Ferran Adria – A day at El Bulli

I stumbled upon a video of a series from the New York Public Library featuring Ferran Adria. I liked, of course, the tone of the interview, which despite being slightly but overly rhetorical at times, also was astonishingly insightful if you are, like me, interested in avant-garde cuisine and its master, el gran Ferran “el alquimista” Adria.

Today I invite you to check out the highlights of the interview. Listening to Adria is a fascinating experience. A little like going back in time and finding yourself listening to Auguste Escoffier talk about Classic Cuisine back in the 1920s, except that the culinary revolution is happening right here and right now, before your very eyes, and you are the witness of culinary history. Note that the full video is available at the bottom of this post.

As a bonus, we take a glimpse at Ferran Adria the man, whom we perceive as a passionate, witty and quite funny man.

In the first video, Ferran is debunking the myths at El Bulli. Mainly the fact that the workshop at El Bulli is NOT a laboratory, it’s a kitchen. where a great passion for creativity reigns.
He also tells the story of what made him think of starting a worshop, kidn of like in a Renaissance painter fashion, which was absolutely unheard of in the world of Gastronomy.

Myths at El Bulli
 
At El Bully, if of course you get a chance to go, you won’t find a menu. In this second video, Ferran explains his decision to take away the meny . It is, by the way, a priceless moment to hear him explain that “if i go to your home for dinner, there is no menu. I can’t ask whatever i want. ?.

Ferran Adria takes away his menu

In this third video, the topic is “enjoyment is more important than understanding” in avant-garde restaurant. Cuisine is an emotionala experience. we “can’t” understand all the ingredietns, all the techniques, all the creativity of what the chef is trying to offer.

Enjoyment at El Bulli

In the following video, Adria explains the 3 movements of modern cuisine. From 1900 until now, there was only 3 movements: Classic, Nouvelle cuisine (in the 70s and 80s), and now Avant-Garde Cuisine, which he calls “techno-emotional”.

Movements in modern cuisine

Quite a fascinating, this next footage! Ferran uses liquid nitrogen to make “ice cream” with stuff you can’t freeze, like alcohol, for instance.

liquid nitrogen with Ferran Adria

Finally, an excerpt about creativity.

Creativity at El Bulli