Culinary Tidbits . . . El Bulli’s Ferran Adrià has been hired to revitalize the menu at Barcelona’s youth soccer academy; this will be of great interest to him being both a chef and a soccer fan.
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Archive for the ‘Spain’ Category
Ferran Adrià To Redo Barca Academy Menu – Spain
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011INEDIT beer Presented by el Bulli & Ferran Adrià “a beer to pair with food” – Spain, Bangkok
Friday, August 26th, 2011
Inedit Beer packaged in a black, type of wine bottle and suggested to be served in a white wine glass has been especially created by el Bulli & Ferran Adrià to be paired with food. It was introduced to Bangkok by Comte de Sibour Limited on August 25, 2011 at Aldo’s Mediterranean Bistro and paired with these dishes: Confit of Smoked Salmon Flavor; Asparagus Espuma with Poached Quail Eggs; Paella Modern Style; Marinated Artichokes with Ham Emulsion; Jelly of Gaspacho Tagliatelle of Squid; Feta Tomato Chips. It is similar in style to a Belgian witbier, and is aimed at the high-end restaurant market where it most likely will carve out a niche of devoted fans. Whether it goes mainstream as a standalone beer is anyone’s guess. Inedit is arguably Spain’s best beer although, I have read comments such as: this is “a beer made by people who clearly don’t like beer”.
Pouring the beer into a white wine glass, you are greeted by a distinct aroma of fresh yeast and the visual appearance is not overly cloudy as some wheat beers tend to be
A Bizarre Dish from El Bulli – Spain
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
★Culinary Tidbits . . . a Bizarre Dish from among many presented from the new line-up at El Bulli, as captured by The Ultimate Epicure: Hare Blood from El Bulli
Casa de la Ermita Wines – Spain
Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Izarzugaza, 100 Year-Old Butcher Shop, Embraces New Technology – Spain
Saturday, June 12th, 2010
Image credit: Izarzugaza
The butcher shop, Izarzugaza, with three locations in Northern Spain, is making efforts to adopt modern technology while keeping their more than 100-year-old tradition alive: They have an online shop selling meat and prepared items, as well as customer-facing multilingual touchscreens in the shops. But what truly sets them apart is their meat vending machine outside the store in Mundaka.
“We had to provide a service when the shop closes,” Mikel Izarzugaza, the fourth generation owner, told El Mundo. So they acquired a refrigerated vending machine that uses miniature elevators and the products change seasonally: “In summer pasta salads, we prepare and pack, in winter tongue in sauce or meatballs, sausages and burgers as well.”
More on Ferran Adrià and the El Bulli Saga – Spain
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Ferran Adrià working at El Bulli in 1983 (image credit: El Bulli)
Jose Andrés and Ferran Adrià will teach a 13 week intro to “culinary physics” at Harvard, culminating in a working demonstration of how to make foams and emulsions, the backbone of molecular gastronomy.
El Bulli will definitely close, as it had always been dependent on speaking engagements and publications for profitability, rather than income derived from the dining room. It will reopen in two years as a research center for 25 chefs and will still serve 60 meals a year in the restructured space with the dining room & kitchen still intact—it will just be a more difficult reservation than in the past—if that is possible!
Links to previous posts at Restaurant Dining Critiques about El Bulli:
El Bulli Restaurant, Roses, Spain to Close for Two Years
El Bulli Intends to Close Permanently
El Bulli Intends to Close Permanently – Spain
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Breaking News . . . Earlier we heard word that Ferran Adria would close his restaurant El Bulli for a two year period from 2011-2013. Now he has announced that he will be closing permanently in December 2011. The restaurant along with his cooking workshop in Barcelona has been losing money at the tune of a half million Euros a year, although as we mentioned in our post on the two-year closure, the cookbooks are generating a large income. Instead of opening a new restaurant he will use any resulting funds to open an academy devoted to the study of molecular and other gastronomic studies; the academy will sponsor scholarships to allow the most talented chefs from around the world to attend.
El Bulli Restaurant, Roses, Spain To Close For Two Years
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
It has just been announced at a press conference in Madrid that the world famous El Bulli Restaurant, chosen top restaurant for 5 years running, will be closing for two years in 2012. It has already been closing for six months a year recently and Ferran Adrià, the restaurants owner and chef, has decided to close for two years to use the time for reflection; even though there has been speculation that the most difficult restaurant reservation in the world might “dry up”, it still comes as a shock in culinary circles. Rumors are that the restaurant itself does not generate much income due to very high operating expenses, and they count on the large income from book sales.
“Gastronomic University” To Open – San Sebastian, Spain
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
The construction of the unique “Gastronomic University” also known as the Basque Culinary Centre began a few weeks ago in San Sebastian, Spain. The university will be the first of its kind and is designed to look like a pile of stacked plates. Students will be encouraged to use scientific innovation to prepare the recipes of the future and will try to master the science of “molecular gastronomy” under the direction of Ferran Adria, owner of the famous restaurant El Bulli, and other well-known chefs. There are already many Michelin-decorated restaurants in the town and their chefs are more than likely to participate in helping with tuition costs and possibly teaching duties. Heston Blumenthal, the self-taught chef at the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, U.K., who has followed in the footsteps of Adria, will probably be a guest lecturer.
Mr. Adria has come under attack by more traditional chefs, and just recently by a German “food critic” with accusations of “poisoning diners with foams and emulsifiers”, although whether these claims have any merit or not is unknown. In any case, they have not hurt the popularity of his restaurant that is always solidly booked for the entire six months of the year that it is open.
