Guillermo Elejabeitia 5/31/2021 Comments
Madrid Fusión draws on its opening day a future connected to nature by the hand of Ángel León, Joan Roca or Ricard Camarena.
Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España has achieved what seemed impossible. In a year as uncertain as it is decisive, for humanity in general and for those who live by giving food in particular, he has not missed his appointment with the profession. The future that he draws for gastronomy during the "exciting" opening day appears painted green, the color of hope, not only because the times to come will necessarily be better than the year we have lived through, but because the survival -of gastronomy and the species- goes through reconnecting with nature. For looking at the land -or the sea- with the curiosity and ingenuity expected of a creative profession, but above all with deep respect.
That reverential respect for what they put in the pot is the one shown by greats of Spanish and international cuisine such as Ángel León, Ricard Camarena or the Roca brothers. The first opened the congress - which has not been absent every year since 2004 - with a presentation on his penultimate discovery, the seagrass, with which he aspires to nothing less than to revolutionize world food. It is an underwater grass that has been nourishing a Mexican tribe for two thousand years, but which could provide humans with a kind of protein-rich rice whose cultivation does not require fresh water and which is also a powerful carbon sink. An example that "nature can be conserved with a fork in hand", as biologist Juan Martín said, who has accompanied the chef throughout the research process.
Ángel León could have devised a stunning haute cuisine creation as a letter of introduction to the seagrass, but he preferred to pay homage to a traditional recipe of the Seri people that has allowed it to be preserved. From the flour of the marine cereal he elaborated a simple cake, covered with marine honey and crowned with some slices of sea ham, one of the most stimulating novelties this year in Aponiente. “It was always said that tuna is the sea pig”, recalled León, and what better way to culminate his line of work on marine sausages than by giving tuna the noblest treatment that the pig can receive.
The inspiring presentation by the Roca brothers dealt with ennobling things that usually end up in the garbage. Joan and Jordi talked about how the circular economy has managed to permeate all areas of their business, from supply to logistics, through clothing -their uniforms are made of recycled plastic- or work schedules. "Let's take advantage of this change in habits that the pandemic has brought to rationalize schedules and for our teams to enjoy life," said Joan, drawing applause from the audience. But the most interesting part of their talk came when they showed how they are capable of making haute cuisine with potato peelings or crusts of bread.
Vanguard without pose
Use and environmental awareness as a philosophy of life, not as a modern pose, was the theme of Ricard Camarena's brilliant intervention. When he was preparing to reopen his restaurants after the first confinement, the current National Gastronomy Award winner found the garden full of overripe products, useless for the commercial circuit. He didn't even think about throwing them in the trash. The result is a hymn to decadence, to "death as a generator of life", materialized in dishes based on giant rutabagas or trunks of the artichoke plant that redefine what we understand by luxury. Pure avant-garde without desire to be.
And green, but very mature, was the American Flyn McGarry, -together with the Chinese DeAille Tam- the international star of the day. He began to mess around with the kitchen in his bedroom, at 14 he was already serving dinners on request, at 16 he embarked on a journey through the best restaurants in the world to refine his style and at 22 he is the youngest speaker who has ever passed through Madrid Fusion. He's Gem restaurant is the latest sensation in Manhattan, where he serves dishes as free and unprejudiced as a strawberry ceviche or something similar to a seaweed cachopo.
These are just some of the brightest moments of a program that also highlighted the "vegetable but omnivorous" cuisine of Rodrigo de la Calle, the circular dishes with an artistic vocation by Fina Puigdevall and her daughters, the mycological avant-garde of Elena Lucas or the expressive force that Pedrito Sánchez achieves in Bagá based on ingenuity, risk and a deep knowledge of the product.
