It is not usual to see Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca together, and it had been too long since we had the opportunity to hear the three brothers. But yesterday, at the end of the first day of the Girona Gastronomic Forum, it happened. The ideologues and co-owners of El Celler de Can Roca took to the stage to reflect on the three axes on which their project focuses: cuisine, awareness and research. It was one of the most acclaimed moments of the day, the first event of the manager of the sweet world of the restaurant since he regained his voice a few days ago. “I’m very happy to be able to make speeches again, and I’m very excited that the first one is at home,” said Roca, who showed affectionate gratitude to his entire team and his family.
Josep, the wine waiter, focused on sustainability, which has to do with the environment, but, above all, the emotional: “A different hospitality concept is possible, and we have been working on it for years, because being responsible with the emotional part can also be avant-garde and revolutionary”. The eldest of the three brothers, Joan, demonstrated to a packed auditorium some of El Celler’s current and future dishes, with an absolute focus on the full use of the products.
The person in charge of kicking off the first day of Fòrum Gastronòmic was, in fact, Jordi Roca, with a monograph on Bean to Bar, the movement focused on the production of artisanal and high-quality chocolate. “We have to consume and commit to this type of chocolate; with products at two euros in supermarkets, we contribute to the precariousness of cocoa producers and exporting countries”, said the last one. With some members of their team at the restaurant and at Casa Cacau, they prepared a sequence of desserts based on the reinterpretation of cocoa.
The Forum, with a smaller format, in which most visitors had programmed their own route so as not to miss the route through the entire fair area, the presentations or the workshops, had several events in which emphasis was placed on sustainability. Chef Fina Puigdevall and her daughter Martina Puigvert explained how from Les Cols Restaurant they face some of the environmental challenges that the sector faces, with their vegetable garden in the Vall de Bianya, and how they also transmit this awareness to diners with each dish
The sea plays a fundamental role in his life and that of Antonio Muiños. Both, a cook in Cap de Creus and the other seaweed collector in Finisterre, respectively, agreed on the need to be generous with the environment, “which implies not only stopping overexploitation, but also work on and promote its conservation and recovery”, said Pérez. Mallorcan charcuterie Xesc Reina showed how he prepared hybrid sausages, which mix meat with protein from the sea.
There was also plenty of room for debate on the current state of the sector. Rafael García Santos insisted that there is no longer any cuisine like it used to be, and that gastronomic criticism has also been lost. “Journalists have sometimes praised young chefs too soon”, pointed out Carlos Maribona. There was no shortage of live demonstrations, including cocktail making, vegetarian and vegan Moroccan cuisine and a steak tartare competition in which Héctor and Francisco López were the winners.
