"El xef convidat": Romain Fornell

The strong "personality" of La Boqueria is clear this year, which celebrates its 180th anniversary. Not 175 or 200, no ... 180.

Among the different events that will serve to celebrate this peculiar aanniversary it is "El xef convidat", a space where renowned chefs go to the market for making a master class.

And the first was by Romain Fornell, a Michelin-starred chef (Caelis in Barcelona, ​​for example) who manages different culinary projects (such as the renaissance of Casa Leopoldo or Caelis's younger brothers at the Ohla Hotel).

His masterclass was a tribute to vegetables. All of the dishes he cooked spinned around vegetal elements. And with truffle perfume, as truffle was well present in every dish.
First, an onion soup homage to Paul Bocuse, as it was a version of the one that the culinary myth cooked for Valéry Giscard D'Estaign.

Then came an artichoke with a truffled white butter sauce. A marvel that absolutely respected the taste of the vegetable, not hidden by the fat of the butter.

The leek with green sauce that we ate later was delicious. Remembering the "calçots", because it was roasted, the leek had a soft texture and the sweetness was balanced by the sour point of the sauce.

Personally, the surprise came with the fake celery risotto. Fake risotto because there was no rice: the small cut celery was the base of the dish. Romain Fornell showed that it was possible to make a risotto (with a trick: to cut the vegetables before), in a short time, since the celery does not take as much as the rice for being cooked.

Mixing raw beets with cooked ones, he presented us with a very nice beet tartar. And, well, a way I can eat beets without much trouble.

Finally, the wonderful "llàgrima" peas of the Maresme took center stage, with a plate where they were lightly cooked in a vegetable stock and covered with a vegetable veil that gave it a special look.

As we finished the dishes, Romain Fornell defended the local products, the season products and the importance of the market as an agent to get good material.

Takashi Ochiai at Cook and Travel Fest

Cook and Travel Fest started its showcookings with Takashi Ochiai.

Thisjapanese pastry rmaster talked about his beginnings as pastry chef in Barcelona, 36 years ago. In that time, he baked catalan pasrty, but one day, a businessman who had visited Japan and had his desk close to Ochiai asked him to make some japanese sweets he liked very much: mochi. And he did it. News were spread and different japanese restaurants of Barcelona went for mochis. Because of the success of the sweets, the master decided to include them as usual product.

Mochis are for celebrations, because they mean happiness. They are so special that in Japan there is a bag for children who are learning to walk. They put mochi dough on pockets on the front and the back to achieve a balance that allow child to walk by himself. It is said mochi is a sweet with 600 years old, introduced in Japan by a Chinese master, who made a kind of Manju.
The base of mochi is glutinous rice flour, that is mixed with water and steam cooked. The filling can be very different, but the typical for springtime is Sakura.

In addition to Mochis, Takashi Ochiai talked about other elements and products of japanese pastry, as Castera, a spongecake created by european missioners for the Tea Ceremony. It is said if was created 100 years ago in Nagasaki.

Azuki has a lot of presence in japanese pastry, as sweet paste used for fillings.

Also, a star product is Matcha tea. Master Ochiai told he uses around 400 kg per year. It is used in many products, more than 10 references. For Matcha spongecake, it is added clorophill to mantain green color.

Asked for the future of pastry, he said something surprising and brave: macarons will dissapear, at least in Catalan pastries, because they are a product with colorants and fat, and nowadays, people are looking for healthier products.
Also, he adviced about individuals (little cakes and preparations for one person) as increasing way of consuming pastry, because in a group, individual tastes are represented.

At the end, we could taste the wonderful sweets made by master Ochiai's bakery.

Daniel Jordà and Worldwide Bread

Daniel Jordà, without any doubt, is a bread alchemist. Few things in this world resist him and many others appear because of his hands.

His motto (Love is in the Bread) is something related to what his creations cause. Creations that go to Michelin starred restaurants. 15 restaurants with star have or had Panes Creativos, Daniel Jordà's bakery, bread. The showcooking was good to explain how he began his personal project: he took the sunday specials of newspapers and next week called all restaurants that appear there. Once contacted, he offered a bread for its cooking and sent some samples. This was the way Panes Creativos started.

In his bakery, different bread from all around the world is baked. This is because people who arrive close to him to learn. The ones who enter there have a petition from Jordà: show me to bake bread from the place you come. So, it came Babka, a delicious preparation with jewish origins, made with chocolate and cinnamon. It is quite popular in the United States.

Also, he bakes a venezuelan preparation typical of Christmas time. Inside, it has ham, olives and raisins.

Okaido, his last creation, is a japanese bread product. Very fluffy.

Panetone is, for Daniel Jordà, the most difficult challenge for a baker, because it is a preparation, from sour dough, with so many fermentation hours: until 3 days it can be fermenting.

At the end, coming back home, he has created a chocolate "coca" that wants to recover the traditional snack of bread with chocolate, but in one piece. It is bread with more than 100% of hidratation.

Lots of delicious bread slices!

Miguel Muñoz's showcooking for "Passeig de Gourmets"

The first half of march gave us the first edition of  "Passeig de Gourmets", an activity to show what is done in gastronomy in this main street of Barcelona.

Different places of the Passeig and surrounding offered dishes and menús for people be able to experience their cooking. Also, there were organized some showcookings to give an slight view about a part of gastronomy.

Friday 16th, I had the chance of being at a showcooking about escabetxos (marinades) by Miguel Muñoz, head chef of hotel H10 The One Barcelona (Carrer Provença, 277).

As usual, there was a part to contextualize the showcooking. In the beginning, marinades were conservation methods using vinegar. But because of improvement in machines and techniques for food conservation, marinade is a cooking method as any other. This caused now mariande has less vinegar in recipes.

A marinade, depending on the kind of vinegar, will have differences of scents and flavours, so it can be customized in several combinations. But, a marinade, for being a marinade, must have a 24 hours rest, to assemble all the scents.

The first marinade we tasted was a vegetable one with paprika. It was made with white vinegar. The recipe was delicious, specially because of the vegetables crunchy. They were like pickled.

Immediately, there was a mackerel marinade that has orange juice instead of vinegar. Full of scent, delicate and so good.

The last one was a quail marinade that was almost a Catalan casserole, with pine seeds and prunes. It has a delicious stock made with oven toasted quail skeletons and vegetables. It can be done with another small bird. But, the point is legs should be more time cooking that breastes. The vinegar used was one made with Jerez wine.

For closing the showcooking, Miguel Muñoz mentioned three cooking secrets:

1) Love for what is done
2) Time
3) Patience

Girona Excel·lent

Amognst good things at Mercat de Mercats (and there are many of them), speeches about gastronomy are my favourite ones.

And if it is one by Pep Nogué, knowledge is assured.

He talked about "Girona Excel·lent", an agroalimentary label for Girona products. Before having it (not for always, but for a time) products must be tested in blind tastings that will determinate their quality and if they deserve the label. This tries to defend territory, producers, product origins and the way of doing them.

Catalonia, in general, although it is an small territory, it has a group of different micro-climates that allow different productions. And because of small producers almost 400 different cheeses are made when some decades ago there were few of them. Talking about beer, the same: in fifteen years from no craft brewer, reached 100 brewers. Being crafter does not mean doing everything with the hands and alone. A crafter has a good element, a good technique and, obviously, uses machines or new techniques that allow to improve.

And we made some tastings of products paired with the proper drink.

We started with a wonderful Escala anchovy with a delicated flavour, a delicious sea scent and a meaty texture. This is because a curating process that depends on every anchovy and the care with the product: it is packed by hand.

For pairing it, we drank a delicate cider (Mooma) made with IGP Girona apple.

Immediately, an extraordinary foie salé entered. It is a duck foie that once is veins removed it is cured in salt, it does not is cooked. It has a very delicate taste, without the presence of iron taste of many patés. We were in front of a piece that seemed butter: it melted.

The dance partner was a Marina beer, so fresh, with fruity and floral scents because of hop.

The third piece we tasted it was a La Balda cheese. A so delicious cheese of soft paste made with raw milk of cow. It has a understory scent combined with butter.

Cheese was paired with a Maragda, a young wine, made with Macabeu and white Garnatxa grapes. Refreshing... it cleaned mouth very well.

I would like to underline a Pep Nogué comment as advice: although cheese is associated to red wine, 90% of cheese must be paired with white wine.

Introducing Mercat de Mercats 2017 at Mercat del Ninot

The Mercat del Ninot is one of the Barcelona markets most recently opened after some remodellings.

With the new stage, it has been inaugurated a cooking classroom, where friday 6th it was introduced this year's Mercat de Mercats. And as last week, egg was the star of an activity where there were some gastrobloggers.

The afternoon started with Jordi Domènech, who was the host who guided  Xavi Frauca and Joan Gurgí's speeches.

Xavi Frauca (from Ous de Calaf) talked to us about eggs. Who would say a product had a vast world. First, because of difference between animals, because the big ostrich egg is a giant compared to the small quail egg. Of course, both animals are different, if not, poor quail... I did not know things like the best season for eggs is spring; or that all chickens produce two yolks eggs: it is the second egg of their lives. He broke some myths like white and brown eggs are nutritionally different. The colour of eggs depends on the colour of the chicken, and the nutritional difference between eggs is because of chicken's food. I loves a sentence he said and it reveals the quality of his products: "The best warehouse is a chicken".

And with Joan Gurgí (the chef of Aula Gastronòmica del Mercat del Ninot) arrived the moment of cooking. The whole audience cooked a poché egg with boletus and crispy egg feet (I never composed such a beautiful dish)...

... and he cooked a fried ostrich egg with "sobrasada", honey and rosemary.