Ferran Adria Foundation Update

Ferran Adria was recently interviewed by Decanter Magazine in London and the questions were all about what’s next for the world’s most famous chef and why he has chosen to close his flagship restaurant, El Bulli.

Though Ferran has not tired of cooking and creating, he explained that he has become weary of the pressures of operating a restaurant.  What busy chef can’t relate to that feeling.

Ferran’s answer (or at least as much as he will tell us at this time) is that he will be focusing on the creation of The Foundation, a creative culinary center where he and other innovative chefs can experiment in all matters culinary.

There Ferran will continue his belief in transparency – he plans to publish daily notes about all the subjects explored at The Foundation on the Internet!  No secrets – rather shared creativity.  Now that’s a future we can all look forward to!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

Ferran Adria: The Best Is Yet To Come

Colman Andrews has written an insightful biography, that only he could have written, about the meteoritic career of Ferran Adria in Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food. 

If you’ve had your ear tuned to the culinary network, you’re sure to have heard of foam and deconstruction as terms for all that’s new in the world of cuisine.

And though few would deny the creativity of this legendary chef, Andrews goes deeper in a tour de force that traces the little known stories in Ferran’s life that have led to his greatest achievements and frustrations.

Unlike a James Beard, Ferran did not discover meaningful cuisine in his mother’s kitchen or like a Julia Child in a great culinary school. Instead, he began in an entrance level job that his father arranged for him through a family friend when he dropped out of school.  Ferran learned enough at that kitchen job and others to be able to work as a cook in the home of a Spanish admiral when drafted.

Once discharged from the military, Ferran went looking for another kitchen job – hopefully one that didn’t require too much work so that, like any young man, he could party and drink (ideally with friends and a lovely lady or two).

Then fate intervened.  A friend mentioned a small restaurant located above a beach called El Bulli (named for the original German owners’ bulldogs).  If the story were a Hollywood script, the next chapters would be all about fame and fortune – how Ferran became tagged with the title “the world’s great chef”.

But Andrews, who spent months interviewing Ferran, listening in his kitchen and observing in his working culinary studio - El Tallers, goes further.  He documents how Ferran first discovered new techniques re-thinking traditional kitchen tools and then adopting stabilizers and thickeners long known to pastry chefs into stunning new applications within main courses.

Colman charts the raising awareness of Ferran’s innovative creations among culinary professionals – both positively and negatively.  He examines the price of fame even when it isn’t wanted.

The book ends with a question – what will Ferran do next?  Ferran has announced that in 2011 he will take a two year hiatus from his now world famous restaurant.  Will he travel, teach, discover more that is new?  Return to tradition?

One can only hope that whatever path Ferran chooses to follow, Andrews will be there to write volume number two about this amazing chef’s creativity and courage in kitchen.  Bravo and well done!  

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010

Celebrating James Beard

There are many unforgettable talents in the world of food past and present but one of the greatest was James Beard.  Not only a skilled chef and a widely read writer, he was also an insightful teacher and mentor to hundreds.   

During his lifetime he always welcomed culinary students, fellow food authors and seasoned chefs as well as endless food and beverage professionals into his home and his kitchen in New York City. 

The many conversations and meals he encouraged there became the foundation for America’s new found sense of food.  Yet when James Beard died in 1985, many feared that the inspiring conversations he mentored among the steaming pans in his kitchen would be lost.

Peter Kump, who founded The New York Cooking School (now known as The Institute of Culinary Education) and Julia Child were both long time admirers of Beard’s work and influence.  Both were also passionately committed to continuing the legacy of his creative voice.

Working together with other professionals, including Wolfgang Puck, Jacques Pépin, Judith Jones and Larry Forgione, Peter and Julia were able to raise sufficient funds to purchase Beard’s beloved house and turned it into one of the world’s most famous culinary center.

Today the James Beard House is as busy as when James himself lived there with over 250 events being hosted annually on site.  James must be happy (and smiling as only he could) to know that wine glasses are still being raised beneath his roof and fine dinners and conversations shared just as when he was alive.

There’s only one problem though – you have to go to New York City to enjoy the creative atmosphere and world class cuisine.  But now there is an alternative: The Celebrity Chef Tour.  Name chefs are now joining with international vendors and select regional restaurants to invite diners to feast like kings right in their own city – all benefiting the programs of the James Beard Foundation.

A recent dinner in Seattle Washington brought celebrity chefs Richard Blais, Brian Scheehser and James B. Hassell together at the Columbia Tower Club for an unforgettable evening.  Over one hundred guests enjoyed a cornucopia of Canapés, Flaked Steak Pastrami, Dungeness Crab, Roasted Tomato Tarts, Salmon Graviox and Lamb with Japanese Pumpkins all beautifully matched to the outstanding wines of Chateau Ste Michelle.

Everyone present enjoyed the evening as the room filed with applause and many thanks to these three very talented chefs who graciously shared their skills to continue the great work of James Beard.  

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2010