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Cooking The World’s Most Scientific Food! el Bulli’s Amazing Molecular Magic! Meet The “Sorcerer’s Apprentices!”

By johnrieber on November 3, 2015 • ( 4 )

A Starburst Sunrise!

While this looks like a spectacular image from outer space, it’s not a solar system, it’s food! Time to celebrate the molecular wizardry of Chef Ferran Adria!

For years, Chef Adrià’s Spanish restaurant el Bulli was considered the world’s best – and every year, more than a million foodies waited on a list for a chance at a reservation.

What was the big deal? Well, take a look at el Bulli’s “Langoustine with Quinoa” dish:

It’s almost impossible to describe what goes into a dish like this – in fact, there are multiple volumes of recipes and photos that take you inside this creative process – these books were released but el Bulli as a way to document their imagination in the kitchen:

Yes, this is “peanut ice cream covered with snow”…the molecular wizardry at el Bulli was unsurpassed….and for aspiring culinary artists, the greatest opportunity was to get a coveted apprenticeship there.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentices!

New York Time’s Spain correspondent Lisa Abend was given unprecedented access to Chef Adria and the el Bulli kitchen, and she offers an intimate glimpse of life as a “stagiaire” — a cook who agrees to work for almost nothing for a season as one of Chef Adrià’s apprentices.

This is a terrific inside look at the creation of molecular food, and what it means to be a “stagiaire” – a grueling job that gets you inside the kitchen, but you never get to taste the food!

That’s right – the apprentices NEVER taste the food they are preparing – it’s just one of the many fascinating insights into working at el Bulli – but it was also one of the most coveted jobs in the world…this book is a terrific inside look at life in a kitchen, where even in the best restaurant in the world, the job is a mix of the monotonous and the magic…

After closing el Bulli to the public, Chef Adria has focused on a different culinary adventure, which the New York Times captured in a story earlier this year – read all his new culinary laboratory here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/business/ferran-adria-the-former-el-bulli-chef-is-now-serving-up-creative-inquiry.html?_r=0

If you love books about food, this memoir is for you…and an apprenticeship at el Bulli was the ticket to success for many Chefs, including Carles Abelian, who worked for Chef Adria for 9 years and now has his own Michelin-starred restaurant in Barcelona!

Bravo Comerc24!

My wife Alex and I had the chance to eat at Comerc24, and it was a meal full of magical surprises like this:

To get the recipe for this magical Monkfish dish, and to see our entire meal, read my story here:

https://johnrieber.com/2014/12/30/barcelonas-magical-molecular-meal-comerc24-tapas-tapas-tapas/

Chef Adria closed el Bulli, and now runs it as a food workshop and laboratory – but you can taste his inspiration at a number of great restaurants like Comerc24, or Chicago’s three Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea:

Yes, this is a picture of the pot soup we were served – Chef Grant Achatz worked for a brief time at el Bulli – an opportunity to learn from the master, and he wrote about it in his memoir: