Ferran Adrià

Infobox Chef
name = Ferran Adrià


birthdate = birth date and age|1962|5|14|mf=y
birthplace = Barcelona, Spain
restaurants = "El Bulli"

Ferran Adrià Acosta is a chef born on May 14, 1962 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain. He is the famed head chef of "El Bulli" restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava. Today he is considered one of the best chefs in the world and tops the "European Restaurant Ranking."

Ferran Adrià began his culinary career in 1980 during his stint as a dishwasher at the Hotel Playafels, in the town of Castelldefels (Catalonia). The "chef de cuisine" at this hotel taught him traditional Spanish cuisine. At 19 he was drafted into military service where he worked as a cook. In 1984, at the age of 22, Adrià joined the kitchen staff of El Bulli as a line cook. Eighteen months later he became the head chef.

Along with British chef Heston Blumenthal, Adrià is often associated with "molecular gastronomy," although the Catalan chef does not consider his cuisine to be of this category. Instead, he has referred to his cooking as deconstructivist. Adrià's stated goal is to "provide unexpected contrasts of flavour, temperature and texture. Nothing is what it seems. The idea is to provoke, surprise and delight the diner." [ [http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ferranAdriàbio.htm Ferran Adrià - Bio of the World's Greatest Chef - El Bulli Restaurant Barcelona Spain ] ] This is also combined with a large dose of irony and a sense of humour, making his dishes highly "épatants" (impressive). As he likes to say, "the ideal customer doesn't come to El Bulli to eat but to have an experience."

El Bulli is only open from April to October. Adrià spends the remaining six months of the year perfecting recipes in his workshop "El Taller" in Barcelona. He is famous for his thirty course gourmet menu.

He is also well known for creating "culinary foam". In his quest to enhance flavour Adrià discards the use of cream and egg; foam is made exclusively of the main ingredient and "air" (combined in a whipped cream maker equipped with N₂O cartridges). Adrià's foam creations include foamed espresso (Èspesso), foamed mushroom, and foamed beetroot.

El Bulli has 3 Michelin stars and is regarded as one of the best restaurants in the Western world. In 2005 it ranked second in the Restaurant Top 50. It was awarded the first place in 2006, displacing The Fat Duck in England. El Bulli has retained this title in 2007 and 2008.

Adrià is the author of several cookbooks including "A Day at El Bulli" [ [http://www.amazon.com/Day-at-elBulli-Ferran-Adri%C3%A0/dp/0714848832/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219248577&sr=1-1 A Day at El Bulli on Amazon.com] ] , "El Bulli 2003-2004" and "Cocinar en Casa" (Cooking at Home). With his young assistant Daniel Picard Adrià has made almonds into cheese and asparagus into bread with the help of natural ingredients. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/993749.html www.haaretz.com, What about leftovers?] ]

Controversy

Adrià denounced his fellow 3 star Michelin cook who described his "molecular gastronomy" as pretentious. Traditionalist Santi Santamaria attacked Adrià's dishes in El Bulli as unhealthy, alleging "Adrià's dishes were designed to impress rather than satisfy and used chemicals that actually put diners' health at risk". Top chefs however accused Santamaria, who runs the 3 star Can Fabes near El Bulli, of jealousy and contempt of Spanish kitchens' honour. [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSL1738681920080617 reuters.com, Spain kitchen spat boils over as top chef hits out] ] The criticism has split top Spanish chefs into pro and anti Adrià camps. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNUtgAfkMfStS2AxuWt6flLTZrbA afp.google.com, Spain's avant-garde chef Ferran Adrià hits back at critics] ]

Publications

* "El Bulli 1983-1993" (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià)
* "El Bulli: el sabor del Mediterráneo", 1993, ISBN 84-7596-415-X
* "Los secretos de El Bulli", 1997, ISBN 448710002
* "El Bulli 1994-1997" (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià)
* "Cocinar en 10 minutos con Ferran Adrià", 1998, ISBN 84-605-7628-0
* "Celebrar el milenio con Arzak y Adrià" (with Juan Mari Arzak), 1999, ISBN 84-8307-246-7
* "El Bulli 1998-2002" (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià), Conran Octopus, 2003, ISBN 1-84091-346-0; Ecco, 2005, ISBN 0-06-081757-7
* "El Bulli 2003-2004" (with Juli Soler and Albert Adrià), Ecco, 2006, ISBN 0-06-114668-4
* "El Bulli 2005"
* "A Day At El Bulli

ee also

* Haute cuisine

References

External links

* [http://www.ferranAdriàbyarmandbasi.com/ Ferran Adrià by Armand Basi]
* [http://www.elbulli.com/ elBulli]
* [http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showforum=193 eG Forums Q&A with Ferran Adrià]
* [http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=88797 Food Presenation photos, May 2006]
* [http://www.fast-good.com Fast Good] created by NH Hotels and Ferran Adriá
* [http://www.starchefs.com/events/studio/techniques/FAdrià/bio_f_Adrià.shtml StarChefs Biography]
* [http://www.spainview.com/people/biog_Adrià.html Freelance Spain Biogaphy]
* [http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ferranAdriàbio.htm About.com Biography]
* [http://www.time.com/time/innovators/culinary/profile_Adrià.html Time.com Innovators]