American chefs

[FoodMan]

Chef Adria,

First I would like to thank you very much for taking the time to chat with us.

Who among the chefs in America do you do you especially admire? Are there any in particular that have any influence on your cuisine?

Elie

[Ferran Adrià]

We follow the USA scene as closely as we can. Albert has just returned from Chicago, where he enjoyed Moto. We're passionate about the States. When someone tells me that you can't eat well in the States, I always answer that he hasn't been in the States.

Without any doubt, America is going to be one of the places where one of the most important creative centers will develop. The lack of a strong tradition and no fear to change will contribute to that development.

[pedro]

Let me share with you the dialog which developed at this point between Ferran and his brother who dropped by the Taller's Chapel (the former chapel now used as a conference room), around the lack of fear to change and the speed of change:

Albert

The foams, ten years ago, took four years to spread. Now the propagation is almost immediate.

Ferran

The gastronomical summits of Madrid and San Sebastián have changed everything.

Albert

Before, there was a kind of fear. Not now, it’s almost the opposite. The risk here is to leave some things in the way. We’re moving so fast, that some things don’t settle down. For instance, we made very few hot gelatins last year.

Ferran

That’s what happens when you have 40 concepts to develop.

Albert

True, but something that clearly fit, a dish with hot gelatin, you look back and realize how few you’ve done.

Ferran

The issue here is who do you work for: For the three thousands cooks in the world who are in the know? For the thousands of people who don’t know what are you talking about when you say hot gelatine? Or for the one thousand like some members of the eGullet Society, who are aware of everything? Who do we work for?

At elBulli, the answer is that we work for ourselves. Next year, we’ll search for balance. We’ll squeeze everything we’ve done: hot gelatins, spherification, airs.

Note: Albert Adrià, among other responsibilities, is the manager of elBulli’s lab, the Taller.