Green on the plate, by Rodrigo de la Calle
In some places like New York, green cooking has become a religion. Here we don't get that far, but almost. It's not that the ribeye loses strength –proteins can beat us- but vegetables and their relatives (mushrooms, for example) are rising. We have discovered that we like chlorophyll!
Great chefs such as Michel Bras, Alain Passard, Michel Gerard or Andoni Aduriz long ago opted for make vegetables famous In addition to being healthy, they are much more versatile than other ingredients. But that was when the boys from the North showed up, with Rezdepi and his restaurant Noma in the lead when this light, fresh and different cuisine received the final push. And that there with the little sun that there is, strawberries are eaten unripe. By the way, will Noma continue for another year as No. 1 on the list of the best restaurants in the world? We'll find out tonight and We will tell you live from London.
Thistle mushrooms from the Mugaritz orchard
Strawberry spinach from Mugaritz
In Spain there are also a handful of green chefs who cook roots, flowers, leaves, sprouts, tubers... ** Rodrigo de la Calle ** opened a gap with the “gastrobotany” a work philosophy that consists of recovering the cultivation of vegetables and fruits with gastronomic value and promoting their use in the kitchen. The work he does with the products of the orchard of Aranjuez It's magnificent. Even the desserts are made with vegetables! Do not miss it now that the season of asparagus and strawberries begins.
buried by nature
A dish that comes directly from the land
His neighbor **Fernando del Cerro (Casa José)** has had the merit of getting her clients to change the traditional roasts for a vegetarian menu . His latest work focuses on seeing how vegetables behave when cooked with different fats. The result dishes that harmonize fats and vegetables . Very interesting!
Lombard with pomegranate, boletus and pine nut cream
**Javier Olleros (Culler de Pau) ** makes common cause with The Crows Estate (a farm in his region) to recover almost forgotten vegetable varieties such as ground octopus or tear peas. You thought they were Basque, well no. It seems that the CSIC has certified that the original seed is Galician... something is always learned. Olleros combines vegetables with shellfish and fish from the estuaries and wonderful dishes emerge.
Green&More is a novelty in Madrid. Ricardo Gil (33 from Tudela) has brought to the capital the best stew in Spain . Tasting it, he discovers a new dimension in vegetables: beans that are beans, asparagus that tastes like asparagus, broad beans, artichokes... no lemon or flour masks.
The Manduca of Azagra , also in the capital, is provided with vegetables from our own garden in Azagra and around this time he composes a magnificent menu with vegetables from the Navarrese riverside Topped off with a plate of fried eggs with glass peppers. Josean Alija (Nerua) organizes an authentic recital: onions cooked in a thousand ways, beetroot, snap peas, broad beans, asparagus, carrots... all treated in a unique way, with studied cooking and unusual dressings.
The Manduca of Azagra
in Matapozuelos, Miguel Ángel de la Cruz (The pharmacy of Matapozuelos) He invites us to eat the forest and the orchards of his province: now asparagus from Tudela de Duero and in August the menu of pine nuts and pineapples. Meanwhile broths prepared with medicinal herbs and dressings based on flowers and plants.
And one more clue, this one for those crazy about mycology: **it's called El Brote and it's in Madrid**. All the dishes are prepared with mushrooms that come from the most remote corners of Spain according to the season. now in spring gurumelos and morels, a very affordable delight : the account does not exceed €25.
*** You may also be interested in...**
- The 101 restaurants to eat before you die
- All articles by Julia Pérez Lozano