Spain's 10

Paco Roncero & Alberto Chicote

La Terraza del Casino, Madrid & NODO, Madrid

Although they each have their own restaurants, Paco Roncero and Alberto Chicote elected to present together, creating dishes especially for this event. Chef Roncero said that it is important to take advantage of all opportunities for creativity, saying, “Even if you don’t have a lab, it is very important to continue developing new techniques.” They began by separating the carotene from juiced carrots, emulsifying it with Arbequina olive oil, and adding methyl cellulose to create a carrot gel. Chef Chicote then put the remaining carotene-less carrot water in a moka espresso pot, substituting smoked tuna powder where the espresso would normally go. Roncero used a syringe to drop the carrot gel into the resulting smoky tuna carrot broth, forming a unique noodle soup to which they added flowers and herbs.

Another interesting dish also used methyl cellulose. The chefs extracted the water from manchego cheese, and emulsified it with oil, making a smooth butter to which they added carbon dioxide and methyl cellulose. They then wrapped this mixture in bok choy leaves, placed it in molds, and said that it should be smoked over grape-vine trimmings for 24 hours. The methyl cellulose gels over the heat, reforming the mixture into a spreadable “cheese” but with a different texture and intensified flavor. The chefs paired this “cheese” with tomato, tuna ham, and warm bread – a new take on a familiar tapas. Chicote said “It leads you back to something you have emotion about. It is not abstract.”

Juan Roca

El Celler de Can Roca, Girona (outside of Barcelona) and Moo, Barcelona
Together with his brothers Jordi, the pastry chef, and Josep, the sommelier, Juan Roca operates the celebrated restaurant El Celler de Can Roca. Chef Roca has become most well known for his work with aroma and flavor, and avant garde experiments to fuse the two. At Spain’s 10, he demonstrated his latest experiments and techniques, including serving food on top of a plastic wrapped bowl that is filled with paprika-scented smoke. As the diner eats, small whiffs of aroma are released.

Skeptics are continuously asking if molecular gastronomy actually tastes good, or if it is merely intellectual spectacle. Such skeptics will surely point to the dish Joan Roca’s dish, “Treasure Island” On a video, he demonstrated how he starts off by digging soil from his homeland – a literal interpretation of terroir. This dirt is then placed into a vacuum distiller machine to extract its essence. Because it uses a low temperature, there is no toasting and the scent is cleaner. Finally, he foams the soil aroma with CO2, and serves it on top of oysters and a mussel gelatin. He jokinging refered to this dish as real surf and turf. According to Roca, this dish is “pleasant and edible,” in spite of what skeptics might say.

A more easily accessible aroma-related dish might be the Eternity by Calvin Klein dessert. Joan Roca explained, “One day we got a box of bergamot in, and Josep said it spelled just like Eternity.” So Jordi Roca created a dish that would have all of the notes of the perfume – a vanilla cream base, a basil sauce, fresh and frozen mandarin, orange blossoms, maple syrup and bergamot ice cream. Since then they’ve gone on to replicate Carolina by Carolina Herrera, and Tresor by Lancome.