Delicooks

Life is sweet right now for the world of gastronomy

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The success of El Celler de Can Roca is based on the kitchen, the wine-cellar and the desserts. How do you maintain a balance between three such different areas?
The harmony lies precisely in the difference. The three areas are are complementary. If we all did the same thing and approached things from similar backgrounds, things would get quite boring.
Food is constantly evolving. As the food becomes more complex,how does a chef communicate this increasingly complex culinary narrative to the diner, especially when it comes to the dessert menu?
My way of understanding dessert discourse is based on the previous savory course. You have to understand the menu as a whole without discontinuities between courses, as an experience with subtle nuances between sweet and savory.

What has been the most outstanding contribution of El Celler de Can Roca to Catalan and world gastronomy?
Using vacuum has undoubtedly been the most significant contribution and the one that could be applied to restaurants around the world.

What is the future of gastronomy?
I think the future is continuously being built from one moment to the next. Life is sweet right now for global cuisine and yje outlook is very promising.

What professional challenges do you still have?
My ambition is to continue doing what I do with my brothers with the same enthusiasm.

What have been the most unforgettable moments in your career as a chef?
Every time I've come up with a recipe like the “cigar”, based on a similar a concept to that of perfumes or techniques involving smoke, have been among my most important moments as a chef. The awards, prizes and stars are merely a sideshow.

Which dessert always makes it into your cookbook?
“The voyage to Havana”. That was my first great dessert and eight years on, it is still on the menu. It is a cylinder of chocolate shaped  – and tasting – like a cigar and is served with our own unique take on the classic mojito.

What would you suggest as a birthday surprise for a partner?
This is the hardest question of all. It depends very much on the tastes of the person you want to surprise. I wouldn’t dare come up with a specific recipe. Find out what he or she liked most small when they were a child and come up with  a  “remastered version”. That’s the best way to strike a chord and bring back all those nostalgic memories.