodegas and their winemakers are really moving forward................Americans like new things....And Albarinos, Godellos, Treixaduras, Mecia, Garnachas are new and exciting.....The cuisine and the hot chefs from Spain are also helping to make Spanish wine hot...........Still is a lot to do, but today we have areas dedicated to Spanish wines in Wineshops when 10 years ago we were mixed with Southamericans and Greeks.........Today everyone has its own place and this is a good sign
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Hi Chef Jose,
Thanks for joining us here at eGullet.
Why did you choose DC to open your first restaurant? Why do you stay in the area? I've heard rumors of your being offered opportunities elsewhere that you turned down. What attracts you to the DC area, and what would it take for you to consider expanding to another city or country?
Well DC is my city since I was 23..........................................at 37 is no time for me to go nowhere....We have the best restaurant city in USA, great of everything, good quality of live, good farmers, good soccer fields, 6 hours away from Spain.....3 daughters and a wife, which I love ............Men this is Paradise, even if I like New York and LA too....
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Sorry about the reference to litigation. There was an article in the Wall Street Journal - which was mentioned here on Egullet. When Wikipedia wrote you up - it said - "[h]e is currently pursuing a complaint in a case of culinary plagiarism ostensibly committed by a former protege." Maybe when you get some time you can edit your Wikipedia entry <smile>.
If I understand you correctly - what you really object to is developing a dish - and then having another person passing it off as his own creation. Yes?
We recently went to a new restaurant in California called Tanglewood. It has a fair number of descriptions on its menu like this:
SWEET CORN AND CHANTERELLE "RISOTTO", JEREMIAH'S
BLACK BEAN CAKE - 11
(Vegetarian twist on a Jeremiah Tower Classic)
And this:
ROASTED SUMMER STEW, FRESH RICOTTA GNOCCHI
OR MARINATED TOFU - 15
(Hearty vegetarian or vegan selection, inspired by the Indian vegetarian dish, baingan bartha - a slowly-simmered ragout made from fire-roasted eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices. Gnocchi inspired by Judy Rodgers' recipe from Zuni Cafe)
And this:
BUTTERMILK FRIED WOLFE QUAIL, JICAMA, CARROT, AND CABBAGE SLAW, WITH HONEY BUTTERED MINI BISCUITS - 15 / 27
(The biscuit recipe is a tribute to James Beard's favorite biscuit recipe- his mother's)
Would you object if another restaurant took one of your ideas - and gave you credit for the dish on its menu the way Tanglewood does? Robyn
Never...In my menus tou find Freddy Girardet........Ferran Adria, Robuchon, etc.....but again not everything can have an attached name to it...But lets say you do a caramelize olive oil bon bon......Dont tell a newspaper is yours when this was done by me and my team....................
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Chef Andres, I've just returned from ten days in Barcelona, and while I may be spouting the tourist council line, the joie de vivre that suffuses the culinary community seems remarkable to this Yankee. In particular, having been edified by Robert Hughes's Barcelona and Colman Andrew's Catalan Cuisine, both of which stress this theme, I was fascinated by the melange of ancient and avant garde that characterizes the food scene there.
My time there makes me think that the "new Catalan cuisine" is grounded in a centuries-old reverence for good food, prepared well, and shared in the spirit of camaraderie -- a fundamental point that the US food media, with its fetishization of hypermodern technology and technique, doesn't seem to get. Enjoying my dinner at Hisop, munching on Escriba and Rovira treats, and just walking through the city, I found new and old stuck together inseparably. Here's one moment: ten minutes after overhearing Albert Asim, the chef at Bar Pinotxo, waxing ebullient about his most recent meal at El Bulli while plating some transcendent garbanzos with sofregit, I walked by a restaurant display window from which Adria's mug beamed above his messy snail bib.
Reading this Spotlight Conversation (and remembering the alarmingly good and unpretentious kibbeh I enjoyed at Zantinya last fall), I'm wondering how the old Catalan cuisine informs or influences your own very new cooking.
Thanks in advance.
Well when I was 5 years old my family arrive to BArcelona. My father will take me to La Boqueria market on Saturdays when I was 6......By 14 I will go on my own early every morning...........I grow up there, and CAtalonia, thanks to its proximity to France, has some of the most interesting cooking anywhere in the world.......Why Picasso, Why Miro, Why Dali, Why Gaudi....Why Adria?....Probably because all the things you describe my friend...Amazing
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Chef José,
First off, let me say muchas gracias por la conversación. In addition to the many good things that have already been said about you and your restaurants, your willingness to spend so much of your time here answering our questions is yet another tribute to your comittment to sharing your love for and through your cocina. Thank you.
In the U.S., when people think of Spanish cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is tapas. Also, even many who are a little more familiar with the richness and variety of Spanish cuisine know very little about the various regional traditions; instead, we often tend to think of Spanish cuisine as one monolithic entity and fail to grasp the ways in which la cocina gallega might be different from what one might find in Andalucía. When I speculate about the direction that Spanish cuisine in the U.S. will take in the future, I can see a couple of directions. One possibility is that tapas will remain king, but I wonder if perhaps regional cooking will come to the forefront, or if there is some other take on Spanish cuisine -- perhaps the nueva cocina -- will become the new face of Spanish cuisine in the U.S.
Do you have any predictions about the direction the Spanish cuisine will take in the U.S.? If you were able to influence the U.S. eating public in any direction you chose, in which direction would you lead us? Why?
Thank you again for your participation in this forum.
(Edited for grammar errors.)
Well, Tapas are the way for Spansih chef to sell Spanish cooking.........................So I think tapas are here to stay...............! Thanks to tapas, we will be able to sell traditional, modern traditional, and Nueva Cocina too..........But more important all of this will happen because more ingredients will arrive from Spain in the next few years.........And this is important...The clementines you find every fall in the markets? From Spain............
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Chef Andres,
Your work in popularizing both avant garde and Spanish cuisine in the US has been exemplary.
In that vein, which style of cooking is more "you," that of El Bulli/Minibar or the types of recipes included in your cookbook and at your other restaurants?
Are they mutually exclusive in your mind?
Thank you my friend. I work very hard to promote Spain in America.
I don't like labels. I think you can do a little bit of everything. Sometimes minibar, sometimes callos, sometimes watermelon tomato skewer..... To me the problem with label is like they put you in a little box and that is it. This guy does traditional. This guy does molecular gastronomy. That guy does barbecue.......
Ultimately I am me. Nothing more. What I do reflects what I am interested in. What moves me. Obviously, you reflect your influences and where you come from and where you have been and who you have worked with. You are a mirror in some ways. But ultimately you are you.
You have your integrity. You have to honor your own vision. You have to do your best. You do that you will always be successful whatever you do. in the kitchen or in life
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It is a GREAT photo, yes!
He's not at all angry, just amused....and too busy to go to a bookstore to take a peep. I use his brilliant yellow potatoes to make your patatas a la Riojana and tortilla.
The recent growth in farmers markets goes hand-in-hand with the increasing profile and virtues of wonderful restaurants in our city, including yours of course. I know what you have done to help the development of the FRESHFARM market in Penn Quarter.
While a love of prosciutto may have thrown me into the arms of Spanish food, I have to say (again) that the spinach tapa at Jaleo is one of my favorite dishes. I especially like the way you use fruits as well as vegetables in savory tapas.
I am not sure how much you ask farmers to grow produce you can't find in other places. However, Heinz, for example, grows experimental crops that he doesn't bring to the market unless asked. After searching for cardoons without any success, I mentioned my quest to him. This Sunday he's bringing a second bunch to Dupont Circle just for me. For a home cook not used to this kind of direct relationship to farmers, this kind of personal response is special.
Combining sweet and savory is a very Catalan thing. let's you get that balance.
I want calcots and I would love to see someone try to grow them in America. Years back I convince an Amish guy to sell me his zucchini flowers. he thought I was crazy.
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iberico is made from a special pig! The black pig from western Spain Extremadura, andalucia,. Sometimes called pata negra because it has black hooves. They descend from the wild boars........These pgis have more intramuscular fat so more tender, sweet. A cured ham that dries and hangs until the ham master says is ready.
Sounds good? Bellota is even better. The pig is allowed to run free in the forest so it gets fattened on acorns......creates a ham that is event sweeter and nuttier. The KING of ham. Very rare and expensive but worth it. Like caviar. You taste and you want to cry is so good
Serrano is very similar process. Also a cured ham but made from common white pigs
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Chef Andres, I've just returned from ten days in Barcelona, and while I may be spouting the tourist council line, the joie de vivre that suffuses the culinary community seems remarkable to this Yankee. In particular, having been edified by Robert Hughes's Barcelona and Colman Andrew's Catalan Cuisine, both of which stress this theme, I was fascinated by the melange of ancient and avant garde that characterizes the food scene there.
My time there makes me think that the "new Catalan cuisine" is grounded in a centuries-old reverence for good food, prepared well, and shared in the spirit of camaraderie -- a fundamental point that the US food media, with its fetishization of hypermodern technology and technique, doesn't seem to get. Enjoying my dinner at Hisop, munching on Escriba and Rovira treats, and just walking through the city, I found new and old stuck together inseparably. Here's one moment: ten minutes after overhearing Albert Asim, the chef at Bar Pinotxo, waxing ebullient about his most recent meal at El Bulli while plating some transcendent garbanzos with sofregit, I walked by a restaurant display window from which Adria's mug beamed above his messy snail bib.
Reading this Spotlight Conversation (and remembering the alarmingly good and unpretentious kibbeh I enjoyed at Zantinya last fall), I'm wondering how the old Catalan cuisine informs or influences your own very new cooking.
Thanks in advance.
I believe tradition coooking has a lot to say and yu see this in barcelona. Tradition gives you a place to start, a language, a context for the modern........what is modern? Someone had to fry the first egg people maybe thought it was weird but look at us now........If you don't know tradicional ajoblanco how can you possibly understand what Dani Garcia does wiht nitrogen? Or what Ferran does with chicken curry? Or what I did to clam chowder or philly cheesesteak.......we need to know and respect tradition........Also my tradition is not necessarily your tradition, what is normal to me nothing special is WAO to you what is this? you might say......what i think people in Spain relize is not about choosing one or the other, there is place for both tradition and modernity....variety.......To me there is nothing better than carn d'olla or pa amb tomaquet sometimes it cotton candy foie gras I am sure many think like me
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Thank you for saying this!
By the way, Heinz Thomet, the bearded Swiss farmer at Dupont Circle on Sundays, was VERY surprised to learn that his picture prefaces the chapter on potatoes in your cookbook.
Minor question: Why do you specify Idaho potatoes instead of waxier varieties in your recipes?
I hope Heinz is not mad at me! He never say anything to me about it. Is a good foto no?..........I LOVE the Dupont farmers market! All the farmers who come to sell are important to me. I am a big supporter of all the markets in the area and small farmers and Tuscarora...........it is important to have fresh vegetables and fruits available in hte city and to keep alive some of these traditions.
Idaho potatoes usually are drier and have more starch. Could also be russet. I think they work better for some recipes especially when you bake or fry. They also thicken because they fall apart
Madrid Fusión 2007, Jan 15-18
in Spain & Portugal: Cooking & Baking
Posted · Edited by Jose Andres (log)
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