The last day of the Gastronomic Forum in Girona yesterday featured presentations by chefs such as Xavier Pellicer, Mateu Casañas, co-owner of Disfrutar (Barcelona) and Compartir (Cadaqués and Barcelona) or the Torres brothers. The message present in most of the speeches revolved around the philosophy of making the most of the product, to avoid waste, and of the coexistence between traditional and avant-garde cuisine, and a special emphasis was placed on the products of proximity
Precisely on Monday, the Roca brothers cooked live some of the dishes they serve at El Celler de Can Roca, where the culture of zero waste is the dish of the day. Javier and Sergio Torres, from Cocina Hermanos Torres, extrapolated this philosophy to tuna yesterday, and explained some tricks or some new cooking techniques for this fish and prepared a few live dishes.
The Forum has always been a space focused on the debate around sustainability. For this reason, it was the place chosen to host a day of food waste prevention in restaurants and central kitchens, in which a guide prepared by the Generalitat de Catalunya was presented. Among the solutions proposed are the consumption of local and seasonal products, dishes prepared from leftovers or the possibility of taking home leftover food from restaurants.
The other axis around which some of the debates revolved was that of the coexistence between tradition and the avant-garde, and the transmission between generations. “We can live without restaurant cuisine, because it is an accessory: a historical anomaly that is only used for entertainment”, pointed out the cook Maria Nicolau, who also attacked cooking schools. Jaume Subirós, despite admitting the loss of part of the culinary tradition, maintained his faith in the professionals of the future: “All is not lost”.
“The problem is not eating ramen, but to stop eating escudella”, expressed Toni Massanés, director of the Alicia Foundation, in a debate that asked whether Catalan cuisine was in danger of extinction. “What’s happening is that we haven’t been able to communicate our recipe”, concluded nutritionist Clara Antúnez.
A workshop was also given by Xavier Pellicer, who continues to evolve in his work on vegetables at the Barcelona restaurant that bears his name. The projects of new voices in the sector, such as the young Juan Sahuquillo, co-founder of OBA, were introduced, as well as the importance of other sectors such as coffee and wine.
