Dance and gastronomy have merged in a dessert created by students and teachers of the Basque Culinary Center (BCC) in honor of LucÃa Lacarra, one of the main Spanish figures of contemporary classical ballet. ‘LucÃa’s dance’ is the name of this sweet that was born with the ambition to transcend, as happened to the famous Pavlova cake in its day.
“Both are arts and professions that require great discipline, dedication and passion,” said Lacarra, referring to the relationship between dance and gastronomy. The dessert has been the result of a creative challenge raised and framed in the Master in Restaurant Pastry and Sweet Cuisine of the BCC.
The elaboration aspires to reach the menus of hospitality establishments around the world and, to this end, the Basque Culinary Center has shared the “step by step” of the recipe. ‘La danza de LucÃa’ wanted to capture the subtlety and lightness that emanates from the dancer’s movements, but which is the result of highly technical and methodical work. In fact, Lacarra danced for the cooks with the aim of trying to inspire them and make them understand the essence of her as a person and artist.
The majority color of the sweet is purple, Lacarra’s favourite, and it hides applesauce inside, the quintessential fruit from Zumaia (Guipúzcoa), his hometown. It is finished off with a chocolate decoration that symbolizes the movement of a ballerina on a green apple mousse filled with the compote. All finished with a velvety effect.
In addition, around the mousse, they spread a blackberry and raspberry sorbet, Genoese sponge cake and pistachio crumble, blackberry cream, white chocolate, lime and basil ganache, green apple gel and fresh raspberries.
Joxe Mari Aizega, general director of the BCC, highlighted that “this challenge is a reflection of the confluence of both disciplines. Following the path and evolution of the well-known Pavlova cake, a dessert named after the Russian dancer Anna Pavlova, we wanted to bring it closer here and present a dessert that exudes the values ​​shared between BCC and Lacarra: orientation towards excellence, passion , innovation and creativity.”
‘La danza de LucÃa’, in the words of the winning students, pays tribute to her, her career and all that inspiration, dreams and emotions that she has given and transmitted throughout her career to thousands of people who have seen her dance.
