Interview Ferran
Adrià
Marian Clarkin interviews Ferran Adrià for Galaxy Guides in Melbourne,
to discover a grounded man with a great sense of humour enjoying his fame but
circumspect and grounded about himself and elBulli
Q : At what stage did you realise you had tapped into something unique?
A: It was the feedback we started getting from people. We kept evolving without really realising what we were doing and suddenly when we looked back that was when we started to realise what we had achieved.
Q : Given that chefs very often don’t eat their own food from start to finish, how do you assess the value of a dish and at what stage does it go on the elBulli menu? Have you ever eaten the entire menu at elBulli?
A: We have a table permanently set up in the kitchen and I try the entire menu every week. It is most important to understand what the complete dining experience is. It is very important to try the entire menu; this process gives us the opportunity to fine-tune a dish after it has been carefully analysed. There are at least 30 different items presented in the course of a meal at elBulli we have come to realise dishes can be presented in many different ways. There is not one absolute truth.
Q : So the tasting process influences the order of the dishes?
A: Absolutely. The order in which the dishes are eaten is very important. For people to understand us the comparison can be made to eating sushi or sashimi, it has an evolved progression: the wasabi, the soy sauce, the ginger - there is an order that works.
Q : Are you possessed by what you have started???
A: No, I’m not possessed! We really enjoy what we do, but we try to keep a certain distance, we are constantly assessing and analysing what we do. This constant self-criticism gives us objectivity, but most importantly we love what we do; it’s great, it’s challenging!
Q : Fun, what do you do for fun?
A: I try to have fun with every single thing I do. For example with an interview like this, we’ve been travelling for 14 days and I try to understand the approaches, the interviews, think about the things that I get asked and the answers that I give. We try to enjoy whatever we are doing at the time; for instance we enjoy the view right now.
Q : When you go shopping for supplies in Barcelona is there a favourite spot around the market where you like to eat?
A: In the Mercat de la Boqueria a friend of mine has a little bar
Bar Pinotxo (Pinocchio), and then there is my brother Albert’s tapas bar,
Inopia Classic Bar, and the former head of the elBulli kitchen Albert Raurich and his partner Tamae Imachi who also used to be part of our team at elBulli have opened this place called
Dos Palillos (Two Chopsticks) which is an Asian tapas bar. It’s really good, we like it a lot!
Q : So do you cook at home?
A: When I’m at home, yes, but we are very rarely at home. I still like to cook, but very simple food made with great ingredients.
Q : What does it mean to be the most famous chef in the world?
A: One has to understand that obviously there will be very different opinions and one has to live with that. A lot of people think that what we do is great and that’s wonderful, but of course there are lots of people who think what we do is not so great. Everyone wants to be pretty rather than ugly, but you have to keep a distance and objectivity, which is not an easy task because fame is the worst drug. To keep that under control is a complicated task and in this respect family and friends are very important. If you keep getting told by your family and friends that you are the best, this is very dangerous, but if they are continually telling you, you are not the best it is probably a lot better for you.
Q : So your family keeps you grounded?
A: Yes, my family and my team. In most disciplines there are not so many opinions, but I think it’s good.
the
elBulli kitchen serving area
Q : Do you feel pressured by the accolades?
A: No, not really, because the biggest pressure comes from oneself and that is directly connected to creativity. It is very important to have a respectful regard for people. When you can feel that kind of love and admiration from people the least you can do is be respectful.
Q : Are you a perfectionist?
A: Yes! Yes! Keeping in mind that there is no absolute perfection one has to work constantly.
Q : In the book you talk about your regulars and making sure that they don’t receive the same menu items to eat? Do diners ever ask to eat the same thing again or are they there, regardless of how many times they visit, to always try something different.
A: We have had petitions from regular diners but we hardy ever do it, otherwise we would end up in a circular motion and it would be impossible to change again.
Q : What is the most number of times someone has been lucky enough to eat at elBulli?
A: A good question! I think the person who has eaten the most number of times at elBulli is Richard Hamilton, the father of Pop Art, because he has been coming to elBulli way before I was there, right back in the beginning of the restaurant in 1963. The people who have been eating there recently most often are Bob Northrop and his friend Antonella and we have used them in our recent filming to explain the dining experience from the diner’s point of view. They know elBulli very well; they have eaten there a lot of times.
Q : If you break down the diners and given that they need to book so far in advance who are your diners?
A: We get all kinds of diners and we try very hard to lead them to enjoy their experience. For example, we have had couples where one of them loved gastronomy and the dining experience and the other didn’t necessarily have that much interest, and that makes the dining experience exceptional, different! One of the couple is having the experience of their lives and the other is somewhat disinterested. Each table is a world in itself. That means we have about 2,000 tables in the season and each table has its own story.
Q : What percentage has saved for years to dine at elBulli? What percentage just makes multitudinous continuous bookings because they can afford to eat at elBulli?
A : There are not that many diners who eat lots of times. At the most, there are probably three or four people who might come twice in a year. As far as saving, we don’t need to get too dramatic about it, for example a room in this hotel [Langham Hotel, Melbourne] is more expensive than dining at elBulli. Everything is relative, it depends on your priority. We have to be realistic and pragmatic in life. You do find that some diners are very excited about the experience but it is not the reality for everyone. Some people might prefer to go to the theatre a couple of nights a month and others might prefer to use that money to dine with us.
Q : How to you avoid disappointing diners given that there are such limited opportunities for a booking?
A: It’s a disaster! For instance, with this new book, we’ve just come from Sydney where we did a great show with 1,700 people, and then 1,500 in Melbourne and then we get all these people who want to come to the restaurant and we just can’t accommodate them. All of these people are interested and none of these people will be able to come; it is very frustrating for them and us! I suppose this is a very unique example because I don’t think that this happens in many other places and because a dinner with us only costs about €300 [$580 AUD] it is within the reach of millions of people. We are not talking about a suite in a super luxury hotel which could cost as much as €5000 a night. You have to keep the experience in context. elBulli is a very democratic place and we are mindful that we are located in an area where most people cannot afford to buy a car. elBulli has become a myth and a legend that very few people will actually get to know and that is why this book and our film will communicate what matters for us, but even more people will want to come. It is just incredible!
Q : These new projects: the film and more books?
A: The film we have made is also ’A Day at elBulli’ and we have also created an audiovisual catalogue, which will further open out work to people who are interested in the techniques we have developed.
Q : With the films and audiovisual catalogue, given that you are Spanish speaking has there been a lot more interaction with South America?
A: Not really, language doesn’t seem to matter, China, Japan, the whole world, we’ve had more interviews with foreign press than Spanish speaking press.
Q : How long will you keep going? Will you be like Bocuse, in his 80’s and still working? Do you have a plan?
A: Not really, I don’t think I’ll be cooking at elBulli when I am 85, but I will probably spend my entire life in some way connected with food. Who knows it’s probably too early to say yet.
Q : Is there a protégé, someone who might one day with your mentorship exceed you?
A: We probably have the world’s best generation of chefs in the history of gastronomy. There are so many great young chefs in different parts of the world, but the problem on the other hand is that there is a huge amount of pressure and in a way the press is creating that pressure expecting a young chef to assume a role and reputation that has developed over a very long time. All we ask is that they work hard and do the very best they can. Imagine if I were to name a name the type of pressure that would arise from that.
Q : So, do you think you have someone? You don’t have to name them.
A: It is not a question of names in any discipline there are changes. For example, in the seventies we had nouvelle cuisine, and then in the nineties we started molecular gastronomy. It is possible, even probable that in the coming years a revolution, a completely new movement may emerge from what we are doing now. What we have done is make dining an entire experience. Maybe this revolution already exists and will revolve around getting to know Asia and China better.
Q : To finish much simpler question, what’s your favourite food?
A : Simpler? That’s the hardest question of them all. Luxury allows you to be able to eat anything you want to at any time anywhere. I love seafood, but if I ate it every day I would get fed up with it. Favourite food can be as simple as the best possible croissant in the morning.
Q : Favourite ingredient?
A: Salt, no other ingredient changes food like salt. It is the most incredible ingredient.
Q : A particular kind of salt?
A: No not at all. We always seem to give strange and unusual products another value. For example, ingredients like salt, eggs, milk, flour, sugar and butter are all extraordinary but we don’t compare them on the same level as lobster and caviar.
Q : Favourite wine?
A: I love sparkling wines and Sherries and my favourite wine region is Jerez.
Questions Ann Oliver and Marian Clarkin
Galaxy Guides & Marian Clarkin © 2008
All images Maribel Ruiz de Erenchun and published courtesy
Phaidon Press Ltd
elBulli website
see some of the techniques on U–tube
