Ferran Adria, father of molecular gastronomy, whips up ‘idea center’ for world
NO MATTER how many stars there are in the culinary sky, when Ferran Adria is the scheduled speaker, the huge auditorium is filled up.
That’s what happened during the three-day food conference known as Madrid Fusion, Spain’s major culinary show, where chefs and even computer technologists from all over the world gather to hear the latest techniques and show off their creativity. This year, it was held Jan. 25-27.
Adria wasn’t an imposing figure. He wasn’t tall, was balding and was dressed in street clothes instead of his trademark whites. But when he began to talk, the big auditorium was quiet.
Adria began by saying that last year when he announced the closing of elBulli, his revolutionary and successful restaurant in Roses, Spain, none of the journalists asked him what he was going to do next. And so he was announcing at this time that when elBulli closes in June 30 this year, the elBulli Foundation would begin the same day. He was supposed to make the announcement in 2013 but decided to move it ahead.
It wasn’t easy to digest everything chef Adria was explaining. It was bewildering in the sense that here was a genius trying to explain what he wanted to do next, and in a way that to him sounded plain and simple. There was a session just for the press afterwards to take in more questions from the media.
But it wasn’t as enlightening either. My simplistic summary of the presentation is that the Foundation, situated near elBulli, would be a place where chefs can create, discuss and interact with other researchers like journalists, scientists and philosophers.
Digital innovations
First, Adria wanted to show the physical look of the Foundation. For that he called his architect, Eric Ruiz Geli, whom he described as a man who listens to the ideas of clients rather than insists on his own.
When Geli began his presentation by saying how people, places and things were made of molecules arranged in a certain way, I remembered the term which has come to describe Adria’s cooking—molecular gastronomy. It’s a term Adria himself hates, according to his biographer Colman Andrews in the book, “Ferran Adria: The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat” (Phaidon Press, Ltd., London, 2010).
The foundation design will include new materials and digital innovations that would probably make it a showcase of a new architecture that takes into consideration such factors as salinity levels, winds, relative humidity, geothermal and photosynthesis. It also promises to cut carbon emissions.
The initial plans for what Adria called the “idea center” showed several demijohns with walls made probably of a glass-like material and pillars like the neck of that glass container supporting the roof, which looked like a wavy net with peaks and ebbs. This is a place where chefs can create, said Adria. He suggested that chefs needed a place away from the kitchen to create, and the Foundation would provide that space and that quiet time, but at the same time keep the fun going.
Adria promised to uphold the natural preserve of Cala Montejo, the place in the region of elBulli. The seascape and landscape will be integrated into the design.
Apart from the “idea center,” Adria announced there will be an elBulli archive, a data center with digitized files of recipes and experiments done during the 15 years of the restaurant.
ElBulli’s history
In 1987, elBulli decided to close for 6 months; Adria said it was because no one came in the winter. In 1993, a 350-square meter kitchen was built for the 19 to 12 chefs then working, which eventually ballooned to 45 chefs. The expansion left him and his partners nearly broke.
In 1998, the Barcelona workshop was opened even as he confessed he didn’t know what a workshop was. But this was when he understood that creativity and productivity were separate. Restaurateurs were bewildered that he only served dinner most of the time, when opening the whole year and serving both lunch and dinner could have earned him millions of euros.
And then elBulli had no menu which made it difficult for culinary guides like Michelin to appraise the restaurant.
“A menu would have shackled us,” was his explanation.
It was beginning in 2002 when, for a year and a half, he and his team didn’t create anything for elBulli. He went to Japan, fixed up the restaurant in 2007-2008, but in 2009 realized that something was missing. If his chefs wanted to create, this was not the way to go, he thought.
The Foundation was the answer to Adria’s need to have a new stimulus. He and his partners will spend their own money, about 600,000-800,000 euros for this project. “We’re a bit crazy,” said Adria—but also because “so as not to be humdrum.”
Perhaps he knew we were bewildered, and he assured the audience with his parting words. “Trust us,” he said.
After he made elBulli the number one restaurant in the world, influenced countless chefs with his ideas and changed the way many of them cook, that isn’t asking much.
E-mail the author at pinoyfood04@ yahoo.com
Errata
Aldrin Salipande noted how the subhead of the article on Lucban said his hometown is part of Laguna. Nothing in the article, though, said that, and I apologize.
On the Dimas-Alang Bakery story, Robert Javier corrects his father-in-law’s first name as Manolo, not Manalo, and that of Manolo’s wife as Payapa, Paying or Baby to friends. And for the many people who asked for the address of Dimas-Alang Bakery, it’s 52 A. Mabini, St., Kapasigan, Pasig.
NO MATTER how many stars there are in the culinary sky, when Ferran Adria is the scheduled speaker, the huge auditorium is filled up.
That’s what happened during the three-day food conference known as Madrid Fusion, Spain’s major culinary show, where chefs and even computer technologists from all over the world gather to hear the latest techniques and show off their creativity. This year, it was held Jan. 25-27.
Adria wasn’t an imposing figure. He wasn’t tall, was balding and was dressed in street clothes instead of his trademark whites. But when he began to talk, the big auditorium was quiet.
Adria began by saying that last year when he announced the closing of elBulli, his revolutionary and successful restaurant in Roses, Spain, none of the journalists asked him what he was going to do next. And so he was announcing at this time that when elBulli closes in June 30 this year, the elBulli Foundation would begin the same day. He was supposed to make the announcement in 2013 but decided to move it ahead.
It wasn’t easy to digest everything chef Adria was explaining. It was bewildering in the sense that here was a genius trying to explain what he wanted to do next, and in a way that to him sounded plain and simple. There was a session just for the press afterwards to take in more questions from the media.
But it wasn’t as enlightening either. My simplistic summary of the presentation is that the Foundation, situated near elBulli, would be a place where chefs can create, discuss and interact with other researchers like journalists, scientists and philosophers.
Digital innovations
First, Adria wanted to show the physical look of the Foundation. For that he called his architect, Eric Ruiz Geli, whom he described as a man who listens to the ideas of clients rather than insists on his own.
When Geli began his presentation by saying how people, places and things were made of molecules arranged in a certain way, I remembered the term which has come to describe Adria’s cooking—molecular gastronomy. It’s a term Adria himself hates, according to his biographer Colman Andrews in the book, “Ferran Adria: The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat” (Phaidon Press, Ltd., London, 2010).
The foundation design will include new materials and digital innovations that would probably make it a showcase of a new architecture that takes into consideration such factors as salinity levels, winds, relative humidity, geothermal and photosynthesis. It also promises to cut carbon emissions.
The initial plans for what Adria called the “idea center” showed several demijohns with walls made probably of a glass-like material and pillars like the neck of that glass container supporting the roof, which looked like a wavy net with peaks and ebbs. This is a place where chefs can create, said Adria. He suggested that chefs needed a place away from the kitchen to create, and the Foundation would provide that space and that quiet time, but at the same time keep the fun going.
Adria promised to uphold the natural preserve of Cala Montejo, the place in the region of elBulli. The seascape and landscape will be integrated into the design.
Apart from the “idea center,” Adria announced there will be an elBulli archive, a data center with digitized files of recipes and experiments done during the 15 years of the restaurant.
ElBulli’s history
In 1987, elBulli decided to close for 6 months; Adria said it was because no one came in the winter. In 1993, a 350-square meter kitchen was built for the 19 to 12 chefs then working, which eventually ballooned to 45 chefs. The expansion left him and his partners nearly broke.
In 1998, the Barcelona workshop was opened even as he confessed he didn’t know what a workshop was. But this was when he understood that creativity and productivity were separate. Restaurateurs were bewildered that he only served dinner most of the time, when opening the whole year and serving both lunch and dinner could have earned him millions of euros.
And then elBulli had no menu which made it difficult for culinary guides like Michelin to appraise the restaurant.
“A menu would have shackled us,” was his explanation.
It was beginning in 2002 when, for a year and a half, he and his team didn’t create anything for elBulli. He went to Japan, fixed up the restaurant in 2007-2008, but in 2009 realized that something was missing. If his chefs wanted to create, this was not the way to go, he thought.
The Foundation was the answer to Adria’s need to have a new stimulus. He and his partners will spend their own money, about 600,000-800,000 euros for this project. “We’re a bit crazy,” said Adria—but also because “so as not to be humdrum.”
Perhaps he knew we were bewildered, and he assured the audience with his parting words. “Trust us,” he said.
After he made elBulli the number one restaurant in the world, influenced countless chefs with his ideas and changed the way many of them cook, that isn’t asking much.
E-mail the author at pinoyfood04@ yahoo.com
Errata
Aldrin Salipande noted how the subhead of the article on Lucban said his hometown is part of Laguna. Nothing in the article, though, said that, and I apologize.
On the Dimas-Alang Bakery story, Robert Javier corrects his father-in-law’s first name as Manolo, not Manalo, and that of Manolo’s wife as Payapa, Paying or Baby to friends. And for the many people who asked for the address of Dimas-Alang Bakery, it’s 52 A. Mabini, St., Kapasigan, Pasig.
Misión de la Fundación
La misión de la Fundación será crear. Existen ya grandes escuelas de cocina y de restauración, por lo que nuestra aportación no debería entenderse desde la perspectiva de la docencia. A lo que podemos aspirar es a enseñar a pensar, a ayudar a pensar, puesto que la actitud y la mentalidad adecuada son las que permiten crear de manera positiva y provechosa.
Objetivo de la Fundación
La fundación tiene dos objetivos principales. En primer lugar deberá ser el archivador de elBullirestaurant, tanto a nivel físico (documentos, libros, objetos) como digital. En segundo lugar, será un centro de creatividad, con la idea de crear y, posteriormente, compartir ideas y hallazgos con Internet.
El lema de la fundación
"elBulliFoundation Libertad para crear"
Habrá riesgo, libertad y creatividad. Por ello no habrá horarios, ni reservas, ni rutinas
La misión de la Fundación será crear. Existen ya grandes escuelas de cocina y de restauración, por lo que nuestra aportación no debería entenderse desde la perspectiva de la docencia. A lo que podemos aspirar es a enseñar a pensar, a ayudar a pensar, puesto que la actitud y la mentalidad adecuada son las que permiten crear de manera positiva y provechosa.
Objetivo de la Fundación
La fundación tiene dos objetivos principales. En primer lugar deberá ser el archivador de elBullirestaurant, tanto a nivel físico (documentos, libros, objetos) como digital. En segundo lugar, será un centro de creatividad, con la idea de crear y, posteriormente, compartir ideas y hallazgos con Internet.
El lema de la fundación
"elBulliFoundation Libertad para crear"
Habrá riesgo, libertad y creatividad. Por ello no habrá horarios, ni reservas, ni rutinas
La transformación se debe principalmente a que su creador quiere aportar en la sostenibilidad del sistema y la devolución de los beneficios conseguidos a la sociedad.
El compromiso de Adrià es con las personas, de ahí que el proyecto se enmarque como una fundación para promover a las personas mediante la creatividad y la libertad para crear.
Sin embargo, se debe aclarar que se trata de una fundación de carácter privado.
De entrada los “primeros en aportar el dinero seremos Ferran y Juli, a través de las ganancias que puedan reportar nuestros otros negocios. También iremos analizando el papel de espónsors o patrones, pero siempre teniendo claro que es un proyecto cuya principal premisa es la libertad”, ha dicho el propio Adrià.
El compromiso de Adrià es con las personas, de ahí que el proyecto se enmarque como una fundación para promover a las personas mediante la creatividad y la libertad para crear.
Sin embargo, se debe aclarar que se trata de una fundación de carácter privado.
De entrada los “primeros en aportar el dinero seremos Ferran y Juli, a través de las ganancias que puedan reportar nuestros otros negocios. También iremos analizando el papel de espónsors o patrones, pero siempre teniendo claro que es un proyecto cuya principal premisa es la libertad”, ha dicho el propio Adrià.
El cocinero Ferran Adrià escogió la cumbre gastronómica Madrid Fusión, para adelantar los detalles del proyecto El Bulli Foundation.El objetivo es que el proyecto arranque en al año 2013, aunque tal vez el proceso se acelere y se concrete antes de esa fecha.
El proyecto se perfila bajo la modalidad de fundación, según el propio Adriá, porque ya llegaba el momento de devolver algo a la sociedad.
En este sentido, habríamos podido optar por colaborar con organizaciones caritativas, o aportar dinero a las diferentes ONG que hay en el mundo. Pero había otro camino, que es el de crear un proyecto en el que, a través de la creatividad, pudiéramos alimentar la rueda de la excelencia, siempre con la idea de contribuir a la sociedad.
Dicho de otro modo, crear talento significa crear riqueza, puestos de trabajo y aumentar la competitividad de nuestro entorno.
"Habrá riesgo, libertad y creatividad. Por ello no habrá ni horarios ni reservas ni rutinas". Este es el lema con el que nace el nuevo proyecto según anuncia el propio Adrià. La ubicación será la misma, de 'El Bulli', en la Cala Montjoi de la localidad catalana de Roses y tendrá un presupuesto anual de entre 600.000 y 800.000 euros, cantidad que será cubierta por el cocinero catalán Ferrán Adrià y su socio Juli Soler.
Enric Ruiz-Geli, el arquitecto del proyecto, explica a los medios: "Mi trabajo siempre ha apostado por la arquitectura verde, empática con el entorno, la sostenibilidad y la ecología. Pero nunca hemos podido llegar tan lejos como haremos aquí. El reto que nos ha lanzado Ferran va más allá. Pretende que el nuevo Bulli sea el primer centro mundial de estas características que sea totalmente autosuficiente energéticamente y 100% sostenible, de emisiones cero".
El cocinero catalán Ferran Adrià desvela que la fundación será un lugar especial, "un vivero de nuevas ideas y de nuevos talentos para ir juntos y de la mano más lejos” de lo recorrido hasta ahora.
Habrá becas –entre 15 y 25 anuales– y los colaboradores serán seleccionados de manera transparente y con mucho rigor.
Adrià afirmó que su deseo es que la nueva fundación "enseñe a pensar" a los cocineros del futuro, como hacen las universidades.
"Se trabajará de forma sinérgica con otras disciplinas como el diseño, el arte, la comunicación creativa. Perseguimos feedback, interrelación y proyección más allá del mundo de la gastronomía", dijo el maestro culinario en Santiago de Compostela el marco del Fórum Gastronómico 2010.
Habrá becas –entre 15 y 25 anuales– y los colaboradores serán seleccionados de manera transparente y con mucho rigor.
Adrià afirmó que su deseo es que la nueva fundación "enseñe a pensar" a los cocineros del futuro, como hacen las universidades.
"Se trabajará de forma sinérgica con otras disciplinas como el diseño, el arte, la comunicación creativa. Perseguimos feedback, interrelación y proyección más allá del mundo de la gastronomía", dijo el maestro culinario en Santiago de Compostela el marco del Fórum Gastronómico 2010.
1961. Todo empezó con un minigolf... El doctor Hans Schilling, un médico alemán homeópata, y su esposa Marketta, checoslovaca de origen pero alemana de adopción, llegaron a Roses a fines de la década de 1950, y tras enamorarse de la cala Montjoi decidieron adquirir en ella un terreno.
El emplazamiento del edificio en el que se instalaron el doctor y Marketta dista cien metros, montaña arriba, del lugar que luego ocupó el restaurante.
La señora Schilling servía comidas ya antes de que existiera el establecimiento, organizando parrilladas de carne al aire libre, no siempre bien vistas.
A partir de aquí, nuestro vínculo con la historia comienza con un permiso de obras para un minigolf, que data de junio de 1961. El nombre elegido para su negocio (que comenzó a usarse en un momento indeterminado) fue El Bulli, puesto que el matrimonio tenía perros bulldog franceses, a los que coloquialmente se llama "bulli".
El emplazamiento del edificio en el que se instalaron el doctor y Marketta dista cien metros, montaña arriba, del lugar que luego ocupó el restaurante.
La señora Schilling servía comidas ya antes de que existiera el establecimiento, organizando parrilladas de carne al aire libre, no siempre bien vistas.
A partir de aquí, nuestro vínculo con la historia comienza con un permiso de obras para un minigolf, que data de junio de 1961. El nombre elegido para su negocio (que comenzó a usarse en un momento indeterminado) fue El Bulli, puesto que el matrimonio tenía perros bulldog franceses, a los que coloquialmente se llama "bulli".