Months after eating at El Bulli my thoughts and perspectives on the meal are still changing: Certain taste memories are extremely vivid and seem to get stronger, others are bizarrely still changing. It has also been fascinating to compare and contrast my experience there with other innovative culinary experiences. I recently dined at what for me was the best vegetarian meal of my life at Ubuntu in Napa Valley (they have their own farm), the most delicate, thoughtful and multi-element sushi I have ever eaten at O Ya in Boston (they must have over 100 ingredients they use over and above the fish), the best hand crafted cocktails, flatbread pizzas and locavore comfort food at Nopa in San fran (they also have an amazing selection of small batch rums) and the best service at Blue Hill in NYC (the farm fresh ingredents, impeccable techniques and quirky wines also make this one of the best restos in the US). What is both refreshing and exciting is the vast array of what I will call “creative culinary platforms” that continue to emerge, each with its own soul and a visionary like Feran Adria.

and so the meal continued…

RAZOR CLAM SASHIMI, LEMON FOAM & BABY SEAWEED SALAD

It took a few minutes to recover from the eccentricities of the previous course: South American Lulo Fruit, Cocoa Infusion, Yogurt Cream. We go from crazy to classic. Simple, beautifully presented raw razor clams with a warm lemon foam and a mixture of 6 different types of seaweed on the side. We could be on a fishing boat as we pop razor clams with a squeeze of lemon and some of the seaweed caught in the nets but here we are at the world’s most famous three star restaurant. This dish has great textural variation and carries a theme of discovery in the distinct rare forms of seaweed that each carry a distinctive bite. This plate is almost a perfect edible facsimile of the ocean and about as Catalonian as you can get. The fresh razor clams both sweet and briny contrasting with the lemon foam that is less jarring and intense than the standard squeeze of lemon.

RAW WALNUT RISOTTO, BRAISED ENDIVE, WALNUT OIL

We go from land to sea and back to land again with one of the most creative rissotos I have ever eaten – made with raw, immature walnut pieces instead of cooked rice in a creamy Parmesan laced sauce and drizzled with walnut oil. This is what happens when nuts and risotto marry. In this case, the nuts are naturally al dente, mimicking the classic Italian risotto in a new way. It’ snot that this tastes any better or worse than a perfect risotto, it’s the imagination it took to dream it up that is amazing. Like the raw almonds used in a previous course, this dish is both seasonal, local, imaginative and confounding. The flavours are rich and comforting at the same time.

ABALONE, JAMON FAT, BABY BLACK TRUMPET MUSHROOMS, SEAWEED & CILANTRO SPROUTS

This course may have been my favourite for it’s rich and intense flavours, textural variation, powerful umami and surprising mouth feel. Pieces of meaty Abalone (a Cantonese delicacy popular in Hong Kong) are interpersed with warm, melt in your mouth, pieces of Jamon d’iberico fat (think lardo) topped with baby black trumpet mushrooms, an intense dark jus made with what tasted like real stock and topped with tiny cilantro sprouts. This may be Ell Bulli’s version of surf n’ turf, ironically with the sea element (Abalone) being meatier and the land element (Jamon fat) being both visually and texturally softer and close to the classical sea element. The mushrooms oull it all together by representing the same terreir where the iberico pigs roam and the same flavour spectrum and colour of the Abalone. The baby cilantro sprouts add a tiny element of freshness and surprise. The other intersting thing about this dish si that both the Abalone and the Jamon are two of the world’s most famous preserved foods with both being classic “umami” based foods. For a Chinese pallet that welcomes and almost demands unique textural variations and bite this dish could win a culinary gold medal. A week after eating it, I still have powerful memories of it and cravings to eat it again.

SEARED SEA CUCUMBER, POACHED RHUBARB, MENTAIKO SAUCE

This dish continues the textural parade and as with many other dishes, is limited to a small number of ingredients. Courses at El Bulli are not broad fusion mash-ups but well constructed architectures of 2, 3 or 4 ingredients impeccably sourced. With so few ingredients, perfection in both sourcing and preparation is critical. One might wonder how El Bulli creates so much surprise, joy and gastatory stimulation with so few ingredients and yet this is a perfect illustration of their genius. Nowhere to hide, no tricks, no shortcuts. Even their use of gastro science techiniques while serving to enhance the delivery of flavours is one of many tools in the arsenal. The most interesting thing, course after course, is the immense thought and experimentation that they have obviously taken in determining which ingredients should go together and how. This is where the 6 months spent at the El Bulli workshop in Barcelona become most apparent and it continues to explain why El Bulli continues to be ahead of other 3 star resturants. This dish combines seared sea cucumbers which have a similar bite and flavour to squid with a more complete taste profile. Instead of a squeeze of lemon, the kitchen pairs them with little nuggets of lightly poached rhubarb – a perfect acidic offset and

RAW OYSTER, RABBIT BRAIN, SEA ANEMONE IN A WARM OYSTER JUICE BROTH

This has to be one of the most unique dishes from any chef anywhere in recent memory. Originally conceived at the El Bulli workshop in 2008 this dish was brought in 2009, presumably because of what it says about the creative team at El Bulli. This is surf and turf reinvented. Inspired by other versions many of us have experience: Veal with Tuna sauce from Italy, Scallops and oxtail, kobe beef and langoustines, bluefin tuna and foie gras at Aqua when Michael Mina was in his pre franchise phase. It starts with the textural slightly jelly like consistency of sea anemone (who knew it was edible) combined with raw osters (creamy ones like a kumamoto from BC) and even creamier rabbit brain that looks and feels like an oyster but is richer and buttery like foie gras.

EXPLODING POLENTA GNOCCHI, PARMESAN CREAM, COFFEE POWDER, FRIED CAPERS

When I think about gnocchi I think about potatoes and a soft bite but this version brings together ultra soft polenta pockets that pop open when eaten. The texture of the polenta combines with a savoury parmesan cream, fried crispy salty capers and a small amount of coffee powder that build a nutty roasted layer of flavor. Creamy, rich. surprising, certainly a little Italian – Turin meets parma. It’s almost as if this dish emanated from one of Adria’s weekend jaunts to Italy?

SUCKLING PIG TAIL WITH CANTALOUPE & TOFU CUBES IN JAMON BROTH

This dish represents the mount everest of Umami, the salty savoury flavour found in foods such as soy sauce, anchovies, parmesan cheese and of course Jamon Iberico. A late meal play off of Prosciutto and melon with a host of interesting textures. Warm salty broth made from cured Jamon Iberico with small pieces of sweet juicy melon and creamy tofu sits next to the spanish version of peking duck – ultra crisp pig skin that also has a chewy finish. This is porcine heaven!

PALLET CLEANSER OF WATER LILLY, CASHEW CREAM DROPS & EDIBLE FLOWERS

Many months later this dish still confounds me. While it was certainly cleansing in a menthhol meets medicinal balinese fashion, it was completely foreign and not what I would call pleasurable. Sort of gourmet mouthwash with small pelets of cashew cream that reminded me of health food store toothpaste. The dish reminded me of the lobby at the Four Seasons resort near Ubud in Bali that has a small pond on the roof and a host of water based flowers. Exceptionally posititive memories but not something I ever thought I would eat.

The meal was finally over. What will dessert hold?

This is the second in a four part series on my adventure ding at El Bulli. Before heading up the coast to Roses I spent some time in Barcelona exploring the Boqueria market. The market is the perfect place to understand the terroir of Catalonia and a major inspirational source for Ferran Adria’s cooking. On my first day, my friend Scott Danielson took me to a small stall in the market for breakfast. It was no more than 200 square feet of space run by three brothers. I started with a strong cortado coffee and a fresh squeezed orange juice. Fresh seafood was displayed in sushi like display fridges. Razor clams, sea cucumber, fresh giant prawns, tiny baby squid, sardines, small spiny lobsters and a variety of fish. Everything was cooked a plancha and often drizzled with a squirt of olive oil spiked with garlic and parsley. Breakfast was a piece of spanish tortilla, fried wild mushrooms from a local forager and baby squid. Simple, rustic, clean gorgeous food that made me want to move to Barcelona permanently. As the meal at El Bulli evolved from snacks into a more complex series of courses, seafood appeared in many forms and while seemingly complex, was often rooted in the Creative Catalonian terroir of Ferran Adria’s mind…

Seafood at The Boqueria Market

OYSTER LEAF WITH RED WINE VINEGAR CAVIAR & RED ONION DICE

A simple, small green leaf: seemingly no different from a basil or sage leaf but unbeknown to it’s eater, a mystery lies in its flavour. A tiny “caviar” like drop of red wine vinegar and micro cube of red onion sit on the surface mimicking a mignonette found in the world’s oyster bars.  Start chewing on the leaf and you think you have just shot back an oyster – yet there is no oyster to be found. The leaf tastes distinctly and uniquely of oyster. The waiter smiles as he awaits our reactions. How can a leaf taste like this. It is completely confounding and tricks the brain as many other elements of the meal suceed at doing.  Oyster leaf is originally from Canada (something few Canadian foodies have ever heard about) but more commonly sourced from Holland which is where El Bulli gets them from. An oyster course like no other!

WARM HAZELNUT OIL, COLD SPRING WATER & MALDON SEA SALT FLAKES: “AGUACEITE”

Seemingly one of the simplest experiences at El Bulli and yet one of the most rewarding. It starts with what looks like a science experiment with two waiters. The first pours cold mineral water into a round glass. The second then pours a thin 1 cm layer of warm hazelnut oil on top. Flakes of maldon sea salt are then sprinkled on top and slowly float down through the oil to sit at the bottom of the glass to slowly dilute. A play on the separative nature of oil and water and designed to come together in the mouth. First, the warm oil corners the palette with intense nutty purity. The waiter encourages us to slowly turn the glass as we sip. This ensures that both cold water and warm oil enter at the same time – temperature, textural, temporal and taste contrast of the highest order. Towards the end, the cold water turns slightly salty from the dissolved salt to heighten the taste of creamy hazelnut oil. Who knew that three (two without the water) basic ingredients could create such an interesting experience.

GORGONZOLA MOSHI

It looks like a white moshi cookie made of sweet rice flour but is actually an explosion of blue cheese liquid and pieces of cheese. Normally the mouth slowly melts a piece of cheese when it enters the mouth, but in this case the moshi dumpling explodes with gorgonzola shooting around the mouth like an erupting volcano. It leaves the teeth and tongue to still do their work with the smaller pieces of cheese that escape the microscopically thin skin that is holding it all together. This experience redefines the “piece” of cheese as an oral roller coaster into the stratosphere of gustatory delight.

At this point we are almost a third of the way through the meal, but one senses that Adria’s team has merely been toying with us. The little snacks and dishes so far, play with the senses and our expectations. They creatively present 1, 2 or 3 flavours, often in unique combination, but they are merely the opening act, lacking the deeper, thought provoking complexity of dishes to come. While many of the snacks get the chatter and buzz, it is the middle courses that demonstrate the chef’s depth of research, thought, curiosity and of his deep rooted understanding of how source elements get combined, layered and interspersed. This is the farthest possible thing from fusion confusion or fussy side elements that sit alongside the centerpiece. The dishes that follow are like a Mozart symphony or a Gaudi building – elements (many of them) tastes, smells, textures, memories, expectations, chemical reactions, surprises, changing states, colours, flavours, sounds, feelings, likes, dislikes, people and personalities that come together to form a metaphysical journey that is completely disconnected from any other restaurant experience on the planet.

EXPLODING GIANT WHITE BEANS WITH A THIN LAYER OF JAMON FAT IN BEAN BROTH

For someone who grew up eating giant lima beans cooked by a great grandma in Montreal’s tavernas (Greek fish restaurants) and bean and bacon soup from my own Hungarian grandmother, this dish was an emotional journey back in time – both comfort food and shocking Spanish reinvention of a classic. In a small bowl were what appeared to be two giant lima beans sitting in their cooking liquid with thin slices of Iberian ham fat, softly melting on top of each bean. But the bean was not actually a bean! They were actually thick, rich white bean soup formed into the shape of a bean. As I take a bean with the translucent fat and some of the broth into my mouth, everything explodes. Warm bean soup, very thick, the thinner cooking liquid, the melting saltiness of the Iberian ham fat, a childhood memory flies by – the brain suddenly connected to the past and simultaneously to the present taste sensation which defies expectations. Comfort food, molecular gastronomy, intellectual curiosity and organaleptic confluence – salty, thick, rich, simple yet intense. For generations, beans have been cooked with pork of one kind or another in most European countries but this version has triggered the closest thing one can have to an orgasm of the palette.

PRAWNS COOKED AT TWO TEMPERATURES

The contrast between a sweet, wild shrimp, hours or minutes out of the sea and the frozen Costco variety are like night and day. Fresh shrimp don’t travel well. The Spanish take for granted the abundance of fresh shrimp typically grilled a la plancha with just sea salt and a smattering of olive oil. Shrimp is in the Spanish blood and this dish demonstrated that it may be in Ferran Adria’s soul. More than any other, this dish showed how rooted he is in the ingredients, passions and sensibilities of Spanish culinary history. While many see the shrimp for it’s meaty tail, passionate seafood lovers (Ferran Adria included) see the head and the wonderful juices that one sucks out of it as the true delicacy. Ferran has been known to talk about his fascination with the purity of these juices. While it may not be pretty, sucking the head of a fresh shrimp can be a magical experience. This dish had precisely 2 elements: fresh shrimp and sea salt but the magic in this case lies in how the shrimp has been cooked and “not” cooked. Although the shrimp is (intact, whole, in one piece) with head on, it has been cooked to varying degrees. The tail is raw, yet slightly warm shrimp sashimi, the middle part is slightly cooked and the head and little legs are ultra crisp, shattering as you bite into them. What just happened? Shrimp three ways, not in separate little mounds as in other high-end restaurants but in one shrimp. 30 seconds of prawn pleasure.

BABY CUTTLEFISH COOKED A LA PLANCHA , SQUID INK & PESTO RAVIOLI

Baby cuttlefish get delicate treatment across Catalonia, often dressed with olive oil, herbs and a little garlic. Common in Barcelona’s Boqueria Market, they are exceptionally tender, sweet and addictive. But at El Bulli things once again get reinterpreted – flavours layered in new ways. In this case, the baby squid is seared with small triangular liquid pockets of pesto sauce the size of small breath mints. As one takes a spoonful of squid along with a pocket of sauce into the mouth, the soft bite/chew of the squid gets splashed and coated with a vinaigrette of sorts. The liquid pesto doesn’t overwhelm the squid like a traditional pesto would with its thick parmesan/pine nut/olive oil basil mixture. These are flavours designed to live together, traditional yet new and unexpected.

Umami – By this point in the meal, one starts to see the umami mastery that Adria delivers to diners at El Bulli. Traditionally found in foods like parmesan, miso, anchovies and tamari, Adria mixes and manipulates the delivery of umami in the same way drug dealers deliver their hit to addicts. His rainbow of umami creates powerful fond memories, cravings, brain pleasure and experience.

EGG YOLK DUMPLINGS, BONITO BROTH, WASABI, SHISO, YUZU POWDER & SESAME

This next course extends the umami parade while creating a collage of Japanese flavours that synthesizes many of the most distinctive elements of the Japanaese kitchen. At the center of this dish are small egg yolk dumplings with the smooth consistency of a soft boiled egg yolk that has been half cooked. These tic tac sized dumplings float in a dashi broth surrounded at the edges with a small amount of fresh grated wasabi root, yuzu powder made from the juice of the fragrant citrus fruit common in Japan (think lemon on steroids), sesame, ginger and seaweed. Reminiscent of both a Japanese udon noodle soup (the udon noodles replaced with the little yolk dumplings) and an intricate Kaisekei presentation this dish takes me back to both Ryonkans in Kyoto and noodle bars in Tokyo. How does it do both simultaneously? It presumably succeeds as our experience is driven by Ferran’s frequent trips to Japan and his obvious fascination with their ingredients.

PUMPKIN MERINGUE BAGUETTE, SUMMER TRUFFLE, RAW ALMONDS & ALMOND CREAM

This course may have been one of the cutest presentations of the night – a little mini baguette sandwich that completely confounded us. Nothing was as it seemed. The bread was actually a super light pumpkin flavoured meringue. The filling consisted of thin slices of nutty truffle and tender, raw almonds (in season). Bite into the sandwich and the bread (pumpkin meringue) quickly dissolves as the truffle slices break into little fragments alongside the slight crunch of the raw almonds. What is going on here? Is this just a cute, playful experience or something more? Initially I am not sure but on further reflection, it represents three strata of terroir: subterranean (underground) – truffle; on the ground (surface) – pumpkin and above ground (hanging from the sky) – almonds. While other ingredients could be combined for similar visual or textural contrast, nothing can come close to the manifestation of terroir and co-habitational flavours that Adria assembles. In Italy, it would be pumpkin ravioli with pine nuts and truffles – it would make perfect sense, luscious and satisfying, it would be comforting, and remind you of the Tuscan countryside, but it would NOT force you into gastomic Freudian Analysis as this dish does. A meal at El Bulli is not designed with pure pleasure in mind, it is designed to stimulate thought and force one to confront stereotypes that we don’t even realize we are creating. This more than anything, seems to possibly drive the reservation selection process at El Bulli. Can you show you are ready and excited to go through this process of analytical deconstructionism. Will you? 18 courses into the meal you are already hyperstimulated – more than you would be over the course of 3-4 meals at other high-end restaurants… and the meal is only half over. This is not just about creativity and molecular gastronomy – others can easily copy that. It is about a deep process and study of innovation, about a philosophy that is underpinned with a deep discovery and understanding of ingredients, new technologies, new techniques and new perspectives.

TOMATO COATED WITH BLACK OLIVE EMULSION, BLACK GARLIC, DEHYDRATED TOMATO LEAVES WITH BASIL POWDER.

Take the ripest, sweetest mini tomato and quickly poach it in boiling water to remove the skin. Quickly dip it in a thick puree of black sundried olives with a little aged balsamic vinegar. It looks like a black golf ball. Pop it in your mouth and the intensity of the black olive coats your tongue as the cherry tomato explodes – liquid, seeds and flesh. Now try it again but this time with what looks and smells like a basil leaf, except that it is dehydrated tomato puree in the shape of a leaf and dusted with basil powder. The basil powder re-hydrates in your mouth and slowly layers in a familiar flavour in an unexpected way. What starts off in your mouth as crispy quickly takes the form of a concentrated tomato jam that adds another layer of tomato flavour. Adria starts with the ingredients for a basic tomato salad: tomatoes, black olives, basil, olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar and sea salt and creates these complex kid friendly balls that make you laugh, savor and inhale.

SOUTH AMERICAN LULO FRUIT, COCOA INFUSION & YOGHURT CREAM

This next course started with a strong dose of showmanship. The waiter places a plate in front of us with what looks like pieces of green goo (yes goo) carpaccio but in reality, an obscure South American Fruit called the lulo. Another waiter then arrives with a large, very frozen bowl of what looks like shavings of cheese but which is actually frozen shavings of foie gras fat. He places a tablespoon of the shavings on top of each piece of fruit and we dive in. The fruit is very acidic, yet sweet, a little like kiwi but the segments are firmer and have a texture similar to oysters. What is going on here? An unknown fruit from another continent with frozen foie gras fat… Sounds disturbing and maybe even disgusting, but it can’t just be a random experiment. As I think about it, I realize that what I am actually eating is a classic combination of foie gras with a sweet acidic element. Think pate de foie gras with a glass of Sauternes reinvented. The cool fat slowly melts in your mouth and is then offset with the texture and flavour of the fruit. It is so strange that we giggle as we eat. Beyond imagination, yet once again rooted in gastronomic history. When we’re done, we’re not even sure what hit us!

And so while it may seem crazy we are only half way through….stay tuned for part 3 in the next week or so.