Docsconz- The Blog

Breaking News: Spanish Chef Santi Santamaria Dead in Singapore

It's a sad day. The culinary world has lost a true giant. Seven Michelin Star Chef Santi Santamaria from Catalunya, Spain has died from an apparent heart attack today at his restaurant in Singapore. Known as much for his feud with Ferran Adria as for his great restaurants El Raco de Can Fabes  in Sant Celoni just outside of Barcelona and Santceloni in Madrid, Santamaria was indisputably a great chef. I will never forget the meal I had at Can Fabes in 2004. The roasted leg of goat in partticular still gets my digestive juices flowing when I think about it. He was 53. RIP.

Albert Adria Gets The Last Word on Art vs Craft in Cooking

If Albert Adria or his brother Ferran are not culinary artists than no one is. Here, in Spanish, he says that the question is ultimately up to the diner to answer.

 

I had filmed several other interviews, but alas, audio problems from trying to use some new equipment made them unusable. I hope that you have found this series as interesting to watch and listen to as I did asking the questions and filming. The video quality certainly could have and should have been much better, but I don't think that lessens what these individual culinarians had to say.

The Magic of minibar

Magic. Fun, awe-inspiring and belief-defying, magic delights the soul. The experience at Jose Andres' minibar, currently a restaurant within a restaurant with-in the Pan-Latin themed Cafe Atlantico, offers a magical experience that indeed delights the soul, but it also delights the palate, something few good magic shows provide. Though much magic is based on illusion, the food at minibar is quite real and quite good.

I'd been to minibar twice before (sort of) and each time had a wonderful experience. A recounting of my first minibar experience can be found here. Our second time wasn't a pure minibar experience, though it incorporated a lot of minibar dishes into a special anniversary meal at Cafe Atlantico at a table adjacent to the minibar and was just about as amgical.The food, the closest thing to an elBulli experience available outside of Spain, is playful and creative, but with more of an American reference point than one would find at elBulli or the other creative restaurants of Spain. When I saw a dinner for 6 - inclusive of wine pairings, tax and gratuity - pop up on an online auction to benefit the Culinary Institute of America last spring, I bid to win and succeeded.

The perfect opportunity to use my auction win presented itself this past September to celebrate my good friend, Tom Person's 50th birthday. We decided to celebrate with a weekend in DC along with our wives and our mutual good friends, Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa of Ideas in Food. We arrived on Friday in time for a fantastic lunch at Bread Line, followed by a truly inspiring dinner at The Oval Room. On Saturday, we visited another Jose Andres restaurant, the impressive Oyamel for a superb Mexican lunch, eating early enough so as to not spoil our appetites for our 8PM seating at minibar.

The auction was for 6 seats at minibar, which meant that we had that entire seating of minibar (there are two seatings per evening - at 6 and at 8:30PM) to ourselves since the restaurant only has 6 seats. Of course the upper parts of Cafe Atlantico blanket the small corner that is minibar, but the feeling is of a totally separate restaurant.

Blog Find - Lisa Abend

Ever wonder what it must be like to work at elBulli as a stagiare (culinary apprentice)? One of the most coveted positions in the entire cooking world has been examined up close by my friend, Lisa Abend. Many of you likely know Lisa as the Spain Correspondent for Time Magazine. A good number of her articles for Time are food related and she has become extremely well known within the Spanish food community. Lisa is about to publish a book (set for release on March 22nd by Simon and Schuster) called The Sorcerer's Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrià's elBulli. During the entire 2009 season, Lisa was at elBulli chronicling the story of that year's stagiares, coming up with literary portraits of each. According to Ms. Abend's website, 

"Taken together, their stories form a portrait of the international team that helps make a meal at elBulli so unforgettable. But they also offer a look at a Ferran Adria few ever see, a Ferran who is not only a genius chef and artist, but also a boss, teacher, taskmaster, businessman, and sometimes flawed human being. And in an age in which food has become the focus of unprecedented attention, ambition, concern, and desire, it explores the strange phenomenon that in less than two decades has turned a once-maligned profession into a source of celebrity. It asks, in other words, a pressing question whose answer Adria himself has been critical in changing: Why cook?"

She has now started a website with a very specialized blog associated with it. In the blog, Ms. Abend shares additional portraits of elBulli stagiares, however, the portraits here are from people who have staged at el Bulli over the course of its existence. The very first portrait/ interview is of Will Goldfarb, the pastry chef extraordinaire currently residing and working in Bali. Goldfarb staged during the 1999 season. Abend promises many more to come. This should be fascinating!

Revised Tour Itinerary and Pricing - Northern Spain 2010 with Gerry Dawes & Yours Truly

Gerry and I have made some revisions in the tour to bring down pricing without sacrificing quality. Here are the updated details:

 

Prices quoted are without airfare from the U.S. to Bilbao and return from Barcelona and include five and four star hotels, all designated restaurant meals with wines selected by Gerry Dawes and bus transportation within Spain.  Pricing depends on how many travelers will be joining the tour.

2 travelers:  $7,000.00

4 travelers:  $5,000.00

6-8 travelers:   $4,500.00

10-16 travelers:  $4,000.00

Itinerary: 

Day 00 USA-Madrid-Bilbao Evening Flight
 

Evening departure from the U.S. with each guest arranging own their flights.
Day 01 Saturday, Nov 27 Arrive Madrid, transfer to flight to Bilbao

Gerry Dawes will meet guests at the Bilbao airport.  We will take a short trip into Bilbao and see the Guggenheim Museum from the outside and have some tapas in the old quarter.

 

Guggenheim, Bilbao.  Photograph by Gerry Dawes©2010.

Leaving Bilbao, we will make another short trip to have lunch at Extebarri, where chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz has taken the  art of  grilling to a new level.  Some experts consider Etxeberri to be among the top restaurants in Spain.

After lunch, we will drive an hour to San Sebastián, where we will check into the magnificent turn-of-the-19th century Hotel Maria Cristina by 5 p.m.

Siesta time until dinner at 9:30 p.m. at either Restaurante Arzak, Juan Mari Arzak and daughter Elena’s three-star temple of gastronomy, or Martín Berasategui’s superb three-star Restaurante Martín Berasategui in nearby Lasarte.  All three chefs are long-time personal friends of our tour organizer.  

 

Gerry Dawes' Review of Ferran from Food Arts

Reprinted with permission of Gerry Dawes.

* * * * *

Ferran Adrià  and Tim Zagat at the book launch 

at the International Culinary Center in NYC on Oct. 12, 2010

Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food by Colman Andrews, a book review excerpted from my article on Ferran Adrià in the October issue of Food Arts.  (All photographs by Gerry Dawes copyright 2010.)

Colman Andrews, author of

Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food

"Colman Andrews first began thinking about writing a book about Ferran Adrià at the historic Culinary Institute at Greystone's "Spain and the World Table," conference in November, 2006. At that conference there was a particular poignant moment that was the climax of what Andrew's calls "a hugely ambitious, highly successful . . . program," when The French Laundry's Thomas Keller introduced Ferran Adríà to tumultuous applause. 

Thomas Keller at the Culinary Institute of America - Greystone

during his introduction of Ferran and the Spanish chefs during

the 2006 Worlds of Flavor Conference dedicated to Spain.

Ferran Adríà and the all-star lineup of Spanish chefs 

at the CIA Worlds of Flavor Conference 2006.

Coming after the 2003 The New York Times Sunday Magazine article, Arthur Lubow article that posed the question, "Is Spain the New France?", the French-trained, Francophile Keller's introduction was something very much like the passing of the torch to Spain and to Adrià, who for nearly a decade now has been called "the world's greatest chef" and his restaurant, elbulli, "the world's greatest restaurant." That moment at the CIA-Greystone well may have been the greatest event in Spain's long culinary history.

Ferran Adríà and Arthur Lubow at the book launch 

at International Culinary Center in New York.

Andrews-with the help of elBulli (the official name of the restaurant) alumni, Ferran Adrià confidant and chef-restaurateur José Andrés "kept after" Ferran for nearly a year. At one point, Andrés told Andrews, "If he thinks this is my idea or your idea, he will maybe not be so eager to say yes. He has to think it is his idea." They both persisted until Ferran told Andrews, "the next time you are Barcelona, we'll talk." Andrews quickly booked a flight to Barcelona, where he long felt at home since he spent a lot of time there two decades ago writing his seminal book on the food of Catalunya, Catalan Cuisine: Europe's Last Great Culinary Secret (Atheneum, 1988).

Ferran Adríà at Inopia.

Andrews managed to pin Ferran down over dinner at Inopia, Ferran's brother Albert's happening tapas bar (he just sold it; see accompanying article). At the end of a meal that featured traditional Spanish tapas-white asparagus , five kinds of olives, jamón Ibérico from Salamanca, esquiexada (Catalan shredded raw salt cod salad), fried artichokes, fried boquerones (anchovies), pa amb tomaquet (Catalan grilled bred rubbed with tomato and garlic) and small grilled shrimp, washed down with a crisp Catalan white wine, Andrews asks himself about whether he had the green light to do this book, "Was this (Ferran's) capitulation?"

Boquerones en vinagre with olives and raf tomatoes, Inopia.

All those who needed a book on Ferran-I am one of them, even though I have known him for nearly fifteen years-that tells you everything you need to know, but were always afraid to ask, about the man, his restaurant, his dimension-bursting food, his partner Juli Soler and the truth and mythology that surrounds elBulli, this fine, eminently readable treatment is a blessing. Colman Andrews has done a brilliant job with this nearly 300-page book, despite what the misguided review in The New York Times claimed.

Readers will come away from Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food with an infinitely greater understanding of the "world's greatest chef," who indeed reinvented (and continues to reinvent) food in the 21st Century. The only negative in the American edition is that there are no photographs; the European edition apparently has them." 

About Gerry Dawes: Press, Awards, Tours to Spain, Television Trailer, Contact Info

Insider’s Deluxe Taste of Northen Spain Gastronomic Tour of Bilbao - San Sebastián - Navarra - Barcelona Nov. 27 - Dec. 5, 2010  

Ferran Adriá at Bar Basque

Ferran Adriá was in NYC over the past few days to kick of the newly published book, Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food  written by Colman Andrews to paint a literary portrait of the man who has become the most influential and famous chef of his generation, if not ever. On Tuesday evening, he was at the International Culinary Center and on Wednesday night, he was at the brand new Bar Basque at The Eventi Hotel for a meet and greet along with a showing of the Adrias' video of A Day at elBulli and a cocktail party featuring culinary talent from Spain's Bay of Biscay.

Colman Andrews

The video presented a first of the morning through the last of the night view of a typical day, in this case August 22nd, 2008, at elBulli. The film was produced and directed by the multi-talented Albert Adriá. If anyone ever wanted to know what it must be like to work or dine at elBulli, this video is a must see. While I haven't worked there, I have dined there twice and the video really does give a great sense of the experience, minus, of course, actually tasting the food. As for working there, the day appears to be a long and rigorous, though ultimately satisfying one. Watching the video from a large television screen located outside across a courtyard, while we sat lined up sitting in rows of chairs inside, was something of a surreal experience in and of itself.

After the video and a few words from Ferran, who hadn't seen the video since it was made, and several folks from the Spanish National Tourist Board who sponsored the event, the crowd convened to a cocktail party featuring Spanish wines and Basque style pintxos made in the Bar Basque kitchen by visiting Basque chefs including Daniel (not Dani) Garcia. Some of the highlights included a rice dish with pork belly, wild mushroom croquetas, Champagne croquetas, jamon Iberico, foie gras and to finish the meal, Bar Basque's snazzy Gin & Tonic and Cuba Libre geleés. 

Strawberry Gazpacho with Lobster

The space of Bar Basque is unlike any restaurant that I have ever been in. Looking more like a movie set (it was designed by Syd Mead, who designed the sets for the futuristic movie classic, Blade Runner, amongst other imaginative pics) than a typical restaurant, the interior of the Jeffrey Chodorow bar space is enrobed in a deep red blanket of color. The principle dining environment is located outside of the swath of red in a light and airy terrace with inside-outside capabilities. On this autumn evening, we were definitely inside, although the sense of the outside space was quite strong. The kitchen is open and built around a unique (at least I've never seen one like this before), charcoal grill. The chef is Yuhi Fujinaga, who has spent time cooking in the Basque country and Galicia.

Chef Yuhi Fujinaga and the grill at Bar Basque

 

(l-r, top to bottom) Drew Nieporent & Ferran; Ferran, cooking prodigy & future Ferran protege(?) Greg Grossman and Jose Andres; Ferran and Lisa Mamounas of Cooking Insiders; Ferran, yours truly and Jose Andres.

For more photos from the evening, see the amazing Melissa Hom's work here and my good friend, Gerry Dawes' work here.

Spanish Food Tour with Gerry Dawes & Yours Truly

Gerry Dawes & Doc Sconzo

Taste of Spain Tour

Nov. 27-Dec. 5, 2010  

Tour Organized and Led by

Writer-Photographer & Spain Expert 

Gerry Dawes

Premio Nacional de Gastronómía 2003

Food Arts Silver Spoon Award (Dec. 2009) 

Gerry Dawes has been traveling the Food and Wine Roads of Spain for more than

40 years and is personally acquainted with hundreds of restaurateurs, chefs,

winemakers and food-and-wine personalities.   

Dawes writes and photographs:  

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel 
 
The Traveling Gastronomer: A Celebration of Food, Wine, Life, Photography & Quixotic Musings

 
Tour accompanied by Dr. John Sconzo,

food aficionado & photographer extraordinarío.

Author & photographer of  

Doc Sconz - The Blog: Musing on Food and Life 
 
 
 

elBulli 8/29/2005

 

To date, this meal at elBulli, five years ago today, remains the single greatest and most memorable meal of my life. Pictured here is Felix Meana, then a waiter at elBulli and now a budding restaurateur in Asheville, N.C.. Felix was a significant factor in helping make that such a great and memorable meal. He and I ran into each other in Asheville at the end of June. Amazingly, we both recognized each other. It is a small world. This is also the 5th anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans. Little did I know then how significant both events would be in my life.

A full description with photos of this meal can be found on the eGullet Forums here.

Bar Inopia Closed

Word has it that Barcelona's Bar Inopia is now closed. New projects for A. Adria are apparently on the horizon. http://www.barinopia.com/

I'm sad that I never made it there, though I look forward to whatever Albert has up his sleeve. I'm hearing something about "macrotapas." Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be interesting and of the highest quality.

"The Orange From Valencia" - A Docsconz Video from Town House

The Orange From Valencia from John Sconzo on Vimeo.

"The Orange From Valencia" is a standout dish at the standout restaurant, Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia. Chef John Shields and his team have produced a dish that is not only delicious, but beautiful, creative, evocative and fun as well.

Prior to service, I had the opportunity to video Town House Sous Chef Matt Edwards preparing the orange "skins" used for the dish. This won't be freeze the eyes to the screen of anyone already solidly grounded in techniques using liquid nitrogen, but for those who are not and who are intrigued, it should be pretty cool. I apologize in advance. For some reason the focus in the video is not quite as sharp as I would like, but without the opportunity to re-shoot, I think it is still too interesting to not have used.

Thanks to Chefs John and Karen Urie Shields and their Town House team for allowing me into their kitchen with my cameras and thanks to Matt Edwards for graciously and patiently explaining the process for the camera.

We've Done It! Mugaritz Stagieres Knives Fund Exceeds Goal!!!

Stagieres are dedicated young cooks who work for nothing or next to nothing at the worlds best restaurants to learn and hone their crafts and skills. Rare are those who do so with any significant means at their disposal, so a loss like this was potentially devastating to them and their careers. Thanks to the generosity and kindness of these people and all the bloggers who passed the word along, the stagieres who lost their invaluable knives in the fire that also consumed the world renowned restaurant Mugaritz in the Pais Vasco region of Spain, will be compensated for their losses, be able to replace their knives and go on with their careers. Compared to devastating global tragedies such as the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, it is easy to overlook something small and personal like this, but fortunately for these stagieres, these wonderful people found it in them to give even more!

Mike Green
John Sconzo
Jason Yee
James Kane
Joseph Gerard
Rob Connoley
Fred Kellerman
Alex Saneski
David Barzelay
Chew Fatt Soh
Matthew Stein
Alex Talbot & Aki Kamozawa
Andrew Kirsch
Derek Slager
David Rodriguez
Cruz Caudillo
Craig Thornton
Kathy Tang
Christopher Powers
Chad Ward
Scott Alperin
Zach Hunter
Brett Posmnetier
Elbert Cheng
Alan Hsu
Joseph J. Fenush III
Townsend Wentz
John Dryzga
Mattias Hagglund
Elements Restaurant Staff
AJ Jimenez
Linda Anctil
Brendan King
Scott Dunkelberger
Pim Techamuanvivit
Anthony Nardi
Harold McGee
Hugh Blair
Darcie Fontaine
Alex Lincoln
Martha Gehan
David Yewell
Sean Paroff
Jessica Vanderhoff
Hsun-Chi  Chen
Zarmik Moqtaderi
Paul Reiss
Amanda Tarrant
Naomi Bautista
Jo Stougard
Pat Sheldon
Sarah Nash
Chad Burkhardt
James Biskey
Matt Kantor
Patrick McGuire
Wendy Miller
Andrew Kwan
Boris Portnoy
Antonios Drakoularakos
Patrick Miller
Nina Chang
Reid Nakasone
Robert Mayo

At the moment we have exceeded our goal by $192. We will take suggestions on what to do with the overage. If you have one, email me at john(at)docsconz(dot)com. Distribution of the funds will commence as soon as they are released by firstgiving and PayPal.

Special thanks must also be given to Aidan "Trig" Brooks of the blog Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef and his father, Mike Green, without whom, this fund would never have started.

(ed. note) Apologies to Chad Burkhardt, whose donation had accidentally been omitted in the ongoing listing.

Mugaritz Stagiere's Knives Fund Details

Under the auspices of Slow Food Saratoga Region and Slow Food USA, I have set up a fund through firstgiving to aid those stagiere's, including Slow Food Saratoga Region's own Greg Kuzia-Carmel, who lost their valuable knives and potentially their livelihoods in the catastrophic fire that burned the renowned restaurant Mugaritz to the ground last week. Donations can be made by credit card through firstgiving and can be done whether you are in the USA or overseas. To donate via Paypal click the button below.

For American citizens, your donation is fully tax deductible. For those wishing to contribute but wish to pay with a personal check, contact me by email. For anyone wishing to extend your support by passing the message along, you can make your own page at firstgiving to support this fund and/or attach a widget to your blog or facebook page as I have done on mine. Any help you can offer is appreciated!

Mugaritz Fire - Stagières' Knives Appeal

Early on Monday February 15th, fire severely damaged the kitchens at Mugaritz, the world-famous restaurant in Spain's Basque Country. Luckily, no-one was hurt. For the management and staff of Mugaritz, the destruction of their workplace was a tragedy. But for three other young people, this was also a calamity. Stagières are unpaid apprentices, usually young, without whom no top restaurant can function. Driven by a common passion to learn from the world's best chefs, they travel from all corners of the globe to train at world-class restaurants. When the dust settled on Mugaritz after last Monday's inflagration, Mattias from Sweden, Diego from Guatemala and Greg from the US found themselves without their most valued possessions. Their precious knife sets, not covered by the restaurant's insurance, had been incinerated. Read Greg's story here.

Fellow food blogger Aidan Brooks of Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef, his father Mike Green and I are setting up a special transatlantic fund to help them recover from their combined $2,500 losses and re-equip themselves for work. As Aidan says, "This is something I understand well - two and a half years ago I set off for Spain as a novice stagière myself. It's taken me years to put together my knife set, so I know exactly how devastated these lads must feel." Can you please help with a personal pledge? Donations will be so welcome, no matter how large or small. Email me at docsconz[at]gmail.com at  with your pledge and we'll get back to you with details of exactly how you can contribute to the fund. Would food bloggers please copy part or all of this post and publish similar appeals. Together we can make so much difference to a group of people who really deserve our support. Update: Please see here for details on how you can donate through firstgiving or Paypal.

Knives in the Fire - Fallout from Mugaritz

By now, most of you have likely learned of the fire that devastated one of the most well known and revered restaurants in the world - Andoni Luis Aduriz's Mugaritz located just outside of San Sebastien in The Basque country of Spain. Many regular readers of this blog are also likely to be familiar with Greg Kuzia-Carmel, an American stagiere at Mugaritz, who recently wrote a guest blog post for this blog in addition to maintaining his own blog, Braised & Confused, documenting his experiences. The good news about the tragic fire is that neither Greg, Andoni nor anyone else were physically hurt by it. The bad news is that so much was totally lost. For Greg, the biggest personal loss was his knives, which he had left in the kitchen.

For anyone who doesn't know, knives are generally considered to be a cook's most important tool and many, like Greg, have put in a lot of time, money and effort to make sure their knives are as good as they can be. Greg's loss is personally devastating to him. While those particular knives can never be replaced, Greg is now without anything to work with. He would appreciate any help he can get in replacing them. Greg can be contacted through his facebook page.

elBulli - Losing a Love?

I had written the following over the weekend in response to the original New York times story saying that elBulli would not re-open as a restaurant after the 2011 season. Since then, Ferran Adria has clarified his position and following that,the Times has clarified theirs. Whether the restaurant re-opens in some limited capacity or not, it will undoubtedly be different than it currently is, with an even greater emphasis on exploration, education and training than it currently has, as hard as that may be to imagine since elBulli already does more in those regards than probably any other restaurant in history. I beleive the sentiment expressed below still applies.

In so far as I know, there will still be at least two more seasons. Along with everyone else, I was expecting the restaurant to re-open as a restaurant once again in 2014, but, while I am profoundly saddened that such a glorious and wonderful era will come to an end,  I can't say that I'm surprised at Ferran Adria's announcement that elBulli will not be re-opened as a restaurant after they close following the 2011 season. Sure, once they close I will miss the opportunity to dine again as I have at the restaurant that has so far provided me with the two greatest meals of my life, but at least I have had the opportunity to experience Adria's genius and generosity. I feel bad that others won't have the possibility of experiencing it, at least not directly or in the form in which it has so far existed.

I'm not surprised that the restaurant is closing, because what else does Ferran Adria and his staff have to or even can they prove by re-opening it? Expectations would be iPad like and nearly impossible to live up to, no matter how great the product (though if anyone could, it would be Ferran Adria). I imagine the scene over these last two seasons will be much like an all-time great athlete or a legendary musician on a farewell tour prior to retirement.

However, the saving grace, is that Ferran Adria is not actually retiring. The restaurant may not exist as it has anymore, but the influence of elBulli will still be exerted where perhaps it most matters - the education and inspiration of chefs, who can spread the Gospel according to Ferran much farther and wider than the restaurant itself ever could. That Adria and company will basically devote themselves to teaching and exploring, if I understand what is happening correctly, eases my disappointment and profound sadness at the loss of this wonderful dining establishment. Adria is a great teacher and has lots to teach. The setting of elBulli in Cala Montjoi is a magical one for the restaurant. It should be an equally magical one for the academy he is planning, too. So, rather than bemoan the loss of this great restaurant, I am excited to see what will come from it. I expect great things... and with some luck may yet be able to experience the genius of Ferran Adria again.

Starchefs 2009 Day Two: Jose Andres: American Cuisine Through a Spanish Lens

Nobody is more American than Jose Andres. Then again, nobody is more Spanish than Jose Andres. Though he was born in Spain and still frequents that country to the extent that he is a major media star there, Andres has embraced the United States and seems to love nothing more than to share the culture of his native Spain with his adopted home.

Andres and his ThinkFoodGroup control a number of disparate restaurants in and around Washington D.C. as well Bazaar in Los Angeles. A friend and disciple of Ferran Adria, Andres and his team are some of the most accomplished practitioners in the United States of the style of cooking forged by Adria. This style is most evidenced in the appropriately named six seat restaurant-within-a-restaurant minibar and now the larger Bazaar. With most of his restaurants featuring more traditionally prepared cuisines, Andres opened minibar with the idea to showcase the modern techniques coming out of Spain and elsewhere, while also adding original work from himself, Katsuya Fukushima, Ruben Garcia and others. One of the principle elements of the cuisine is that it should be fun as well as delicious and beautiful. I can personally attest that at minibar, the cooking achieves all three goals.

Madrid Fusión 2010

This time last year and the year before I was in Madrid attending the culinary wonderland known as Madrid Fusión. Unfortunately, this year I am unable to attend. Though shorter than previous years, the schedule looks exciting with presenters such as Ferran Adria, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Juan Mari Arzak, Grant Achatz and Rene Redzepi returning again along with noteworthy newcomers like Alain Ducasse and Yoshihiro Narisawa amongst others. New this year is a greater emphasis on cocktails with presentations by Javier de las Muelas, Johnny Schuler, Junior Merino and others. The full program can be found here. Also new this year is the Madrid Fusión Channel on Youtube. Currently there are videos from last year with promise of videos from this year's Congress. In the meantime, here are some photos from previous years:

 

Peruvian bar legend Johnny Schuler

Juan Mari Arzak and Andoni Luis Aduriz

Yours truly with Ferran Adria, Juan Mari Arzak and Andoni Luis Aduriz

Molecular Cuisine Panel

Nobu Matsuhisa and "Mr. Spain" Gerry Dawes

David Chang judging a contest based around Spanish "conservas" i.e. canned seafood

Michel Troisgros

Grant Achatz

Guest Post: Greg Kuzia-Carmel

(ed. note: Greg Kuzia-Carmel is a talented young cook from Albany, who is following a dream to be the best  chef that he can be. He is currently a stagiere at the restaurant Mugaritz in San Sebastien, Spain under the highly acclaimed chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. Mugaritz was ranked as the fourth best restaurant in the world in the most recent compilation of Restaurant Magazine. While I think it is silly giving a numerical ranking at that level of restaurant, it does serve to indicate its general level of quality and respect. Working in the kitchen of a restaurant like that is bound to leave indelible effects. I asked Greg, if he would be interested in writing an occasional piece on his experiences as he has the time and interest. This is his first submission. It isn't easy to make me blush, but he did. -JMS)

John Sconzo is a person of incredible and particular interest to me in both what I do professionally and who I am as a person (though, as I get older I find that these two areas vex over each other more and more).

You see, Doc’s passion for gastronomy on all levels and in all disciplines is unprecedented. In this day and age when it’s easy enough to pick up a copy of any of the mass distributed garbage tabloids, snatch some of the food world headline garbage, and call yourself a foodie, its wonderful to come across those few people who really know that there is more to this. Years of training, long hours, demanding clientele, cry-baby employees, fish guys who get stuck in traffic, etc., not all of us are trying to put together the best appetizer using potato chips to be a long shot for a $100k. We are interpreters of history, craftsmen, artists (per se), business people, interior designers, architects, mathematicians, scientists, athletes, and more and more it now seems, psychiatrists. It’s wonderful to follow Doc’s chronicles of the diverse human offerings in this categorically small but interesting world.

Doc interests me as well because he calls home some of the great land that I was brought up on, Upstate New York, an area I am intensely proud of and loyal to. The preface to Michel Bras’ Essential Cuisine says in short that the one of the greatest ways to show ones love of their land is through gastronomy. This is certainly a feeling that I have come to embrace, and judging by Doc’s work with the slowfood movement in Saratoga and relentless support of his surrounding markets, I’m willing to bet he’s drinking this metaphorical koolaid too…

When Doc offered to let me write a guest blog for him, I couldn’t have affirmed quick enough. It has taken me a few weeks to figure out what I want to write here, and most importantly, deliver something with substance that I think would be interesting to Doc’s substantial following. So here’s what I got, a short tale of one young man who pretty much got dropped into a High School Culinary Votech class merely to fill an empty period in his sophomore year schedule and is now the only American cooking at the fourth best restaurant in the world, and what that transformation has become.

A Birthday Paella

I'm lucky. I come from a very close-knit family. I'm the youngest of 6 kids with a 17 year spread between my oldest brother and myself. We all enjoy each other's company and though we are not all geographically close to each other, we get together as much as we can. Yesterday was my brother Larry's birthday. He is my second oldest brother and the one closest to me geographically. In many ways he has been a mentor to me and my own sons over the years as well as many others. Yesterday was his birthday. I welcomed the chance to make him a birthday dinner. When asked what he would like, he responded "paella" - favorite of his for many years. I obliged.

Paella, of course, like "pasta" represents a wide variety of dishes. "Pasta", of course, represents the actual grain product, whereas the term "paella" is representative of the pan used to cook the dish, which happens to be rice based. Almost anything can go into a paella. Some combinations, such as  rabbit and snails or a variety of seafood are classic. The best paella I have ever had was at a restaurant not far outside of the city of Valencia in the town of Benisanó. The restaurant, Levante, operated by the Vidal family makes their version of "paella valenciana" with chicken, rabbit, garrofó beans (similar to Lima beans), green "ferraura" beans, tomato, water and rosemary. It is truly outstanding, as is the rest of their food. While paella can certainly be delicious without it, an authentic paella is generally cooked over a wood-fired with either orange-wood, grape-vine cuttings or pine cuttings.

If I were in Valencia, I might have made a paella different than what I did. Being in upstate N.Y. I used what I had and what I could get. Fortunately we still had two unopened bags of rice that we had brought back from Valencia.When I opened the first bag, my heart sank, as it was filled with little crawly things that had hatched and probably proceeded through several generations. It went directly outside. I approached the second bag with trepidation. It was with great relief that this bag of bomba rice (two other popular paella rice varieties are calisparra and senia) proved insect free. Using a recipe from Jose Andres' Tapas book, I decided on a seafood paella. Jose's recipe was for lobster and squid, but I decided to pump it up with some clams, Gulf shrimp, Louisiana andouille and some fresh piquillo peppers from Sheldon Farms. We still had some lobster stock in the freezer, which I used in lieu of Jose's classic fish stock. I made a version of Jose's sofrito, but given the season, i used canned "Fire-roasted" tomatoes that I turned into a puree rather than fresh plum tomatoes. To make the paella I killed and cut up a small, live lobster and par-cooked it in Spanish olive oil, followed by par-cooking the squid (previously frozen), then the diced andouille and julienned pepper strips. With all of that reserved, I fried sofrito and garlic before I moved out into the night to finish the paella over the grill. Having neither vine-cuttings nor orange wood, I used real lump hardwood charcoal. Over a nice hot fire, I added the lobster stock and once boiling, crushed saffron and the rice, stirring for a few minutes. With one last stirring, I added the andouille/pepper mixture and then without stirring, placed the lobster, squid, clams and shrimp on top, leaving the rice to absorb the broth. Once the seafood was cooked and the broth absorbed, I removed the paella to a trivet on the dining table, where I let it rest for a few minutes before we dug in. I paired the paella with a 2002 Godello from Viña Godeval in Galicia. While the wine was perhaps not as crisp as it had been in its youth, it was still a marvelous pairing with the crustacean rich paella. While the Vidals have nothing to fear from me, I was nevertheless quite pleased with the results. More importantly, my brother appeared to be as well.

I didn't stop there though. I served another course. Continuing the Spanish theme, I grilled a pimentón and garlic rubbed fresh ham steak from Long View Farm and served it with roasted cauliflower and sofrito. We finished the meal with a spectacular chocolate and raspberry birthday cake from The Chocolate Mill.

They say one can't choose one's family. I guess I am very lucky, because I wound up with an outstanding one. I enjoyed making the birthday of someone fortuitously close to me just a bit more special.

 

Brother Larry