Sweet Cuisine

El Celler Can Roca.

Its pretty much the end of my trip now, Ive eaten in some great establishments, all with there own personal touches that make each one differ from eachother.  Some memorable dishes, and yes some not so.
El Celler Can Roca was my last 'big' experience in Spain. I headed out to Girona after a day in Barcelona, having pounded the streets of La Rambla in the morning, breakfast in La Boqueria and the on a bus up to Girona for Dinner at El Celler de Can Roca at night.

Girona is a beautiful city, Im often envious of the people that live so close to great restaurants such as this.  For sure I wish I did. But in coming to Spain I took my chance and got a table. The 3 brothers Joan, Jordi and Joseph make up such a Talented family, they have built such a beautiful restaurant and I was about to experience what all there hard work accumulates too.

Arriving at the restaurant you walk through there little courtyard where you can look into the restaurant like a giant goldfish bowl, on the other side you can just see the chefs scurrying around getting ready for the service, I was sat promptly and as normal now went for the Tasting menu with matching wines.


13 courses of heaven followed along with 7 snacks to begin the meal, a very cool way of serving caramelised olives start the meal, hanging on a tree, i loved it. so original.
Followed quickly by Anchovy bone crisps, Black Sesame tuiles,  Razor clam Macaroni, trade mark Foie Gras nougat and a tomato and tuna Salad. All great, preparing my taste buds for an awesome meal.
I wont go through every dish, but give you a brief outline. enjoy

The first course was a Cherry soup, with a cherry sorbet and ginger Ice cream centre I think, served with smoked eel . Fantastic, nice and tart, not sweet, The sorbet really refreshing your plate , the eel was nice and meaty.

A 'double' spherification of Herring 'omelette' with a caviar, taking on the mock form of an omelette infact being a liquid centre of pure joy, great flavours, a massive success

Charcoal grilled Sole with Green Olive, Pine nuts, Fennel, Bergamot and Orange, looks simple but the flavours are so refined. faultless

Catalan Cod Pot au Feu.

This Course made the change from savoury to sweet, was one of my favourites written as Charcoal grilled eggplant confit, the smoke coming from the plate gave a great aroma while you ate the dish heightening the flavours, another great savoury come sweet from Jordi Roca. Superb

This is one of Jordi Rocas dishes, he is famous for matching desserts to fragrances, this was an adaptation of Terre by Hermes, a Chocolate Cream with Orange, Jasmine milk, Patchouli Ice Cream Distilate sand and grapefruit cake. You also get a small paper cone with the perfume on to smell after you eat to make a comparison. It was very good.

Petit Fours,Praline, Vanilla, Saffron, Rose and one called Gerd(not to sure about this one)

As you can see I started struggling with the amount of wine a little bit, but the matches were fantastic, luckily i managed to get them written down, otherwise it would have all been lost from memory

I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the kitchen and restaurant, meeting the Chef Joan Roca, Pastry Chef Jordi Roca and Joseph Roca who looks after the front, they really go out of there way to say hello to everyone and put themselves out there, I love the openness that they show.

I dont know about anyone else but I hope this guy will be handing the Roca brothers the third star that is so deserved, they have a fantastic restaurant, a great team of professionals on the floor, knowledge, skill and creativity in abundance. I love the place, and time will tell, I will be so surprised if they don't get it this year.

Labels: El celler can roca

Arzak

To say I was excited to dine at Arzak is possibly one of the biggest understatements since, since well, Ever!! Arzak has such a massive history, yes its had 3 michelin stars for , get this , 20 years. Thats such an unbelievable achievement in itself, Juan Mari Arzak is the third generation to work behind the stoves there and is passing the gauntlet onto his super talented daughter Elena Arzak. Its incredible to think that it has over 100 years of history. He is probably the chef that has done the most for progressing Basque cuisine. A true Legend of cooking.

I was so happy to have the company of my brother who had nipped over from London for a few days, and we settled to having the Tasting menu, 5 Tapas followed by 10 course to tantalise your taste buds,

The meal was superb, the staff the same and Elena Arzak was so attentive of us from the beginning of the meal, we took a tour of the establishment, through the kitchen and to a very impressive wine cellar with some amazing technology in keeping the wines at the correct temperatures, the kitchen was large and immaculate.

The Tapas were great, there was a Black pudding bon bon tempura,  Lotus crisps with fish mousse  and Rockfish fried in some sort of crispy crust that I cant remember. a great start.

The first course was a figs and foie dish, anything with foie gets the thumbs up from me, and the figs of course went so well with them, the foie had a really thin caramel crisp on top just adding a little texture.

Moving down the menu there was a Potato crisp covering lobster, with a lobster sauce like ive never tasted before,  I love the these spanish chefs that are making the sauces and jus in the restaurants here, so bloody good!! Could just taste the sea.

The main course was a choice of Pigeon, Lamb or,hmmm one other , cant remember, I went for the  pigeon which came with beautiful spheres of rice wine and i think balsamic . blue potato spheres and potato rounds, written on the menu as Perdigones dulces which i believe translates to 'Sweet shots'.

The meal was great, and possibly one of the most colourful meals I've ever had, very striking. It came across as very playful with use of dry ice here and there, flavours were so good and dishes massively balance, Stand out dish for me was the Dulce Lunatico, loved it, it was like a white chocolate and caramel casing(may be wrong there) with a beautiful filling of and Orange gel, and came along with red wine reduction, so good.. the photo above is Chocolate with crystals and colours, A soft ganache with chocolate and rosemary ice cream and many different super thin tuile, simple but tasty.

All in all another fantastic experience fully worthy of 3 stars and for sure worth a special trip.

Elena Arzak is a fantastic host, I even left with a bottle of Rioja as a present from her, shows that

they may be super star chefs but they are kind, caring and above all fantastic chefs, true leaders in our profession.

Labels: Arzak, elena Arzak, juan mari Arzak

Spain Trip Almost Complete

My trip and blogs aren't quite complete yet but I feel like writing this part anyway

When I started planning this trip a year ago now I didn't have any Idea how much of an effect it would have on my thoughts on food, service and culture, I didn't know much about Spain and with such a vast history I still dont, but I have touched the surface and will continue to study the country and learn the language when I get back to NZ. I feel touched by the kindness and openness shown to me by the Chefs, front of house staff and people in general. And it is all appreciated.

I've experienced some of the best food on the planet, travelled more in 26 days than i have in a long time, been served by true professionals, learnt so much from watching these waiters/waitresses which will benefit me once I have my own place as the standard in my mind has risen so much higher than anything on offer in NZ, Its amazing what you can learn from observing,  Ive had so much inspiration from the food in the kitchens, been amazed by some of the produce found even in the supermarkets, more so the markets, everyone must fall in love with la Boqueria when they visit it for the first time, I didnt want to leave that market.

For the first time I appreciated Jet Lag, waking me up at four in the morning on my first day in San Sabastian and heading out for a walk in the old town, smelling the baking that was going on was heaven, getting chased around by the guys washing the street was charming, and having these streets pretty much to myself was eerie, but cool.

The Architecture in Barcelona was stunning, I could spend a month there and still have stuff to do, visiting the pastry shops, being surprised to be served by a native of Ireland in Bubo, very interesting, visiting Paco Torreblanca's shops was a great highlight on my way back from staying at Hotel Ferrero and being made to feel so welcome by Rut and Paco was great, and being the only person in the building too. A big thank you to them for that, you dont know how much I appreciated it.(Review to come).

Im Going to go back to New Zealand, with a slightly different idea of what I want my food to be like, what my own style should be, what I want to achieve in the future, but I'm also going back quietly confident that I can hold my own with the skills i have developed over the years although there are things I really want to work on which i will make a priority over the next year
Looking at the work of Quique DaCosta and the Roca brothers at El Celler is what will inspire me most, but the pureness of flavour and technique at L'angle and Restaurant Ferrero will also stick in my mind.

Berasategui, Arzak and Mugaritz of course had a profound effect on my thinking too, especially the broths, consommes and juices, pure flavours and techniques that I have not practiced yet. Sergi Arola in Madrid also a highlight on the trip, Very cool restaurant , great host and sommelier and wonderful food, I  discover a few new flavour pairings there.

The Pinxtos in San Sebastian were outstanding, from the modern Feugo Negro to the more classic, Bar Martinez was great, la Cepe all great. What a great history and culture this country has in food.

So its back to NZ for me soon, Still wanting that illusive dessert restaurant, it will come, and I cant wait, but between now and then Im sure I will be back to visit, maybe not as extreme a visit as this one, 9 dinners in less than three weeks was hardcore!! will need to hit the gym and get on the bike for sure. But its all been worth it, and every penny was well spent :)

Labels: Arzak, Barcelona, Denia, El Celler de can Roca, El Poblet, Gastronomy Mugaritz, Girona, Hotel Ferrero, Joan Roca, Jordi Roca, Madrid, Martin Berasategui, Paco Morales, San Sabastian, Srgi Arola

Restaurant Martin Berasategui, Lasarte

Alot of people commented before I went to Spain that maybe Berasategui's restaurant may not be worth visiting, that it may be better to save my money for somewhere else, well, Im glad i didnt listen to them, as it was a great meal with one of the best dishes of the whole trip enjoyed there, Great service and a lovely restaurant.

Martin Berasategui restaurant is situated about 20 minutes from the beaches of San Sabastian, probably best to grab a taxi there, as you will want to enjoy the wine matches they do. I opted for the Great Gegustation menu and sat back and enjoyed the meal, with some small dishes coming out, first up was the lightly smoked cod, with hazelnut, coffee and vanilla, nothing to crazy there, great flavours, and a nice espuma.

This was followed by a mille feuille of Smoked Eel, Foie gras, spring onions and green apple, peach Gazpacho with Cockels and Txakoli. Another nice little mouthful or two being advised to finish with the gazpacho.

Then we were down to business, this was the Crustacean and Ginger Jus upon aromas of vegetables, the jus was awesome and full of flavour, the broths, jus, and consomme's i have tried in Spain have been of such a high level, it really has been mastered. the quenelle was a light espuma of what i cant remember, hmm where did i put my notes!!

Moving on to something I do remember and wont forget, One of the best dishes I ate in the month I spent in Spain was this, Squid soup, with squid ink Ravioli(spherification I believe which burst in your mouth and squid tuile, the flavours were fantastic, the soup again a sign of the highest skill level. and the biscuit adding the texture, I could have had another portion of this.

Next up was the Oyster with watercress, Rocket and apple Chlorophyll, which sat just under a fennel and lemon grass cream and Oxallis. The oyster like many I had in Spain was huge, the chlorophyll was very green  and had great flavour, acted as a little surprise under the white on white of the dish.

Next Dish was a plate of fennel on different preperations, nothing to crazy , nice fennel flavours.

Then I had Cheese and Carabana oil bubbles with Endive, Iberian bacon and red onion juice.

Great flavors, almost a posh cheese and ham, the Iberian bacon is always a great flavour, the red onion juice again another fantastic clear soup and the cheese bubbles finished a great dish, using spherification again.

Next up came this dish, a Farm egg with beetroot which i didnt think held much purpose, liquid herb salad which was fantastic and  carpaccio of basque stew and cheese, The dish was really good, the yolk hidden under the carpaccio mixed in with the herb puree, and made a great dish.

Then came the Warm vegetable hearts salad with seafood, lettuce heart cream, and idionized juice, Visually stunning and you got to wonder how long it takes to knock this dish out, many different flowers, leaves and vegetable roots, taking a salad to the extreme with a slightly gelatinised liquid but not overly so, every mouthful was bursting with flavour.

The next dish was a Red Mullet with crystals of Soft Scales, juice of white chocolate and seaweeds, I missed the photo I think just because it was so bloody tasty, The scales had amazing texture with the fish being perfectly cooked, the white chocolate was an interesting combination I hadnt heard of before that worked very well.

Then came the Roasted Pigeon beautifully cooked with pasta, onions mushrooms and truffles, need I say anymore? Though not!!! maybe a bit of Foie would have been nice with it but thats being cheeky,

Pushing on and we have reached the desserts,  A pre dessert of warm and Cold Apples and roots turned out to be a chilled apple drink with a warm foam, in a small glass to be downed all together to get contrasting temperatures. Then came The coal crumbs with Frozen Yoghurt, Strawberries and a lemongrass and passionfruit shot to be drank at the end. Really good flavours, spherification again in the form of strawberries sat on a citrus granite, coal crumbs were like a biscuit crumble and a great smooth Yoghurt Sorbet,

Then Came the Banana and Vanilla stew, with citrics and Ice Cream.this was a pineapple soup, with banana, citrus foam and sorbet, very light clean flavours.

Im Glad I didnt listen to the people that said dont go, Its a great restaurant and I look forward to going back next year, the service was great, the maitre'd really looked after me well and gave me a tour of the kitchen afterwards. Huge kitchen with a shitload of chefs, but all working with purpose.

Labels: Lasarte, Martin Berasategui, San Sabastian, The great degustation menu

Mugaritz, Andoni Aduriz

Going back a few weeks I had the opportunity to eat at Mugaritz, not to far from San Sabastian, Dont trust your GPS to get here as mine got me completely lost. But when I got there they made me feel perfectly at home. Its a beautiful place set up in the Hills of San Sabastian, beautiful Gardens, and the restaurant is pristine. They even have toothbrushes in the toilet, thinking of everything!!

They had prepared a Tasting menu for me so I got to sit back and let them take control of me for the afternoon, I had the pleasure of having Jose Ramon Calvo looking after me for the meal. The Service was superb, knowledgeable and fun. I think I have had the best service ever in Spain, NZ sees waiting like the brits, its not really a career to them but like in France, Spain has some fantastic skillful waitstaff.

On to the meal, It started with the Stones,  made to resemble the stones that are placed on the table I guess, was a potato that was wrapped in Kaolin clay which is edible, a fun and quick start to the meal,
This was followed quickly by the minature melons with Goats cheese, which was very crunchy, and cleaned up the palate a little bit.

Next came some little prawns, not to sure of the exact species or age but they were completely edilbe, heads, shells etc, nice little snack. and then we moved on to the menu.
The first course was Roasted Tomato Salad and its own cool water. This was a Roasted Tomato, Served with a Tomato water sorbet, refreshing and clean with good tomato flavours.

At this stage I was looking forward to the meal to kick start and see some fanatastic dishs, the next one up was Oven roasted and Raw vegetables, sprouts and greens with 'emmental cheese'. This dish for me from my knowledge is what Mugaritz is all about, some amazing fresh ingredients, many from the hills around served with a sauce/soup of emmental, The flavours were striking, and the sauce was fantastic, I never tasted flowers and vegetables so great before this dish. 10/10. I loved it.
This was followed on by the some Idiazabal Cheese Gnocci in Salted Pork Boullion, with contrasting herbs, While eating this I was thinking each dish keeps surpassing the previous one, beautiful flavour and texture, I always thought its a bit wanky to put small leaves on plates, the the strength of flavour off the contrasting leaves was so good, much stronger than I expected and the Gnocci I think is made with Kuzu leaving a very pure flavour. Excellent















The restaurant was filling up now but with no detriment to the service, I the next course I had was the Carpaccio, with Idiazabal cheese, and vegetable splinters, Fun dish, The carpaccio is intended to fool you into thinking it is meat but in actual fact it is Watermelon, with sweer and sour dressing, fun dish. Not taste sensation but kept your mind thinking.
Sauteed Mullet came out next, two fillets stuck together with meat glue , with beautiful liver and vegetables, very nice dish. Fish was beautifully cooked and came well with the Garnish

Then I had the baby Octopus, I remember it was a good dish but cant remember the Garnish and it was an extra on the menu for me. Very good flavour, first time for me eating baby octopus. 

Certainly wouldnt say no to it in the future.

 

Up next came a great dish of veal roasted and perfumed with vine cutting embers,thyme salt and crisp radish, As with many of the dishes this was Faultless, the meat was so juicy and tasted so good, with such a striking presentation on the plate, all black.The Radish adding a touch of freshness, loved the sticks. so good

Iberian pork tails was next with beautiful meaty langoustines, with reduced braising juices, and Iberian Jamon, This was one of the best dishes of the night, it had a great wine match which took the edge of the strength of the Pork and braising liqour, fantastically balanced

So I'd made it to Desserts,

First up and my favourite was the Spoonfuls of Clashing contrasts, heavy cream, sweets and leaves,

turns out to be Celery root Ice Cream , with Celery root and fenugreek, Brilliant, fantastic start to the desserts  and I would come back for this dish, Followed by French Toast with Fig leave Ice Cream, This was tasty but I sort of expected a little more from somewhere pushing for 3 stars, It was a nice dish, but maybe not in the same standard as the rest of the menu, Then came  the Mugaritz Tablet, to be honest I cant remember this dish, but I remember it wasnt really for me, i Didnt like the Tablet and the bubbles didnt really serve much purpose, the Ice cream was good, but like i said it wasnt memorable.

   

All in all a great meal, a couple of thing that I didnt get but that may be personal preference as im sure some people would love the ones i didnt. It certainly wouldnt stop me going back, thats for sure.

Labels: Mugaritz, San Sabastian

Not long left till I head back to NZ

Its been a whirlwind few weeks of adventure, and will be heading back to the Southern Hemisphere soon,
So left to write about, restaurants will be up soon, Mugaritz, Berasategui, Arzak, Sergi Arola, Celler Can Roca, and pastry shops, Bubo, Oriol Balaguer and maybe Yann Duytsche, Might also visit comerc 24 if I have time, which is looking slim. and a bit about the Boqueria.

Labels: coming home

L'Angle by Jordi Cruz

Im a keen collector of cookbooks, many of them are of Spanish Author, mostly the places I have eaten or visited, Quique DaCosta, Torreblanca, Mugaritz, Arzak, got them all, and many more, one of my favourites is Logical Cuisine by Jordi Cruz which he published while he was at Estany Clar and held 1 michelin star. The book is beautiful, so full of information and you can see the reference point in the title, Every dish is logical, so well put together and balance. Now that I have tasted his food I can confirm that it is as good in the dish as it looks in the photos and descriptions in the book.

The Cooking at L'Angle is not the technique driven El Poblet style, and its not a simple 1 star restaurant, for me it sits in the middle, some very clever preperations, some banging flavours and amazing presentation much like the dishes in the book.

My meal started with a 'gin and tonic', which was a served in the form of a light Espuma served at the table, came with Granny smith apples and a lemon sorbet, all in a glass. Nice and fresh, I have a love of Gin and Tonic which certainly helps matters.

Next up was smoked salmon with fried breadcrumbds and Cauliflower puree, a Cauliflower Soup and eel on the coctail stick, ate well. Again the service staff were involved taking of the smoke filled cloche filling the  air with smoke to enhance the flavours using your sense of smell.

One thing that has struck me in Spain, is the Size of the oysters, the ones I have had have been massive, still full of flavour, but its the first time i have needed to cut them up to eat them, again the garnish was Apple is the guise of Criofiltered Green Apple, with touches of olive oil and I think vinegar, Aster, served with Salicornies, Again a well balanced dish, just couldnt get over the size of the oyster

Moving on , and next came the False Golden Egg Sphere, with fried bread, White Asparagus, majorcan Sausage and Idiazabal cheese, Superb dish, full of flavour, the Majorcan Sausage and the Idiazabal cheese tied everything in so well.

This dish was the Fine focaccia of Champignon mushrooms and truffle, with a champigon broth and hazelnut foam in the glass. Very light dish, The light foccacia was more like a filo or file de Bric biscuit wafer, the mushrooms were fresh and full of flavour. And the Broth in the Glass with the Hazelnut foam gave the dish the final kick it needed.

This is one of the dishes that reminded me strongly of Logical Cuisine with a fantastic presentation, this was like a risotto rice that had if i heard and remember correctly been wrapped in Pigeon Carpaccio with with little pieces of foie inside, a parmesan puree, and concentrate of grapevines made up the dish, for me the portion was maybe a little big, but the flavour was bigger, one of my favourites.

The dishes were getting bigger and bigger and i was started to get a little intimidated by the amount of food, but never the less I went on, and I glad I did, this was the Turbot with dried fruits, preserved Tomotoes and Ajoblanco. The fish was nice as was everything on this dish, but for me the stand out was simply the nuts, I absolutely loved the nuts that came with the dish, so tasty, and the ajoblance completed a realy successful dish. again i think i could have done with a smaller portion, but , never the less it was very tasty.

Next up was the Kid Shoulder with Mushrooms, Apple and a great sticky sauce, I missed the photo of this one, quite  heavy but the apple added a nice acidity and got me through and onto desserts

First dessert up was the Fresh soup of melon with yoghurt and citrus peel. just what I needed to kick start me, so fresh, great flavours. Also with this I recieved a small cocktail of elderflower and cava with grape an litchi. Again very fresh and crisp flavours.

Then the killer, Textures of different chocolate and licourice toffee and coffee, I made it through, just and this one was so taste, many textures, many flavours of Chocolate, The licourice didnt stand out to much but the remainder of the dish was fantastic. Also had peta zeta mixed into the chocolate soil which added a bit of novelty and fun to the dish.

The meal finished and I was shown the kitchen with Jordi and his Sous chef, its a beautiful one, amazing oven range as a centre Island, with a nice amount of room to work in, great equipment from the modern rotaval to Roners and other stuff that I want to get, all gone on my wish list. But the chefs were good enough to spend some time talking with me, Jordi communicating through sous chef who became an impromtu Translator.

I was just saying today to a close friend, all the chefs I have met , I have there books, follow the food through its evolution and think of them very highly, but they have been so refreshingly  down to earth and as we all share the common interest of food it makes things easy to chat about the industry and what is happening around not just Spain, but the world. hopefully one of the chefs may come out to New Zealand to visit us one day.

Labels: Alicia, Jordi Cruz, L'Angle, Logical Cuisine, Mon St Benet

Alicia Foundation

Ive just stayed at Hotel Mon, by Mon st Benet, a 4 star hotel in the countryside situated by a monestary dating back to the 10th centuary, amazing setting, with a modern hotel, Old old Monestary with so much history, (learnt on a tour with the guide Martha, very informative) and beside that you have Alicia.

Alicia is a centre of research on food science, food technology and the latest innovations in cooking, In the workshop(kitchen) a scientist is paired up with a chef and they work closely together to find what , how and why things work and if it can be improved, what else we can do. They work closely with people such as Joan Roca, Ramon Morato and many other of the top chefs in Spain to innovate, improve and keep Spanish cooking at the head of the pack in global terms.

The Board of trustees is headed by none other than Ferran Adria so you know the place is serious if he is involved. But its not just the evolution of Gastronomy or innovating, changing the way we cook or think that Alicia does, they are also involved in educating kids, and have many groups of school kids in to teach them about Nutrition, and food, how it works, why etc. Also working  closely with hospitals, and other health care operations to improve eating habits,  disease prevention and awareness with regards to how our eating habits effect our health.

I had a great show around from the head of Futural Projects, Heloise Vilaseca after the tour of Mon St Benet, and a big thank you to her for showing me the kitchen and lab areas and explaining all about how it works.
Now for Lunch at Jordi Cruz's L'Angle.

Labels: Alicia Mon St Benet

El Poblet Night 2

Backto Dinner at El Poblet the next nights with friends, Didier the maitre'd of the Floor was kind enough to organise the classic menu of the last couple of years for me while my friends enjoyed the menu I raved about last night, much busier night as the previous day was a holiday and again had a nice welcome from Quique DaCosta.

One thing I have notice in the Spanish restaurants is the table top is often decorated with some artwork, sculpture or something as simple as stones, nice touch, I loved these little things place around the restaurant

The Restaurant is nice and elegant but has that look that you can tell its been refined so much over the last few years.

.

So onto the food, to start we had the bread, a nice selection of White, Brown and Black olive with a choice of olive oils, and vinegars. The Lemon vinegar is to die for.

This is the mock white Truffle which started my meal, another dish benifiting from liquid nitro, It was a parmesan foam , nitro frozen then rolled in a powder of 5 wild mushrooms. was a good way to start the meal,  was good to see my friends enjoying the menu from last night and so hard not to give away all the secrets before they ate the dishes.and I had the new menu to keep me intrigued to.

This dish was simply called Spring and designed I believe to clean your mouth, Nice salad leaves, Herbs and some tuiles made up the dish

This dish was fantastic, it was the Foie Gras with Rum and Coke Jelly , some frozen citrus and came with brioche toast,  Its been on the menu for many years and its just fantastic, clean flavours and great texture, a nice jelly sat on top of the Foie Gras cream underneath and the citrus cut the fat just enough, Many people come back just to have this dish and I can understand why.

This is a product  I never had before and wish we could get in NZ, Pressed Iberica Ham, got that salty taste but not over the top, Came with white and black garlic, lemon and ham in different preperations. really good, Like i said the first bite i thought it was a little salty but moving through the dish the balance was there, and really made your mouth water.

Now this is the daddy of the prawn world I guess, simple preperation, super simple , but god it was good, just goes to show sometimes if the product is world class you dont need much else, I wish i had a ruler as this guy was massive, and really fought with it with the old lobster claw cracker,

They were cooked in Seawater then chilled in Ice Cold sea water so believe me when i say this tasted so good, fresh and well, just pure.

Onto the desserts and here is the Violet Ice Cream, Aloe Vera, Pineapple meringue, After reading the Quique DaCosta book it was one of the desserts I wanted to try and Emulate, Anyone in NZ if you can get me Violets and Aloe call me. The flavours are good, the Pinapple meringue was full of flavour, not the typical sweet meringue you may be used to. Very good.

And Next up for me was the Lichi, with well Litchi, very refreshing frozen shells, with different textures and flavours of lichi, its refreshing how little sugar they use in the desserts here, it was a good way to wind the meal down and take me on to the last dessert, The Litchi cream on here was so delicate and everything worked so well together,

I cant thank the guys at El Poblet Enough for looking after me and really going out of there way so a big thank you to the Chef and Didier and I will see you guys again soon, hopefully next year, and I will be keeping up on my Spanish lessons Didier,  Two nights, something like 30 different dishes, all great,

Thanks guys

                                                   

Un&VeRSo  loCal

UNiVeRSo LoCal, es el menú gastronómico que Quique Dacosta y su equipo han creado para dar a conocer su visión culinaria, su trabajo

de investigación y su Pasión por la Creatividad.

Un Mundo creativo en el que  la sugestión mental, el Alma y la Espiritualidad, la pasión y el corazón, así  como el nuevo sentido del Lujo, son piezas fundamentales

de una Cocina y la Sala que expresa así sus sentimientos.

 10.10.2009                                                                                                              la Sal

Trufa Blanca del Montgó “Parque Natural de Denia”                                                                                                                                            (ilusionismo  2008)

    Nuestra pasión por la Trufa Blanca de Alba y por toda Italia, nos ha llevado a crear esta Trufa.

Primavera                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     2008

Bruma.                                                                                                                                                              (Expresionismo Abstracto 2008)                                                                                                 

      Las frías mañanas de bruma nos traen aroma a tierra húmeda, hierbas escarchadas, que se reencuentran en nuestra cocina.    

“Moshi de salsa Verde”.                                                                                                                                                  (2009)

Cubalibre de Foie gras, con escarcha de limón y rucula silvestre del Montgó                                                                              (Simetrías 2001)

Azafrán  “Mark Rothko” Salmonete                                                                                                                                         1957/2008                                                                                                                

 Gamba, Roja de Denia.                                                                                                                                       (1992)

                                                                                                                                                           

Cigala de las Rotas                                                                                                                            (Precisa rusticidad 1996)

Cenizas. “Setas a las cenizas”                                                                                                                                                                                                          2009                                        

 El dominio del fuego para cocinar ha sido y es, sinónimo de la evolución histórica del ser humano.Proponemos con este plato el control del fuego por medio de las cenizas. 

la Gallina de los Huevos de Oro                                                                                                                                  (mineralización 2005) 

PRESA IBÉRICA Joselito asada a las brasas de limonero, con terciopelo de su Jamón, ajo blanco y ajo negro en diferentes estados.                         (2008)

Nuestro acercamiento a un producto muy nuestro en horas bajas, el ajo puede ser y es protagonista armónico.                        

                                                                                                        

                                                                                                          el SuCRe                                                                                                   

Helado de violetas y Aloe Vera                                                                                                                        (2007)

Litchis, bajo cero.                                                                                                                                                                                       (Metamorfosis esencial 2008)

Naranja en invierno                                                                                                                                                                        (2009)
el cítrico más representativo de nuestra comunidad, se expresa desde las frías noches de invierno, con matices agrios y aromas de Rosas y Azafrán.

Labels: 2 michelin Star, Classic menu, Denia, El Poblet, Quique DaCosta, Tasting Menu

Paco Torreblanca, Elda and Alicante.

After my meal at hotel Ferrero in Bocairnet I headed back to Javea but stopping at Elda and Alicante to visit Paco Torreblanca's Pastry shops, The shops are beautiful inisde, much like the look of a jewelery shop.  Service staff were great and attentive, and the pastries, chocolates, and of course the Pannetone were all fantastic

Here are some fantastic little gateaux, super delicate, super tasty ,amazing textures and flavours. most leaning towards the chocolate and coffee combo.

The Large cakes, superb

Bonbon chocolate to die for

A lesson in Macaroons, a little sweeter than what I am used to put the flavour was full and strong as well as the filling, beautiful

Paco Torreblanca is one of the old school in Spains Pastry business, many of todays top talents have passed through his kitchens and gone on to great things, After my trip to Hotel Ferrero I had the opportunity to stop in and see his shops in Alicante and the main one Totel in Elda, a small town an hour or so inland from Alicante. 

Torreblancas shops are elegance of the highest quality, the entrance discrete opening up into something you could mistake for a Jewellery shop, The staff are fantastically presented and you can feel the pride and love of working in these centres of excellence. The pastry's, mini Gateaux and cakes are all kept in beautiful glass showcases, kept at the perfect temperature, not to cold, not warm, just right. Moving on to the quality, everything is precise, wonderful glazes and of course looks so tempting, As with many things in Spain so far I left myself at the mercy of the staff, I explain why I come to Spain and ask them to choose the best ones that they love, and I may add a few, so I had a few of the mini gateaux's which were delicate, full of flavour texture and contrasts, he leans heavily towards coffee and chocolate in many of the products, and fresh fruits, everything was good. 

His Bonbon Chocolate were great, perfect shines, soft centres, some liquid, and again flavourful. so tempting and leave you wanting more.  

Then onto his world famous Pannettone, At 24 euro each they are not cheap but after one taste you know what you are paying for, and that is perfection, I took one back to the family that were looking after me in Javea and we enjoyed it with coffee and port, superb, and thanks for introducing me to that combo Evert, so good. In Short these are the places that make this country what it is, he may be a godfather of pastry here, but reinvention and progression means his style is super modern, shops are slick, well oiled and untouchable.  

I must sound like broken record saying everything is so good etc. But at this Standard everything must be this good, otherwise, well I guess you and I wouldnt be visiting there shops, and like many others that are attracted to spending they're money in the shops and restaurant, it may be expensive, but for me its worth it,

Labels: Alicante, Elda, Paco TorreBlanca, Pastelerria, Pastry Chef, Pastry shops, Relais Dessert, Totel

El Poblet, Universo

EL POBLET RESTAURANT

You know when you think things cannot get any better, then they suddenly do and your left wandering what the hell just happened, well its been a long time since I thought that, and it was the Fat Duck back in 2003 that made me think it first when I had lunch there and it blew my mind.

                                                                

Well I just spent some time at El Poblet and ate there Univeso Local Menu at night, and holy shit it was unbelievable,  I have just eaten the best meal of my life, so I think I get away with it. The setting in Denia is illusive, the restaurant itself is a masterpiece and the maitre, well he is the man that served me the meal back in 2003 at the Fat Duck, small world it is in our business!!. I knew I would be in safe hands with Didier looking after me for the evening. 





    
  The meal was super technical, It actually started off with something familiar to me, it was a mock beetroot, (a beetroot balloon not to dissimilar to what i do at kermadec) filled with a very light mayonaisse of garlic, beet and olive oil served with different representations of beetroot. I sat back knowing I was about to be wowed. But secretly pleased that I knew and made this preperation many times, how different it is to be sat in a restaurant and eating and not serving in the kitchen






They use alot of tricks in what most of us call the Molecular Gastronomy book, Liquid nitro in abundance, dry ice, spherification etc which put a grin on myself as some publications in NZ would have you believe that these things are last year and out of FASHION haha, I beg to differ and so does every great restaurant in Spain. What does that tell you? That Spain is behind the times or some other people writing about food are living in a dream world and wanting to dictate to others what they should be eating and what us chefs should be cooking? I will let you think about that.

A moshi of Green Sauce was a highlight containing a sauce of clams and other shelfish, served with pea spherification. also a dish that they added on especially for me called 'the living forest'  was for me texturally, taste wise and in presentation the best dish I have ever eaten. It blew me away. It blew every other dish I have eaten here out of the water, even surpassing a squid dish I had at berasategui's in Lasarte which was out of this world.



I had monkfish liver, got to try Denia's famous King Prawns, sweeter and more succulent than any other I have tried. They are fished much deeper in colder water and taste so sweet . Foie gras with a texture I didnt know you could achieve with it, and trust me I have tried my fair share of the stuff in the past. All world class.

Desserts didnt hold back and were very creative, and filling , one paying homage to Paco Torreblanca's Pannetone which I had tried after visiting Totel in Elda the previous day. Truely great!!



Such a great meal finished with a tour of the premises and a chat to Qui Que DaCosta, a truly remarkable chef. I even booked another table for tomorrow to try the more traditional menu. You know the 2007 dishes etc, they're old repoirtoire. yeah right.
Bring it on.

                                                   

Un&VeRSo LoCal

UNiVeRSo LoCal, is the gastronomic menu that Quique Dacosta and his team have created to make you understand, the way he sees the cooking, his investigation work and his passion for creativity. A creative world where the mental suggestion, the soul and the spirit, the passion and heart, form this way the new feeling of luxury which are pieces fundamentals of a Kitchen Team and a Service Team who express their feelings.

09.10.2009                                                                                                                                                                                       La Sal

Beetroot                                                                                                                                                  2009

The Iberian Oyster                                                                                                                                  2009

Tartar of Red Tuna and Mediterranean Sea                                                                                            2009

Moshi of green sauce                                                                                                                              2009

Weird leaves                                                                                                                                            2009

“The Living Forest”                                                                                                                                (2007)

The suggestion is a device and a way to understand the cooking. “The Living Forest” represents perfumes, texture

And products we can find in a walk around one of our forest. Get into it.

“Tripe of Tomato”                                                                                                                                   2009

Wood.  Piece of Foie Gras roasted and allowed to stand with woods.                                                      (Essential 2008)                                                                          where and when does the life of a tree end?                                      

Pink Denia´s king Prawn                                                                                                                        2008

The Coral                                                                                                                                                 2009

Black Monkfish                                                                                                                                        2009

Senia Rice firm and soft, with morels mushrooms from Morella, braised pigeon liver and black truffle.                 2009   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     el Sucre     

The Cherry tree Blossom                                                                                                                         2009

Cantaloupe Melon                                                                                                                                  2009

Stones                                                                                                                                                      2009

Labels: Denia, El Poblet, Quique DaCosta, The Living forest, Universo menu