THE COOK FERRAN ADRIÁ TAKES A REST

Ferran Adriá, the famous Spanish chef (born in Barcelona) has been called the world's greatest chef. He is certainly one of the most creative. "Gourmet" magazine referred to Adria as "the Salvador Dali of the kitchen".

He was recently in the papers because of closing his famous restaurant called El Bulli (which has been considered for years one of the best restaurants in the world and has 3 Michelin stars), to take a rest during two years to keep working in the gastronomy creation, in his workshop called El Taller, focusing in creativity, investigation and eating habits. Also next September he and five more cooks together with five more American chefs will give a course about Science and Cooking in Harvard.

He began his career en 1980 as a dishwasher at the Hotel Playafels in the town of Castelldefels and in 1984 (he was 22) joined the kitchen staff of El Bulli as a line cook, becaming the head chef eighteen months later.

He has been associated with the “molecular gastronomy”, and what is this? you will ask. Well, according to him, it has to do with unexpected contrasts of flavours, temperature and texture. Most of his recipes includes appliances such as freeze-dryer, liquid nitrogen tank, candyfloss machine and Perspex molds…….. His idea is to provoke surprise and delight, combined with a bit of irony and sense of humour.

Two samples of his molecular gastronomy

A Ferran Adriá invention: a spoon for people who likes eating cereals first and then drinking the milk

My father, a cook himself working for 45 years in a very traditional restaurant in the old Madrid (the oldest restaurant in the world still working, as it says the Guinnes World Records) always says the cuisine is to fill your stomach not to fill your eyes...... (needless to say he is not a great admirer to Ferran Adriá!). But certainly one has to say, without any doubt, that this cook is very creative, very inusual and that he will be hold a high place in culinary history.

He always uses to say that his ideal customer goes to his restaurant to have an experience, not just to eat….. Certainly, I believe it has to be! And if someone wants to try a nearly magic experience you can start already booking in El Bulli for 2014! And you can also start to save some money for it!

FOREIGNERS LIVING IN SPAIN, IMMIGRANTS OR EXPATRIATES?

Almúñecar beach in Granada

I've always been interested in the topic of migration and migrants, it is because in my family four of my aunts and uncles were and in fact, there it must come my great love of travelling, I guess ...  and beside of that, I have also lived for a year and for a summer in England, an experience that marked me much, noticing, as a 17 years teenager, that life could be very different living outside your own country and at the same time, that could be very enriching and interesting, discovering other cultures and races and being aware that all of them could live in harmony.

Our country, in a few decades, has grown from being a transmitter to be a recipient of immigrants. In recent years Spain has become one of the most popular destinations for foreigners who thought moving outside their country. Nearly six million of the total Spanish population (currently about 46 million) are foreign, ie 12% of the total. For groups of countries the most numerous countries come from the European Union followed by South America. And by individual countries, those from which most migrants come to Spain are Moroccans, Ecuatorians, Romanians, Colombians, British, French and German.

According to the dictionary, an expatriate is one who lives outside of their homeland. But is there any difference with being an immigrant? I think that while some people associate it with poor immigrant who migrate out of necessity and rich expatriate who migrate to double his salary, having house, car and pool responsible for the company, both terms are really the same.

As for the regions most are attracted to live, it seems that Alicante is the town where most immigrants live over 65 years. In fact, between Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante are home to 45% of them.

Paella

Most of these immigrants or expatriates came looking for a job (not at the moment, obviously!), But within the immigrant community about 20% are retired, with the Swiss, Finns, Norwegians and Swedish the most numerous.

But what other reasons lead them to choose this and no other country to live? The weather, of course, is a very attractive factor, especially for those from colder regions. Another reason is that, thanks to our numerous heritage and crossroads of civilizations that have passed through our country throughout history (Iberian, Celtiberian, Visigothic, Islamic, ……) and with a fairly diverse number of subcultures, including Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, this is a society rich in culture, offering a safe and pleasant heaven for many looking to settle overseas. And to date, it has forty UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which is second overall in the world, according to Wikipedia.

Caixa-Forum Museum in Madrid

Well, this is a very interesting topic to talk about, but I wonder if there would be any foreigner living in Spain who would like to say anything of his/her experience living here?