![Unterschrift Ferran Adria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Unterschrift_Ferran_Adria.jpg)
Ferran Adrià i Acosta (; born 14 May 1962) is a Spanish
chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a ki ...
. He was the head chef of the ''
El Bulli'' restaurant in
Roses
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
on the
Costa Brava
The Costa Brava (, ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Whilst sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava, it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeast ...
and is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He has often collaborated with his brother, the renowned pastry chef
Albert Adrià
Albert Adrià i Acosta (; born 20 October 1969) is a Spanish chef. He is currently head chef of Tickets, a Michelin one-star restaurant in Barcelona and was formerly the head pastry chef of elBulli, in Roses on the Costa Brava. He was the lead ...
.
Career
![Azeitunas IMG 0217](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Azeitunas_IMG_0217.jpg)
Ferran Adrià began his culinary career in 1980 during his stint as a dishwasher at the Hotel Playafels, in the town of
Castelldefels
Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017).
Geography and location
It i ...
. The ''chef de cuisine'' at this hotel taught him traditional
Spanish cuisine
Spanish cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices from Spain. Olive oil (of which Spain is the world's largest producer) is heavily used in Spanish cuisine. It forms the base of many vegetable sauces (known in Spanish as ''sofrit ...
. At 19 he was drafted into military service where he worked as a cook. In 1984, at the age of 22, Adrià joined the kitchen staff of elBulli as a line cook. Eighteen months later he became the head chef.
In 1994, Ferran Adrià and Juli Soler (his partner) sold 20% of their business to Miquel Horta (a Spanish millionaire and philanthropist and son of the founder of Nenuco) for 120 million
pesetas. This event became a turning point for elBulli, the money was used to finance an expansion of the kitchen and the relationship with Horta opened the door to new clients, businessmen, and politicians who helped spread the word about the creative experimentation happening at the time in Cala Montjoi.
Along with British chef
Heston Blumenthal
Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...
, Adrià is often associated with "
molecular gastronomy
Molecular gastronomy is the scientific approach of nutrition from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition ( molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reactions, reactant products) o ...
", although like Blumenthal the Spanish chef does not consider his cuisine to be of this category. Instead, he has referred to his cooking as
deconstructivist.
He defines the term as 'Taking a dish that is well known and transforming all its ingredients, or part of them; then modifying the dish's texture, form and/or its temperature. Deconstructed, such a dish will preserve its essence... but its appearance will be radically different from the original's.'
[Carlin, John (11 December 2006)]
If the world's greatest chef cooked for a living, he'd starve
John Carlin, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''. Retrieved 2012-10-16. His stated goal is to "provide unexpected contrasts of flavour, temperature and texture. Nothing is what it seems. The idea is to provoke, surprise and delight the diner."
elBulli was only open for about six months of the year, from mid-June to mid-December. Adrià spent the remaining six months of the year perfecting recipes in the workshop "elBulliTaller" in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
. The restaurant closed on 30 July 2011.
It reopened as a creativity center to foster innovation like his own and entirely new ideas in 2014.
elBulli had 3
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and larg ...
stars and was one of the best restaurants in the world. It received first place in the
''Restaurant'' Top 50 in 2002. Then in 2005, it ranked second. It was again awarded the first place in 2006, and retained this title in 2007, 2008 and 2009, making a record 5 times in the top spot. In 2010, after elBulli announced it would close for good the next season, the title was awarded to
Noma of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Adrià is well known for creating "
culinary foam." Adrià explored foams created without the addition of cream or egg white; foams are made of a flavoured liquid and an additive (such as
lecithin
Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so a ...
), then aerated through a variety of methods, including whipping with an
immersion blender or extrusion from a siphon bottle equipped with
N2O cartridges. Further culinary processes (such as
freeze-drying
Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conve ...
or freezing with liquid nitrogen) may be applied to foams as well. Using a single flavoured liquid allows the flavour of the final product to be less diluted and thus more intense.
Adrià is the author of several cookbooks including ''A Day at El Bulli'', ''El Bulli 2003–2004'' and ''Cocinar en Casa'' (Cooking at Home). With his assistant Daniel Picard, Adrià has made almonds into cheese and asparagus into bread with the help of natural ingredients.
In autumn 2010, Adrià and
José Andrés
José Ramón Andrés Puerta (born 13 July 1969) is a Spanish chef, and founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters. A Spanish-born and raised cook, he is often credited with b ...
taught a culinary physics course, "Science and Cooking" at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
. In October 2010, Adrià announced an alliance with
Telefónica
Telefónica, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the world. It provides fixed and mobile telephony, broadba ...
.
In March 2012 he announced a new project, ''LaBullipedia''. In a later interview he described the project as "A Western haute cuisine
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
at the service of information but also creativity".
An art exhibition about Adrià and his restaurant, 'elBulli: Ferran Adrià and The Art of Food', was hosted at
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...
in London in 2013. The exhibition will be included in a new permanent museum Adrià is set to open at the
El Bulli Foundation El Bulli Foundation, often stylized as elbullifoundation is a project of Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler and Albert Adrià that continues El Bulli's legacy subsequent to its closure as a restaurant. The Foundation's headquarters are in Barcelona, Spain, b ...
in 2021.
documenta 12
In 2007, Adrià was invited to participate in
documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural ...
, "a sort of art world Olympics."
Adrià felt like an intruder at the event, saying "artists all over battle all their lives to receive an invitation to display their work at
documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural ...
and now I, a cook, am asked to go along!"
Organizer Roger Buergel told Adrià that he believed "that to create a new cooking technique was as complicated and challenging as painting a great picture. He said that he sees the work
driàdoes as a new artistic discipline, that
drià'swork shows cuisine should be a new art form."
With this notion in mind, Buergel invited him to partake in this prestigious international event held every five years in Kassel, Germany.
Adrià decided to take a different approach to this event. With the approval of the
documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural ...
committee, he set up his pavilion (i.e., exhibition space) some 850 miles from Kassel in his own restaurant,
El Bulli.
He believed that in order to truly experience his craft one had to come into his controlled environment because what he does is "ephemeral, it’s not moveable, it can’t be in a museum" (it was also impractical to move all his equipment there).
It was then agreed upon that every day, two names would be selected at random and those names would be the diners who would be able to see his ‘pavilion.’ The collection of these experiences were documented, along with photographs and interviews from an eclectic group of figures in the art world (including
Massimo De Carlo,
Bice Curiger
Beatrice "Bice" Curiger (born 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss art historian, curator, critic and publisher who has been the Artistic Director of the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles since 2013. In 2011 she became only the third woman to c ...
,
Anya Gallaccio
Anya Gallaccio (born 1963) is a British artist, who creates site-specific, minimalist installations and often works with organic matter (including chocolate, sugar, flowers and ice).
Her use of organic materials results in natural processes ...
,
Massimiliano Gioni,
Carsten Höller
Carsten Höller (born December 1961) is a German artist. He lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.Alice Rawsthorn (January 2012)"Cliff Hanger - The Ghanaian home of artists Carsten Höller and Marcel Odenbach goes above—and beyond" ''W Magazine' ...
,
Peter Kubelka,
Antoni Miralda
Antoni Miralda (born 1942 in Terrassa, Spain) is a Spanish multidisciplinary artist.
Biography
Miralda Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. ''Catalogue of the exhibition Miralda De gustibus non disputandum'', 2010 was born in Terra ...
,
Jerry Saltz
Jerry Saltz (born February 19, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American art critic. Since 2006, he has been senior art critic and columnist for ''New York'' magazine. Formerly the senior art critic for '' The Village Voice'', he received the P ...
,
Adrian Searle
Adrian Searle (born 1953 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire) is the chief art critic of ''The Guardian'' newspaper in Britain, and has been writing for the paper since 1996. Previously he was a painter.
Life and career
Searle studied at the St ...
,
Vicente Todolí
Vicente Todolí ( Valencia, 1958) is a Spanish contemporary art curator who has worked as the director of several museums and art centres internationally, including the Tate Modern in London.
Education
After earning a degree in Art History f ...
and
Richard Hamilton), and were published in
Food for Thought, Thought for Food.
However, there was some controversy regarding Adrià's participation in
documenta
''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultural ...
, "some questioning the idea that cooking and art were co-extensive."
Despite the fact that dishes from
avant-garde cuisine are aesthetically pleasing (you eat first with your eyes), one of his colleagues, Chef
Heston Blumenthal
Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with u ...
from the
Fat Duck
The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England. It is run by celebrity chef proprietor Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building that had previously been the site of the Bell pub, the Fat Duck opened on 16 Au ...
in Great Britain, "is uneasy about the idea that he might be an artist, although he does compare restaurant going to a trip to the theater, the cinema or an art gallery."
Adrià himself has compared a dinner at his restaurant to a night out at the theater.
When people discuss a meal there, they usually talk about the rhythm and flow of the dishes, and that the movements of the waiters and sommeliers are amazingly choreographed.
He said he has "turned eating into an experience that supersedes eating."
Controversy
Adrià denounced his fellow 3-star
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and larg ...
cook
Santi Santamaria
Santiago Santamaria i Puig (26 July 1957 – 16 February 2011), known as Santi Santamaria (), was a Spanish Catalan avant-garde chef. He was the first Catalan chef and owner to have his restaurant receive three stars from the Michelin Guide ...
who described his approach to cuisine as "pretentious".
Tradition
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...
alist Santi Santamaria attacked Adrià's dishes in
elBulli as unhealthy, alleging that "Adrià's dishes are designed to impress rather than satisfy and used chemicals that actually put diners' health at risk". Top
chefs, however, accused Santamaria, who ran the 3-star
Can Fabes also in
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...
, of envy and "endangering the reputations of Spanish kitchens". The criticism has split top Spanish chefs into pro- and anti-Adrià camps.
German food writer
Jörg Zipprick accused Adrià of more or less poisoning his customers with the additives he uses in his cuisine and said that Adrià's menu should carry health warnings: "These colorants, gelling agents, emulsifiers, acidifiers and taste enhancers that Adrià has introduced massively into his dishes to obtain extraordinary textures, tastes and sensations do not have a neutral impact on health."
Domestic commercialisation
Texturas is a range of products by Ferran Adrià, and his brother Albert Adrià. The products include the Sferificación, Gelificación, Emulsificación, Espesantes and Surprises lines are the result of a rigorous process of selection and experimentation. Texturas include products such as
Xanthan
Xanthan gum () is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent, emulsifier, and stabilizer that prevents ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple suga ...
and
Algin which are packaged and labelled as Xantana Texturas and Algin Texturas respectively. Xanthan gum allows the user to use a very small amount to thicken soups, sauces and creams without changing the flavour. Algin is a key component of the "Spherification Kit" and is used for every spherical preparation: caviar, raviolis, balloons, gnocchi, pellets, and mini-spheres.
Works
* ''El Bulli 1983–1993'' (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià)
* ''El Bulli: el sabor del Mediterráneo'', 1993,
* ''Los secretos de El Bulli'', 1997,
* ''El Bulli 1994–1997'' (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià)
* ''Cocinar en 10 minutos con Ferran Adrià'', 1998,
* ''Celebrar el milenio con Arzak y Adrià'' (with
Juan Mari Arzak), 1999,
* ''El Bulli 1998–2002'' (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià), Conran Octopus, 2003, ; Ecco, 2005,
* ''El Bulli 2003–2004'' (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià), Ecco, 2006,
* ''El Bulli 2005''
* ''A Day at El Bulli 2008''
* ''FOOD for thought THOUGHT for food'' (El Bulli y Ferran Adrià), 2009
ACTAR Editorial,
* ''The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià'' 2011
Phaidon,
In October 2008, Ferran Adrià published ''A Day At El Bulli'' along with Juli Soler, and Albert Adrià. The book describes 24-hours at the
El Bulli restaurant, with images, commentary, photographs and 30 recipes. Most of the recipes included are complex and require many out-of-the ordinary kitchen appliances, such as a
Pacojet, freeze-dryer,
liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wid ...
tank,
candyfloss machine and
Perspex molds.
See also
*
Haute cuisine
''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is the cuisine of "high-level" establishments, gourmet restaurants, and luxury hotels. ''Haute cuisine'' is characterized by the meticulous preparation and careful presentation of food at a high pric ...
Notes and References
;Notes
;References
External links
Great Chefs BiographyInterview with The Guardian
Ferran Adrià at FoodPlanet.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adria, Ferran
1962 births
Living people
Molecular gastronomy
Chefs from Catalonia
Spanish chefs
Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class