Working the land, and understanding it, requirements for the future new Adrià
the future of the high kitchen goes through a more direct relationship with our vegetable plot and our farmers.
Because if it's true that the “new luxury” is an artichoke or a tomato , will be the hands and the knowledge of so many ignored peasants those who have the keys to gastronomic excellence, and not so much the star chef on duty, don't you think?
Our land, whose is it?
The revelation? It was a Tuesday not so long ago, in the context of the presentation by Ricard Camarena at the Girona Gastronomic Forum (which I presented) —the audience was standing, applauding the object that Caramena was holding in his hands: an artichoke . And just four words: “ this is luxury ”.
An artichoke harvested just a few hours before the hands of Tony "Misiano" , the farmer who was standing next to him on the stage.
Curious (beautiful, from my point of view) picture, especially in this setting: the Forum is one of the pioneering events on the planet Gastronomy , and also the catwalk of an unprecedented artistic and technological explosion —its almost twenty years of history witnessed in the first person the “ third gastronomic revolution ”.
Michel Bras picking the fruits of the earth
the era of Adrià and the techno-cuisine. alchemical cooks in search of expanding the limits of the culinary experience and hundreds of years of so many common places around a table.
What a paradox, that it is precisely here where such a “vulgar” vegetable shows us the way towards what is coming: proximity and culinary naturalism, sustainability , environment and a bare kitchen (often almost Spartan) that looks more at the garden than at the laboratory. Dishes with two, three or four ingredients and essentiality as a flag.
Saint-Exupéry wrote that “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing more to take away”. That's it.
It's the kitchen michel braz , the genius of Laguiole that paved the way for so many “calm” cooks ” — oblivious to the noise of the popular and easy arena; the hard part is staying true to an idea. His is the terroir and research in the world of vegetables, herbs, flowers and vegetables that has so influenced so many chefs over more than thirty-five years. and has undoubtedly marked a path for new generations of chefs.
Michel Bras between autumn
Since Andoni Luis Aduriz a Rene Redzepi , since Josean Alija a Rodrigo of the Street , creator of the concept of “ gastrobotany ” and spearhead of this green revolution.
I talk to Rodrigo about this incontestable look at the orchard:
“The kitchen movement green or vegetable is nothing other than the consequences of that gastronomic revolution that is still alive and that I believe Ferran in El Bulli.
Techniques, concepts, work systems, breaking with pre-established norms and looking for a unique personal identity These are the goals of each and every one of the chefs who understood the Adrià phenomenon and which is still alive in those of us who were lucky enough to be contemporaries.
Refering to nature and sustainability , I would like restaurants and chefs around the world to realize the delicate moment that the planet is going through, and how we are mercilessly crushing natural resources increasingly scarce.
In short, the next gastronomic revolution will be (or I hope it will be) that of respect for the future of those who have to come ... and not so much that of the ego that now worries us so much”.
Grandson of a farmer, son of cooks and green chef...
Sustainability not only as a gastronomic trend, but also as a cry for help. As an urgency that we cannot continue to ignore. It is what he has been claiming for years Hector Molina , the 'Don Quixote' of agriculture; Rodrigo's good friend, 'Llauro' without complexes and founder of the Plant Interpretation Center :
“ A farmer, the next Adrià? This statement, which I share one hundred percent, should leave all (and I mean all) cooks thinking and seriously reflecting on where we are and where we want – we should – go.
The main health problems of the 'developed' countries are due to a food model in which large corporations and unethical marketing have made us stop being critical of the system. The other day a person told me that 'we live longer'. True, but are we happier?
One in four people will suffer from cancer, cardiovascular problems, type 2 diabetes in children and we already surpass the United States in childhood obesity.
So, daily, we ingest processed food , chickens whose life span does not exceed forty-two days when a natural cycle should last for months, or vegetables whose only difference from toy plastic vegetables is that the former are chewable. Exactly the same happens with the 'guarantee' seals , among which are also included the ecological ones, no matter how many certifications, controls and regulations they carry, are made to measure for commercial interests whose only symbol is the dollar.
Given all this, a single solution: put name and surnames to whom we entrust our food . Wow, our health."
I have no doubts: There is no truer (and more exciting) luxury that the fruit without makeup of our field , and I am clear that (yes) the future of haute cuisine lies in a more direct relationship with our garden and our farmers. But for that to happen, we have to protect it. All.
This: LUXURY