It is not usual to see Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca together, and it had been a long time since we had the opportunity to listen to the three brothers. But yesterday, as the final fireworks of the first day of the Fòrum Gastronòmic de Girona, it happened. The ideologues and co-owners of El Celler de Can Roca took the stage to reflect on the three axes on which their project is centered: cooking, awareness and research. It was one of the most acclaimed moments of the day, the first event for the person in charge of the sweet world of the restaurant since he recovered his voice a few days ago. “I am very happy to be able to give speeches again, and I am very excited that the first one is at home,” said Roca, who showed affectionate gratitude to all his team and family.
Josep, the wine waiter, focused on sustainability, which has to do with the environment, but, above all, the emotional one: “A different hospitality concept is possible and it is the one we have been working on for years, because being responsible with the emotional part can also be vanguard and revolution”. The eldest of the three brothers, Joan, demonstrated to an auditorium packed to the brim with some of the Celler’s current and future dishes, with absolute prominence in making full use of the products.
The person in charge of kicking off the first day of the Fòrum Gastronòmic was, in fact, Jordi Roca, with a monograph around the Bean to Bar, the movement focused on the production of high-quality artisanal chocolate. “We must consume and commit to this type of chocolate; With products for two euros in supermarkets, we contribute to the precariousness of cocoa producers and exporting countries”, said the latter. Together with some members of his team at the restaurant and at Casa Cacao, they prepared a sequence of desserts based on the reinterpretation of this fruit.
The Forum, with a smaller format, in which the majority of visitors had programmed their own route so as not to miss the tour of the entire fair area, nor the presentations, nor the workshops, had several acts in which emphasis was placed in sustainability. The chef Fina Puigdevall and her daughter Martina Puigvert explained, together with the biologist Maria Colldecarrera and the naturalist and geographer Miquel Macias, how Les Cols Restaurant is facing some of the environmental challenges that the sector faces, with its orchard in La Vall of Bianya, and how they also transmit that awareness to their diners with each dish.
“We feel responsible for caring for the environment that surrounds us, but also for transmitting that way of understanding nature,” said Puigvert, in a talk that had both science and gastronomy and whose purpose was to reflect on sustainable production and the ways to give back to the environment a positive impact.
The debate around sustainability and climate change was the protagonist of several presentations. Paco Pérez spoke about the use of seaweed in his kitchen, a product that he has been using for a long time. The sea occupies a fundamental role in his life and in that of Antonio Muiños. Both, one a chef in Cap de Creus and the other an algae collector in Finisterre, respectively, agreed on the need to be generous with natural ecosystems, “which means not only stopping overexploiting them, but also collaborating and promoting their conservation and recovery Perez said.
Muiños highlighted how climate change is having a great impact on these underwater ecosystems, where the increase in temperatures causes some fish to change their habitat, which has a direct effect on the algae. Still in the kitchen of the sea, the Majorcan butcher Xesc Reina showed live how he prepared hybrid sausages, which mix meat with fish, and even plankton.
There was also a lot of space for debate about the current state of the sector. Rafael García Santos insisted that there is no kitchen left like before, just as gastronomic criticism has also been lost. “Journalists have sometimes elevated young chefs too soon,” said Carlos Maribona. There was no shortage of live demonstrations, including a preparation of cocktails, vegetarian and vegan Moroccan cuisine by Saloua Loqmane, and a steak tartare contest in which Héctor and Francisco López, from the España restaurant, emerged as winners.
He highlighted the recognition of restoration with the awarding of the Sala 2023 Awards, granted by the Association of Sala Professionals, in which Concepció Oliva received honorary recognition for his work at Cal Sagristà, and Joan Carles Ibañez was awarded for his career and his prominent role in Lasarte. The waiters had a prominent role in the congress, both yesterday and last weekend at the Fòrum Ciutat (where a fun race was held in which they had to overcome obstacles with a full tray), as well as there was space to reflect on innovation and new trends in the room. Undoubtedly, a recognition that equates them with the work in restaurant kitchens.
