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Madrid Fusión 2006 - Ferran's manifesto


AlexForbes

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. . . .

What was perhaps the most striking was the apparent sense of community among many of the Spanish chefs. It was rare for the Americans (Wylie Dufresne noted it as well. "I don’t think anyone considers the Americans as united as this"), and practically unheard of amongst the Brits (of which there were a few notable names in the crowd, having paid their own passage).

I was first made aware of this sense of community from an article on Carme Rusculada in a women's fashion magazine, of all places. She spoke very encouragingly of the openess in top nueva cucina kitchens and the honesty with which Spanish chefs share their ideas with staff. Traditionally, this is the way all haute cuisine chefs have learned the secrets of the trade, but traditionally one learned slowly over time in a great kitchen. One learned by repetition and obeying orders. Carme intimated a different order of open sharing. Perhaps it's hard to define the difference, but there's an open discussion which is what appears to contribute to a movement. In fact a dozen French chefs all looking over each other's shoulders trying to do the same thing is less of a movement than twelve Spanish chefs doing their own thing, but talking about it to each other, but perhaps I over romanticize the movement. Nevertheless, it's hard to deny the sense of community. It's not surprising for Wylie to spot and make note of it either. I very much sense this would appeal to him.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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Wylie has learned more than just about inside-out steamers in Madrid... I bumped into him and a bunch of other Madrid Fusión characters, including José Polo and Toño Pérez of the brilliant Atrio of Cáceres (two Michelin stars), late one night at the Asturianos tavern. They had already had an official dinner at some modern place, but there they were wining and dining for the second time - Wylie wolfing down a huge platter of home-cooked fabada asturiana. At 11.30 at night, my goodness! I wonder how well he slept after that...

Carme Ruscalleda's sense of community with other Spanish chefs is somewhat - how can I put it? - cast into doubt for the time being. This is after some blistering political statements she made about how Catalonia was sick and tired of financially supporting all those lazy Spaniards. We're left to wonder in what category - financial supporters or lazy bums - she places the hundreds of non-Catalan customers who happily shell out 200 euros apiece for lunch at her (wonderful, BTW) restaurant...

Victor de la Serna

elmundovino

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Speaking of Wylie and Ferranism, another chef has officially joined "the movement",

with a Wylie alum in tow. On Jan. 16, NY magazine published:

"Alex Ureña has been working in New York kitchens almost since he arrived from the Dominican Republic at age 15. He started out washing dishes at the River Café before graduating to pastry and garde-manger, spent nine years with David Bouley, opened Blue Hill with Dan Barber, and became executive chef at Marseille and Suba. Between gigs, he ricocheted around France and Spain, soaking up experience from masters like Roger Vergé and Ferran Adrià. Stimulated by Spain’s gastronomic revolution and its pervasive effect on the culinary avant-garde, Ureña officially joins their ranks this month with his modern Spanish restaurant, the kind of place that assumes a certain foodie familiarity with phrases like mustard paper and chorizo emulsion. Like-minded pastry chef Caryn Stabinsky, a WD-50 alum, bakes her own bread and takes a playful approach to dessert—one of them, called "Breakfast," involves wheat toast cake, Bulgarian feta, maple caramel, and rosemary oil."

Alexandra Forbes

Brazilian food and travel writer, @aleforbes on Twitter

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I might post some more later, but here's a couple to show some of the particpants...

Adria with Homaro Cantu and ... gallery_8259_153_38796.jpg

Apologies for poor quality: Joseph and Thomas Keller with Harold McGee and Wylie Dufresne

gallery_8259_153_31804.jpg

gallery_8259_153_30720.jpg

Some (but not all) Left to right: Capel, Norman Van Aken, Paul Prudhomme, Adria, Martin Berasetegui, Arzac, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, Charlie Trotter, Mark Miller etc

Edited by MobyP (log)

"Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer..." Bessie Smith

Flickr Food

"111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321" Bruce Frigard 'Winesonoma' - RIP

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Cool photo. What did Chef Cantu's presentation consist of? The expressions on the faces are priceless.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Hi famous food replicator... (a printer that prints using edible paper and ink and the resulting print out tastes sort of like whatever the image on it is showing), among other things.

I do replicate some food, but I'm not really famous for it :raz::laugh::biggrin: Sorry, couldn't resist. :smile:

Seriously, that is pretty cool technology and he does some pretty cool things with it.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Ferran and Charlie Trotter watching Homaru Cantu's presentation.

Actually I think that's Norman Van Aken - but we were making the same mistake. He looks like Trotter - plus 40 lbs in weight. We ended up (amongst ourselves - and I apologise Mr Van Aken) calling him False Trotter.

Cantu's display was great. At the end, both Arzak and Adria were asking for copies of his demonstration film which showed footage of his sealed class IV carbon laser, his use of liquid nitrogen and various other goodies.

"Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer..." Bessie Smith

Flickr Food

"111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321" Bruce Frigard 'Winesonoma' - RIP

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Here are all 23 points of Ferran's manifesto:

1- Cooking is a language through which one can express harmony, creativity, happiness, beauty, poetry, complexity, magic, humour, provocation.

2- One may assume that only top-quality products will be used and that the techniques used to prepare dishes will be well-mastered.

3- All products have the same gastronomic worth, regardless of price.

4- We prefer to cook with vegetables and seafood. Dairy also predominates, as well as dried fruits and other products that amount to a light cuisine. We rarely cook large cuts of red meat or whole birds.

5- Even if the characteristics of products are changed (temperature, texture, shape, etc.), the goal is to preserve its original flavour, except when slow-cooking or when searching for the matrix resulting from reactions such as Maillard’s.

6- Cooking methods, both classical and modern, are a heritage that the cook must utilize to the maximum extent.

7- As happened throughout the past in other fields of human knowledge, new technologies support the progress of gastronomy.

8- The family of fonds is expanding, and alongside the classic ones we use lighter broths  (flavoured waters, consimmés, clarified vegetable juices, milks of dried fruits or nuts) in similar ways.

9- The information that is on a plate is enjoyed through all senses, and also through reflexion.

10- The stimuli of the senses are not only taste-related: we can also play with the senses of touch (contrast of temperatures and textures), smell, sight (colours, shapes, illusionisms, etc), so that the senses become one of our points of reference when we create dishes.

11- The techno-conceptual search is one of the cornerstones of the creative pyramid.

12- We create as a team.

13- The boundary separating savoury and sweet is blurred. There’s a rise in the importance of savoury ice creams and cold food in general.

14- The classical structure of dishes is being ruptured. There is a revolution in the appetizers and desserts, in the sense that they have become symbiotic, while the appetizer - main course – dessert hierarchy is broken.

15- A new way of presenting food is gaining strength.

16- A chef’s cooking style is linked to his feelings towards his surroundings.

17- The products and preparations from other countries are submitted to our cuisine’s own criteria.

18- There are two main ways to reach harmony between products and flavours: through memory (deconstructing, links to the autonomous cook, adaptation, previous modern recipes), or through new combinations.

19- Our food is connected to the world and the language of the arts.

20- Recipes are conceived to be served in small portions.

21- Taking a dish out of context, or using irony, performance or spectacle is perfectly acceptable, as long as this is not done in a superficial way, and so that there is a link with gastronomic reflexion.

22- The tasting menu is how we express our avant-garde cuisine. Its structure is alive, and is subject to change. We are betting on concepts such as snacks, tapas, morphings, etc.

23- The knowledge and/or the collaboration with experts from different fields (gastronomic culture, history, industrial design, science) is primordial in our evolution.

This is the only recent culinary manifesto I've seen that did not include the words "sustainable", "local", "seasonal" or "organic".

John Whiting, London

Whitings Writings

Top Google/MSN hit for Paris Bistros

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This is the only recent culinary manifesto I've seen that did not include the words "sustainable", "local", "seasonal" or "organic".

I know Ferran is passionate about products from his terroir, even if he doesn't state that clearly on his manifesto (especially the seafood). OTOH, I've got him on tape saying that he recently had some cherries from Chile, in Barcelona, which were some of the best he'd ever had, and "so what if they're not in season?" He believes you can use products from all over the world, as long as you subject them to your own way of cooking, to your own traditions.

Alexandra Forbes

Brazilian food and travel writer, @aleforbes on Twitter

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Of the omissions, "sustainable" is the only one that really bothers me as much as I personally like "local" and "seasonal".

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Of the omissions, "sustainable" is the only one that really bothers me as much as I personally like "local" and "seasonal".

I agree Doc, the "Slow Food" movement and others like it are perhaps the most important of the current era, culinary wise. When I look over the dinner table at my three small children I would like to think there will be a bounty of things left for them to enjoy once I am long gone. It is less about taste, (although "local", "organic" and "seasonal" do tend to taste better IMO) and more about responsibility to the planet we share together.

The flip side of this is the trendy factor, if you read the Telepan review in the New Yorker you can see the sarcasm of the author as it relates to those "buzz" words. Hopefully more of the important voices in the culinary world will speak up in favor of responsibility and own it. Far be it from me to cast a sideways glance at the master but I think he might have missed a great opportunity to leverage his leadership by leaving that ideal out.

-Mike & Andrea

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It's unfortuante that serious concerns often degenerate into buzz words. Manifestos usually don't help the situation either. There's just no point in issuing a manifesto that repeats someone else'e manifesto.

I don't see any contradiction in favoring local sustainable farming, but still appreciating quality from wherever it comes. I'd hate to be restricted to buying bananas from my neck of the woods all year long. (I live in NYC.) At the same time, I recently had some local bananas in Puerto Rico, that were of a color, flavor and texture that I've never experienced here.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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This is perhaps not the place to pursue the subject at length, but I come increasingly to the conclusion that anyone not yet drawing Social Security should, if merely out of self-interest, give a thought as to whether his eating habits are contributing ecologically to his own demise. I am most interested in those modern gastronomic movements, such as Slow Food, which show some awareness of the environment on which their survival depends. One may argue as to whether their policies are right or wrong, but at least they have their eyes open.

Adria and the molecular gastronomy movement seem to exist in a magic bubble, a world as abstract and uncorporeal as higher maths. They seem to give no weight to where their raw materials come from or how they are obtained. They bring to mind the Victorian directors of the Regents Park Zoo, who, following the dietary myth of verisimilitude, decimated the creatures under their care by dining off the brains of as many living species as possible.

I wonder where Adria's muse will lead him now that he has achieved virtual divinity. A knowledgable admirer who returned to el Bulli last year tells me that this time he was seriously disppointed. Adrià, he says, is experimenting with processed foods that can be sold ready-prepared, and he suspects that the diners are being made his guinea pigs.

John Whiting, London

Whitings Writings

Top Google/MSN hit for Paris Bistros

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Adrià, he says, is experimenting with processed foods that can be sold ready-prepared, and he suspects that the diners are being made his guinea pigs.

Konwledgeable admirer? This is a thorough a misrepresentation of what Adrià is cooking up lately as I've read in a long time. I'm not (by a mile) an unconditional fan of his, but he's certainly not doing that.

Edited by vserna (log)

Victor de la Serna

elmundovino

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On the whole, I enjoyed more the meal I had in 2004 than last year's, but I wouldn't characterize any of the dishes as something that may be linked with processed food. Other than the obvious link that almost all kinds of cooking involves processing food.

Adrià makes use of seasonal products, something which can be easily confirmed looking at the menus in their books. He also told us in the Q&A we had in December 2004 that the vast majority of the ingredients they use travel no more than 100 kilometers to elBulli.

PedroEspinosa (aka pedro)

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Adria and the molecular gastronomy movement seem to exist in a magic bubble, a world as abstract and uncorporeal as higher maths. They seem to give no weight to where their raw materials come from or how they are obtained. They bring to mind the Victorian directors of the Regents Park Zoo, who, following the dietary myth of verisimilitude, decimated the creatures under their care by dining off the brains of as many living species as possible.

John, speaking as a one who strongly supports both Slow Food and hypermodern cooking, I do not see where your statement comes from. While both arenas may not be of precisely the same bent I see no inconsistency in supportinng both as I see neither diametrically opposed to the other. I see them as being complementary. While it may not be necessary for those espousing hypermodern cuisine or Ferranism, it certainly is not mutually exclusive for them to espouse sustainability and responsibility as well.

Edited by docsconz (log)

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Let me beat the dead, or dying, horse. On three occasions, I have been thrilled to dine at elBulli. I suppose I would consider myself a fan of Adria's, but it's not my favorite place to eat, even in Spain. Nevertheless, I will look forward to the next chance I have to dine there. Even a sushi chef processes food. John, you'd probably hate it, but you owe yourself the opportunity to try it, even if you can't come to the table with an open mind. Cassoulet is one of many old fashioned country dishes for which a take out business has thrived for years at charcuteries and epiceries in France, and I am assured by a French chef of the first order that excellent cassoulet can be purchased in cans, yet I believe we could agree that this is as far from what Adria is doing as any cooking can be and the sort of food you love.

Now about this admirer of yours. Who is it exactly that he admires? :wink:

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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Adrià, he says, is experimenting with processed foods that can be sold ready-prepared, and he suspects that the diners are being made his guinea pigs.

Harold Mc Gee and José Andres, in their joint presentation at the MF, reminded us that many techniques now used in restaurants like El Bulli and WD-50 were first developed by the food industry, and Ferran, when commenting on his own manifesto, said that the contributions from the food industry have been invaluable to him as a chef. The whipped cream syphon being one of many examples cited by McGee and Andres. The next frontier is trying to determine how food ages in cans - which ones taste better after a certain time, which ones don't. So yes, they are experimenting with processed foods, but that's not a bad thing! Ferran and his peers are trying to find answers to questions never before asked (as far as I know), such as whether a canned sardine in tomato sauce will taste better after 5 yrs, improving with age as a good red wine would.

Alexandra Forbes

Brazilian food and travel writer, @aleforbes on Twitter

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Ferran and his peers are trying to find answers to questions never before asked (as far as I know), such as whether a canned sardine in tomato sauce will taste better after 5 yrs, improving with age as a good red wine would.

Never before? You're young, possibly, so this seems quite new to you. And to Ferran, from what you tell (Ferran is still filling some holes in his knowledge of world gastronomy - as we all are, of course)...

The improvement of sardines in can has been studied for decades by the greatest fans of this type of food - the Portuguese and the French. French fans vintage-date their sardine cans and wait for years to eat the contents (one important requisite: turning the can over every five or six months, so that the oil will always permeate the fish). The quality of each subsequent vintage of sardines and its aging pattern is much discussed in French culinary circles...

At the Brasserie Lipp, in Paris, they serve vintage-date Connétable brand sardines(currently the 2001 vintage), packed in extra virgin olive oil, directly from the can.

For a whole collection of sardines (and herring, and other fish), vintage-dated, currently on sale from the top French producers, and going back to the 1997 (that's for autumn anchovies), take a peek here:

http://www.pennsardin.com/commande/commande.php

I still remember about 10 years ago, in London, when I was the first to explain to Ferran what a thing called 'lemongrass' was... Even the great masters don't know everything!

Edited by vserna (log)

Victor de la Serna

elmundovino

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This may be a rudamentary type question, but after truly enjoying every post in this thread, I must know how one goes about attending this "seminar?" Is a ticket based thing or is it a selective process of who gets to attend. Thanks for the great information and the wondeful accounts of this amazing affair!!!

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