Gastroville

But, fortunately, we are not yet at the point of giving up from the search for superior raw materials and ingredients. There still are many places in the Western World, perhaps more in Spain and Italy than France, but also in France, which seek out the best regional and seasonal and artisanal products and cook them in uncomplicated ways. Such establishments rate 14 to 15 on the gastroville scale, and it is often a delight to “discover” them. Fewer establishments dare even more and excel both in terms of high quality ingredients and superior cooking techniques and daring combinations. Depending on their success, we rate such establishments between 16 and 20. It is always a pleasure to dine in a place which combines respect for raw materials with skills and creativity in handling them. This writer was so impressed by his first meal at El Celler de Can Roca (June 22, a day before El Bulli) that he stayed in Spain one extra day to have a second meal there on June 25. The second meal confirmed the very positive impressions of the first meal—and more, as we were four in the second meal (the same four of El Bulli) and we were able to taste more dishes.

Juan Roca of Can Roca worked at El Bulli, and the two restaurants are often lumped together as the two leading representatives of avant garde Catalan cooking. Yet given our diametrically opposite experiences (which pertains more to the low ends of the meal, as the highs are equally high in both places, and as there are many lows at El Bulli but not at Can Roca), I would like to compare and contrast these two restaurants along the following seven axes: flow of the meal; conceptualization of dishes; contrasts and complementarities; ingredients; techniques; beginning and ending; service and setting.

1. OVERALL FLOW OF THE MEAL

When I dined twice at El Bulli in 99 I was struck by Adria’s unconventional and revolutionary approach to the flow of a grand feast. Adria’s notion of crescendo defied our notions of a conventional continuum along cold/hot and savory/sweet axes but respected the desirable values of harmony and balance in a meal. There certainly was an inner logic to the overall progression of a meal and, at the very end, one felt very satisfied, and at the same time intellectually provoked.

Unfortunately, this feeling of crescendo no longer held true for the 2005 meal. Ours was indeed an experience of tiring repetitions and an unsubtle assault on the palate which gets tired in the middle of the meal. There was too much use of the same spices and herbs, and too much reliance on sesame oil, brown butter and seaweed, which popped up dish after dish. Worse still, these ingredients were used in consecutive dishes and in the middle of the 27 course meal (excluding desserts), and the middle is often the most important part of the meal as when it is not well thought out even good beginnings and endings (some super dishes there in El Bulli) are left suspended in mid air and lack spine. To illustrate this point take the three consecutive courses (number 13, 14 and 15 respectively) of yoghourt gnocchi with brown butter, mussels with seaweed and pave of ceps. Seaweed features in different forms and shapes in all these dishes, sometimes openly and sometimes more covertly, and strong tastes of brown butter and sesame oil lingered obstrusively on the palate. It is as if we were back to the years of pre-nouvelle cuisine in France, but this time, instead of too much cream and butter, we tolerate Asian condiments to the degree that would offend an educated Asian palate (one of us was Japanese and a food writer) who puts a premium on subtlety and harmony.

Pictures below are three consecutive dishes:
a. nudos sfericados de yogur con ficoide glaciale, alcaparras y beurre noir

b. mejillones de roca con “gargillou” de algas

c. pave de ceps con salicornia

Why should there be so many variations on similar ideas in Adria’s menu? My best guess is that Adria gives a great deal of autonomy to the young sous chefs who work under the supervision of his chef de cuisine. These talented and hard working people concoct interesting dishes or ideas of dishes—and then unable to select among them or, in order to impress the diner with a greatest number of tapas, Adria includes most of them in the menu without giving further thought to their overall progression.

Certainly this is far from being the case at Can Roca where each of our two meals progressed in such a way that, at the very end, before the desserts, we felt exhilarated and were looking forward to the gamey Navarro squab which ended one of these two meals, as opposed to feeling flat down at Adria. The secret of progression at Can Roca is very simple: the chef has a deft hand with spicing and the use of various condiments, and his infusions are invariably light and destined to enhance rather than complicate the taste of the main ingredient. At the same time, each new dish introduces us to a new cornucopia of flavors which whet the appetite, and these flavors are never repeated from one dish to another so that the chef avoids repetition. Our first meal, for instance, ended with cochinillo or baby pork, and the dish was accompanied with a light infusion of almond cream and goat cheese yoghourt foam enriched by a slightly bitter plant (gentiane). In our second meal, however, the chef served an outstanding veloute of fresh almonds topped by fresh almond slices, and even though we got to the baby pig seven courses later, he made a light infusion of mint and slightly bitter melon (“Cochinillo iberico confitado con melon”).

Pictured below are the following dishes:

a. Ibericon piglet with almonds and gentian

b. Veloute of fresh almonds

2. CONCEPTUALIZATION OF INDIVIDUAL DISHES

When I had dined chez Adria seven years ago, I distinctly recall some dishes which were composed of two or three ingredients at most, but, these ingredients complemented each other so well that they left indelible gastronomic memories. Actually when I originally wrote to the affable Signor Garcia requesting a reservation, I remember mentioning “tuetano con caviar”(bone marrow with caviar) as one of the best dishes I have eaten to date, requesting to try it once again. Clearly Adria is not interested in reiterating old favorites as he is constantly on the move. At the same time, the majority of new dishes are such that one gets the impression of getting some snapshots of what they may become in the future, rather than a full picture. These dishes which parade before you in consecutive fashion are more like prototypes developed at Beta testing level and, at best, one can surmise future possibilities. Chances are that these possibilities will be explored by chefs in the coming years both in Spain and elsewhere, but then, Adria himself will have moved on to the next stage.

Take for instance our number 16 and number 20 courses respectively. The former is called “nueces guisades con salsa noisette y capulios de margarita” and the latter is a shellfish dish featuring “cigala con quinoa”. They are pictured below:

a. walnuts

b. langostine or cigala

Now, both of these dishes are quite good. Even though the former follows many other dishes emulating bitter brown butter/malt/sesame oil and savory/salty seaweed and caper flavors, the steamed walnuts, combined with pickled daisy flowers (which taste like capers) and a brown butter foam, tastes intriguing, and I have nothing against the little theatrical practice of eating the dish with a special spoon made aromatic by tying fresh sage to its handle. In a way this dish is an intelligent reconstruction cum combination of classics, like brown butter with sage, and also a nod to the Ligurian walnut sauce. Also, perhaps to create a homogenous texture (or for concerns regarding very young or very old citizens who cannot chew), the walnut is so heavily steamed that it has become cotton-like and its cloudiness mimics the foamy brown butter.

The problem is that this deconstruction of a classic sauce leaves one with the impression that something is missing; the dish lacks not so much a center as it needs a binding ingredient or element which should enhance the taste and bring out the full potential of the inherent in the concept (one can say to make the dish “delicious” instead of simply “interesting”). I can see that there is tremendous potential in this dish, and there are many ways to extend the application of brown butter and sage to areas other than gnocchis. But somehow Adria is like a seasoned professor advising a graduate student: he is content with providing overall orientation and leaving the execution to the student—or many students, who are the aspiring acolytes in Spain and elsewhere.

The majority of dishes at El Bulli seem less than complete or well thought out.. For way of comparison with Roca, take the second dish pictured above. Here a single and very fresh cigala is separated from the head, but the tasty liquid from the head is captured and placed underneath. The dish is then served with roasted grains, which adds some texture but not necessarily a complementary or contrasting taste. Indeed had Adria simply showered the shellfish with some breadcrumbs, the result would have been similar, perhaps less confusing. It is confusing because, unlike, say, a well thought out Thomas Keller dish (“oysters and pearls”) where oyster and caviar and a sabayon of pearl tapioca complement one another and create a sensual masterpiece, here it is not clear why the very good cigala is not served simply a la plancha as in the best tapa bars throughout Spain. Instead a crude textural contrast takes the upper hand over a concern for creating a symbiotic, mutually enhancing relationship over various elements of the dish.

Now, let’s contrast the cigala a la Adria with two of the shellfish dishes at Can Roca: “Cigala with cardamon” and a deconstructed version of a Catalunian classic: “Fideua of prawns with garlic mousseline”. The photos are below.

a. Cigala

b. .fideua of prawns

The quality of langoustine and the Palamos red prawns are impeccable in these dishes, as is the case with Adria. However, when Juan Roca deconstructs a well known classic, such as “prawns with thin noodles and garlic” by relying on agar agar, he is able to create a dish which is at least as good as the traditional version, and when we cut a piece of the gamba and swallow it with some gelatinous noodles and a scoop of the airy mousseline of garlic and herbs, the three main flavors complement and enhance one another and highlight the sweetness of the wonderfully juicy prawns. Similarly, the cigala is offered simply with a bouillon extracted from the head, and some very subtle flavors of lime and cardamon are imparted to the cigala as a result of cooking it very slowly in a smoker. What is interesting in this dish is that the intensity and the saltiness of the very flavorful prawn is balanced by imperceptible smokiness and zesty-subtle spicing and freshness of lime scent. This is a complicated dish made to look simple, and the sophistication here does not come at the expense of deliciousness.

3. CONTRASTS AND COMPLEMENTARITIES.

All great dishes are comprised of some contrasts and/or complementarities, and the creative chefs know better than others how to blend and contrast different ingredients in a dish without making the dish overly complex or fussy. In successful examples, sometimes a noble ingredient, such as fresh foie gras, is combined with a pedestrian ingredient, such as crunchy cabbage, but when the blend is right and quality of the two impeccable, then the resulting combination can be ethereal, as was Senderens’ famous foie gras wrapped in cabbage. Others may introduce textural and savory contrasts to a dish, as Adria has done with its” foams”, which constitute a landmark achievement in the evolution of Western cuisine, as they captured the intensity of well made classical sauces without the heaviness of the latter. Adria then cleverly used his foams to emphasize rather than mask the clarity and intensity of different elements of a dish.

This said, I was quite taken by the lack of finesse and by the too obvious contrasts in his new concoctions. Throughout the meal we were pounded by salty/sweet and bitter/sour contrasts, as if Adria’s full attention had been consumed by textural issues (and to some degree by interesting plating where black and white contrasts were constantly introduced), at the expense of taste and ingredients. Indeed some of the dishes bordered on outright inedibility (such as the number 10 dish on the menu pictured below “ravioli de malta con mantequilla, erizos y lima”), or they were on the borderline of edibility, such as his “Spring Waterfall” or Deshiolo 2005. (This dish came across as more confused than funny, and it left a strong peanut and sesame oil aftertaste.)

a. Butter ravioli with sea urchin and lime

The problem with the ravioli is that the contrast with bitter malt and lime was such that very aggressive flavors assaulted our tastebuds to the detriment of one of my favorite shellfish on earth, i.e. sea urchin. None of us could actually finish this dish. On the other hand, when complementarites are well thought out, Adria can concoct outstanding dishes. This was the case with the last dish of our meal which again introduced sweet sea urchin, but in this case in the company of incomparably fresh and creamy lamb brain. The third element in the dish was the algae or seaweed that Adria used too many times in this meal, but, in this particular dish, crunchy seaweed introduced a third dimension rendering the very rich dish almost breezy, a tad spicy, and original in a positive way. Brillant! Below is the picture of this dish: sesos de cordero con erizo y algas

b. Brain and sea urchin

Spanish chefs seem to be especially adept in combining offals with seafood in such a way that the resulting sensual combination brings out the best in both components, and the dish is both delicious and conceptually interesting. I also thought that two more dishes were outstanding in combining seafood with meat in symbiotic ways. Both of these dishes reminded me of what Adria has done best: that is, draw inspiration from tradition and reconstruct some classic combinations (jamon and shellfish, tuna/mackerel in escabeche) in such a way that the result is not just a clever take on tradition, but even superior to the best example of the traditional dish. For instance, “ostra con emulsion de jamon y su perla”, whose photo is below, combines taste and technique to mutual benefit, as the pearl in question is made from smoked sea water coulis infused with jamon essence, and for lovers of oyster this very intense dish is not only playful but also very natural tasting, as the quality of a belon oyster is not sacrificed but enhanced by smoke and jamon flavors. The only criticism may be that this dish is for purists only, and it is not for the faint hearted.

c. oyster and pearls

One problem with Adria in 2005 was that since some of his best dishes were served at the very end of the meal when our taste buds were not at their most alert, we derived less satisfaction from them than we should have. In contrast, the best dishes at Can Roca equal the best in Adria, but the lesser dishes are still very good. In addition one can have masterpieces at Roca at the beginning (“La Planta”), almost beginning (“Timbal de manzana y foie gras con aceite de vainilla”), or towards the end of the meal (“pork feet with espardenyes”). Below are the photos of all of these three masterpieces.

a. La Planta

b. Foie Gras with a timbale of apple

c. Pork feet and espardenyes

The common element in all of these dishes is that the contrasts and complementarities are well thought out This is the case for classical combinations (caramelized as well as tart apples with duck liver), or interesting but not necessarily novel combinations (gelatinous pork feet with caramelized onion and semi-crunchy-chewy and sweet espardenyes and crunchy artichoke chips), or very original combinations (distilled earth composed of various mushrooms, summer truffles, fennel, mint, sweetened rose petals, etc.). The point is that whether a dish is composed of two (foie gras), or three (espardenyes), or several elements (La Planta), one can not easily think of a way to improve these dishes by adding or substracting elements or by suggesting alternative cooking techniques. It seems like the role of chance is reduced to near zero in this restaurant probably because Roca does not put a dish on the menu before perfecting it. In contrast, Adria 2005 gives the impression that the pluralism that characterizes his concoctions this year often conflicted with his drive for perfection.

4. TECHNIQUE

I always thought that prominent chefs like Adria employ new cooking methods to bring out the best in the ingredients rather than subjecting the dish to the vagaries of not fully tested cooking methods. Clearly both Adria and Roca are at the forefront of experimental avant garde schools of cooking. In the past I remember Adria for transforming raw ingredients into finished products in such a way that the original ingredients were still in pristine state in terms of taste. This is what Roca is achieving today, and the methods he relies upon, such as “sous vide” cooking, distilling (please notice the distiller which is placed in front of the kitchen and in between the two small rooms), and, smoking are all harnessed to the same aim of enhancing flavors. I was also impressed that when the chef makes use of sous vide cooking for meat and poultry, he does not sacrifice the crispiness of the skin as he combines cooking techniques to get the best of different methods. For instance, his very successful rack of lamb dish with morel mushrooms stuffed with lamb trotters and peas mousseline (pictured below) consists of the rack of baby Castilian lamb cooked three ways: sous vide, a la plancha, and finished in salamander. The result is that the lamb is both smooth and rich and crunchy at the same time. The dish is so delicious that we requested it to be on the menu the second time, three days after tasting it in the first meal. It was equally good.

a. Lamb

In contrast, Adria seemed to be primarily concerned with perfecting a single method and finding new areas of application for it (various alginates frozen with liquid nitrogen to obtain frozen surfaces with liquid interiors) as opposed to thinking about the best way to create delicious dishes. Why may this be so? I can only hypothesize. One possibility is that, like most trendsetters, Adria is consumed to the point of obsession with each new idea, and he refuses to countenance other possibilities or repeat past practices until he perfects the new method. The second point, which is not necessarily in contradiction with the first is that perhaps he is contemplating a new brand of frozen goods which will be mass marketed. If so, his restaurant serves as a testing ground for the application of new ideas, not unlike the different stages of testing a drug before it hits the market (the first stage being his labs in Barcelona). In this sense, modern industrial methods and practices may be the handmaiden to avant garde haute cuisine today, rather than the other way around, as it was before in the heydays of nouvelle cuisine. The analogy with drugs may be apt also because of the long term health effects of utilizing certain gasses in cooking (such as azot), but Adria is especially fortunate in that he does not have to pay his experimentees, and actually it is the latter, like this writer, who begged to be included in the experiment and pay for it.

5. INGREDIENTS

I do not think that Adria is unconcerned about the quality of his ingredients. Actually the quality of shellfish and offals at El Bulli is excellent. And, in some dishes these ingredients shine and the finished product bears a happy resemblance to the initial raw material. But this is more the exception than the rule at the moment. That is, many concoctions of Adria in 2005 tasted either quite artificial and inferior to the natural product (such as his green olives and mozzarella, pictured below, which can be tasted in pristine state in many Italian trattorias), or the ingredients (such as the walnuts in a dish pictured above) are so transformed that the gap between the finished product and the original material becomes too wide. The result is then more confusing (some may consider this amusing) than exhilarating and borders on being artificial. In addition, there are some dishes on the menu which are actually exhilarating (such as the “esparragos blancos al aceite de oliva”), and the combination between the white asparagus and a gnocchi of olive oil and marshmallow of yuzu does work. But such dishes would have been even better had white asparagus been in season at the time. Nevertheless, the preserved asparagus was also quite good—but not as good as say tasting white asparagus from Bassano in Italy in April.

a. Mozzarella

b. White Asparagus

I was quite impressed with ingredients at Can Roca. They have access to the best of local shellfish and fish (baby octopus or pulpitos was outstanding, as the other shellfish mentioned below) and although neither the young pork or lamb was as baby as one can find in Castilia, the restaurant uses churra breed lamb, and, for the pork dish, only the belly of the three months old pork is used, and one belly serves about 6 portions only. The restaurant is very careful about the sourcing of ingredients, and when I asked them about the sourcing of some outstanding wild mushrooms, they were quick in responding about the sources of the morilles (comes from Rocacorba) and the prized moixernons (also called perrichicos) that they used in some dishes. Overall Can Roca makes best use of local products, but, like all great restaurants, they are not solely confined with local products, as they make an effort to locate artisanal sources for non-local products too.

6. OUVERTURE AND FINISH

Even if the middle is the spine of all meals, it is the amuses and appetizers which make the first impression and the desserts (and cheese course if there is one) which make a lasting impact on the memory. Quite a few reviewers who write in internet forums lauded the snacks offered by Adria in the beginning. Personally I found the frozen Margarita (the photo is below) served in the beginning literally worse and more artificial tasting than the versions of this supposedly Mexican cocktail which are served in nondescript business hotels throughout the States by mixing bad tequila with artificial mix. The green olives served with it made out of agar agar also came across as a bad joke and not particularly amusing for an amuse when this coast of Spain grows superb green olives. Then the sixth snack, which followed, came across more like a nod to American fast food habits (marshmallows, popcorn, oreo cookie), or possibly the prototypes of Adria’s future foray into the lucrative fast food market. Personally I am in favor of higher quality fast food, and I don’t think that fast food is tasteless. Indeed overdoses of salt and grease and sweet flavors make many people quite addicted. But the problem is that Adria’s concoctions mimicked the essential quality of fast food in the sense that they consisted of primal, to your face, flavors. Out of the six little bytes, only one tasted fresh and appetite whetting (melon with fresh almonds and mint), and the rest ranged from OK (ham cookies, oreos with black olive paste) to utterly off putting (marshmallow with parmesan, popcorn with cheese).

a. Margarita

The so called morphing (desserts) on the other hand can be considered amusing. Desserts in Adria had never made a lasting impression on me, and, even in ‘98, I had thought them to be the weakest part of the meal. But they are not bad. The foamy milk shake with cinnamon was another nod to middle America; the apricot jam and jelly with the frozen surface was perhaps another manifestation of the overriding freezing technique ultimately rendered futile in the middle of apricot season when great fresh apricots are available; and, the nod to Japan by offering “mochi” (as popular in Japan, as doughnuts are in America) with passion fruit and licorice, was a nice ending to the meal.

Tapas served in the beginning of a meal at Can Roca are fewer in number, but they make a lasting impression and they are basically small portions of larger dishes. The meal typically starts with some accompaniments for cava, such as beetroot chip, sesame cookies, spring rolls filled with bacalao, etc., but the next set of three snacks are truly memorable. For instance, the four of us were offered a not too original but satisfying foie gras nougat, an even better parmentier of raw squid, and a superb belly of tuna topped by homemade preserved cherries.

a. Tapas

But it is the symphony of desserts that are truly memorable, and these masterpieces with evocative names, such as Helado de Cep, Jardin Mediterraneo and Viage a la Habana (photos below) are prepared by the youngest Roca brother, Jordi, who, at 25 years of age displays rigor and professionalism.

a. Mushroom ice cream

b. Mediterranean Garden

c. Trip to Havana

All of these desserts are original and delicious. Take the porcini ice cream for instance. It is visually stunning, but not only that. Indeed the earthy and sweet flavors blend especially well in this dessert, and, in the flow of the general meal, it constitutes a bridge between the gamey/earthy meat course which preceded it and the enchanting fruit/chocolate/coffee flavors which follow it. One can describe this dessert by saying that it consists of sliced porcini at the bottom, sweetened by honey, and topped by a scoup of porcini ice cream The olive oil, chive and pinenut infusion and some well hidden confit of lemon peel add freshness and aroma to the dish. The sugar bubble you see on top is so thin that one wonders if Jordi was a Venetian glass blower in a past incarnation! As soon as you tap into the sugar glass, some porcini smoke is released, and when you inhale it, you can not help but think that deliciousness and theatrical games are not necessarily at odds with each other.

7. SERVICE AND SETTING

The setting is idyllic at chez Adria, especially the experience of sitting in the terrace located in a rustic spot and watching the fireworks (June 23 was a holiday) in the background. The servers are gracious, act in unison, respond to your needs, and are eager to answer your questions and please you at all cost. For example, our sommelier recommended a Remelluri white Rioja as our third bottle. I tasted the wine and found it to be unbalanced and aggressively oaky. The sommelier changed it with a very good Galician wine (Pazo de Senorans Seleccion de Anada 2001) without hesitation. To give another example, when they asked if we wanted coffee at the end of our six hour meal, I said that having coffee gelatin would have been more appropriate to be in tune with the overriding spirit of Adria 2005. No kidding. In a split second I was served delicious frozen coffee cream in an upside down cup.

a.Upside down coffee

In contrast, Can Roca is located in a drab part of Girona, and when entering the restaurant, the last thing one expects is a superlative meal. The two rooms are austere but fine, and the waiters are quite young and well meaning. On the other hand, the hidden gem in the dining room is the existence of the middle brother, Josep Roca. To the best of my knowledge and experience so far in Spain, the gentle, soft spoken Josep Roca struck me as the best sommelier I have encountered in Spain and one of the very best anywhere. The wine list is incomparably superior to El Bulli and prices are fair. I can only wish that the well deserved third Michelin star, which will for sure follow the relocation of this gem to a posher location in Girona, will not have a negative impact on the overall quality and also on the availability of great wines. (I had Denis Mortet Lavaux St. Jacques 2001 the first time and 1990 Fleur Petrus the second time for accessible prices.)

Gastroville rankings: El Bulli: 15/20 (VM)
Can Roca 19/20 (VM)