Blancpain sets Madrid Fusion time
If something characterizes the Swiss Haute Horlogerie brand whitepain (Le Brassus, 1735), beyond its longevity and its savoir-faire , is her elegance, her good taste, her discreet but impressive charm and the soul that she puts into the small great pleasures of life: haute cuisine, luxury cars and the salt of the oceans that gives life to our somewhat battered Planet.
But now that we still feel fresh on the palate the latest delicatessen from Madrid Fusion , it is only right that we focus on your gastronomic side.
And it is that if the firm is known for something, in addition to manufacturing some of the most emblematic watches of the last three centuries, it is for being the watchmaker of the chefs and the chef of the watches . After all, passion, meticulous manual work and authenticity are values shared by the haute horlogerie and haute cuisine.
We begin our journey with our particular culinary guide through the DO. Pla I Llevant -sobrasada croquettes, truffles stuffed with sobrasada, Majorcan cheese and wine- to take a leap to one of the stands of the guest country, Japan, Oshi to the World , where we taste the ** sake of the Japanese imperial family ** and one (with an untranslatable name) of our monarch's favorites to accompany rice with miso soup and a kind of lemon fish.
But we reserve ourselves for the main course: the meal organized by Blancpain and in which some other pleasant surprise awaits us...
During the last years, whitepain , official timekeeper of prestigious cooking competitions -among them Madrid Fusión- and **chronicler of the best tables in the world through its institutional magazine Lettres du Brassus**, has been seducing a large number of personalities from the world of gastronomy and, at present, his friendships add up to a total of 100 Michelin stars.
The last of them (and there are already two Spanish chefs; the other is Danny Garcia ) welcomes us in the private room where the brand entertains us with an excellent menu and his legendary hospitality. ** There is Martín Berasategui **.
With eight Michelin stars to his credit and a tour of 43 years in the world of gastronomy , Martín is still amazed when they ask him for photographs as if he were a galactic or by the treatment he receives from the media.
And he surprises us that he misses him, because he is all kindness, modesty and consideration. "What a roll I'm letting you go, if your head hurts later you know who's to blame, (...) you also have to eat and I'm bothering the chef", he apologizes uselessly for having us enthralled with his tasty talk.
In his chef's uniform, the filipina still almost unscathed , he tells us that at the beginning of his career he only wore it when he went to France; here he was embarrassed to exhibit his trade and he preferred to dress in blue pants, a white t-shirt and an apron... It was the 70's, and that's when it all started.
He brought the french desserts and he applied rigor and pastry discipline in its savory still life recipes . The popular eating house where the customers were located on the stairs to the left and a table reserved for the friends of his father, who learned his profession from Iñaki Gabilondo's parents: a butcher in the Mercado La Bretxa of San Sebastian.
This training as a pastry chef before being the Spanish chef with the most Michelin stars empowers him more than anyone else to be part of the jury of the first Reale Seguros Madrid Fusión Revelation Pastry Chef contest , which has been awarded to Toni Clausella (restaurant Abac of Barcelona ) Y alexis garcia (Workshop ** 100% Pan y Pastelería , on San Juan Beach in Santa Cruz de Tenerife**. To both, without a doubt, Martín will have provided all the encouragement and recognition that new talents deserve for him.
As everyone knows, when he got his first Michelin star, at the age of 25, he was born lasarte, but they may not know what his favorite fastball is ever since. "We sell the Still life and in my mother's house we set up the restaurant and my most special dish is created: Millefeuille of foie gras, eel and apple , which I still keep in the letter. When I tried to remove it I almost got hit. Until I retire, everyone who walks in is going to try it, even if it's just for an aperitif."
He has a few words of deep affection for the deceased Paul Bocuse , with whom he had the opportunity to eat as a family just two months ago. A name to which Blancpain has been linked for many years by associating it with the Bocuse d'Or . "He hadn't been down to the restaurant in a long time, and when he found out I was there, he came down with the tacatá and took pictures with us. I'm so proud to have gone to visit him! He has been much more than a great cook. He He came out 60 years ago to value cooks. He got three stars being a super authentic guy. People went to eat and, from him, they were going to get excited. He has left us a wonderful heritage that we must never forget.".
Villeret Weekly in red gold