Carme Ruscalleda, the most prestigious chef in Catalonia who has earned 7 Michelin stars during her professional career, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Barcelona.
This has been decided by the Government Council of this university, which has also communicated that Ruscalleda will share this recognition with the poet and essayist Pere Gimferrer, the Norwegian mathematician Kristian Seip and the Australian professor Belinda E.Medlyn. The Honoris Causa doctorate is the highest distinction that the university grants to a person to reward their merits and their trajectory in the academic, scientific or cultural field.
Ruscalleda, whose restaurant Sant Pau in Sant Pol de Mar closed five years ago, thus obtains a title already held by his fellow professionals Ferran Adrià (2007) and Joan Roca (2017) from the universities of Barcelona and Girona, respectively.
The cook is still active and in charge of the proposal for the bi-star restaurant Moments, in the Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona, ??where her son Raül Balam is in charge of the kitchen.
The son of Ruscalleda and Toni Balam has taken the reins of what was his parents’ three stars together with his partner Murilo Rodrigues Alves, which has been renamed Cocina Sant Pau and where they make an informal proposal and pay tribute to the family legacy.
Carme Ruscalleda continues to be a firm defender of seasonal products and the pantry of her environment and an activist for the artisan and sustainable. After the closure of its most emblematic restaurant, this year also saw the closure of Sant Pau Tokio, which came to have two Michelin stars. The chef is still absolutely active and involved with the cuisine that she defends and with good eating habits.
