Hotel Ferrero: the headquarters of Paco Morales
Paco Morales he is a peculiar cook. Shy, slow, obsessive and perfectionist like a watchmaking craftsman from Schaffhausen and yet a hurricane of ideas, to speak with him is to end up with the head (and the stomach) like a hype of madness, concepts, flavors and impossible paths. He left his native Córdoba with eighteen sticks and landed on the planet Mugaritz (it is essential to know Aduriz's cuisine to understand Paco's language) later, Madrid and heaven. A long way to finish where he started: the ground he walks on.
Paco Morales: balance
Nature and questions in Bocairent Silence. When you land at the Hotel Ferrero de Bocairent you only hear the sound of the leaves of the Sierra de Mariola pines and how the silence silences the noise and the voices, those that are so often left over. Paco welcomes us in his orchard, and it's as easy (and as difficult) as digging in the dirt and eating. And it is that his world (which after all is ours) is a universe of aromas, plants, vegetables, nature, stone and flavors . I ask him about his cuisine: “Sensible cuisine with touches of modernity, deeply rooted in the product of the territory, different and fresh. Constantly looking at what surrounds us, it cooks with surprises and in equal parts feeds the soul and the stomach. Balance ”.
On the table a symphony. And from my point of view a master key: flavor. His gastronomy is that of the essence and the naked product (and I insist, sapidity). Rarely have I enjoyed such intense, sharp and deep flavors at the table. And this is true of each of the 18 dishes on the Innovation = Provocation menu. . A confession: I know that some will remain in my memory forever. For example, Perfect-Imperfect (corn with crab, chilli and herring) , almost dry tomatoes (with its frozen water, almonds and citrus lemon balm sprouts) or the Steamed bitter almond monkfish with mushroom cream, green bread and pickled cauliflower. three tens.
Almost dry tomatoes: a 10
We paired the menu, by the way, with a fantastic Egly-Ouriet 1er Cru bursting with Pinot Noir and frankly, why Champagne? Well, quoting Madame Bollinger, perhaps the correct question would be why not always champagne?
eating is remembering As all children know, what we hide is often what is most ours . What we hide from the alarm clock, the meetings and the ticking of the clock that does not rest, that bites the leaves of the comics that we no longer dream of. That is why it is necessary to return to the table and learn, once again, to eat, smell, bite and savor the nuances that reconcile us with what we were hiding. The nuances that bring you back to a place you don't visit much lately: yourself.