October 2009 - El Bulli restaurant
I have been trying to get
into El Bulli for years. But I cant even find out when they are taking
reservations, let alone get in the queue. However, there is a back way
in.
El Bulli has an outpost just outside Seville. It is Andalusia's only
two-star Michelin restaurant. The cuisine is supervised by Ferran Adria
from El Bulli, and the restaurant trades under the El Bulli name. It
serves a selection of the best-loved recipes from the original
restaurant near Rosas.
About twenty kilometres west of Seville is the bustling, rather
claustrophobic town of Sanlucar La Mayor. Down a side street is a quiet
oasis, and behind the walls, and set among the trees, is an old
cortijo, which was transformed into a hotel back in the nineties.
Hacienda Benazuza is a tenth century Moorish farmhouse, or cortijo, set
around two
courtyards. There are formal gardens, and informal shade gardens, with
two swimming pools, one shaded from the hot summer sun that pelts down
on what is known as the frying pan, it gets so hot in summer.
* * * * *
King Ferdinand III led a powerful army across Spain attempting to drive
the moors back into Africa. He drove them right down into lower
Andalusia, and from here on you start to get these strange town names,
all apparently on the frontier. Jerez de la Frontera is not the only
town that was at one time on the frontier between Christendom and
Moorish Spain. Of course, as battle followed battle the frontier kept
moving backwards and forwards.
As King Ferdinand drove further and further south he distributed
recaptured lands to the warriors and nobles who had distinguished
themselves in battle. However, the king kept Benazuza for himself.
* * * * *
This cortijo grew into a village and had its own church, which is still
part of the buildings. There are great jars set into the floor that
would have contained olive oil. Now it is a temple to luxury.
The dining room is rather small, but everything runs smoothly and
efficiently. The service is not so fussy as most multi-starred Michelin
restaurants. It is just right, and you get copious explanations of how
to eat the various dishes, and how they are made. The menu is set. You
get everything on the list. There
were thirteen items.
We were all set to go, cameras at the ready. I have never been in a
restaurent where so many diners spent so much time looking at the
dishes and photohraphing them before getting down to some eating.
First: Spherical green olives.
A pot containing olives is placed on your table. The olives are
floating in a herb juice. You take one of and place it in a stumpy
little serving spoon, and pop it into your mouth. The texture is rather
odd. The olive has been destoned and reconstituted. The centre is
juice, and the casing is very thin. It bursts in your mouth and the
olive taste is strong, but eating olives with this consistency is
strange.
Second: Fried Baby fish with lemon
The fish is delivered in a paper flute that rests in a glass tube.
There is not enough. We get just a few crispy flakes. It is very
fragrant. Lovely.
Third: Peanut praline
This is a strange dish. First there is a wafer thin slice of crisp
bread, a tube of peanut butter, and two small tubs, one containing
dried peanut flakes, and the other contains sea salt. You squeeze the
tube to squirt the peanut butter onto the bread, then sprinkle a few
flakes of peanut and some salt on top. The combined taste is
scrumptious, but again, there is not enough.
Fourth: Iberian ham baguette.
The baguette is shaped like a
giant cigar with a texture like an ice
cream cornet. This is wrapped around with jabugo ham. This is the
classic ham from up in the hills around Arecena in the north of Huelva
province. The pigs are let loose in the woods where they eat acorns and
apples. The ham is hung in the dry air for about 18 months before being
used.
It melts in the mouth. I have never tasted ham remotely like
this. It has been glazed with olive oil. It is moist, tender, and very
sweet as well as being tangy. I cant get over how it just melts in the
mouth. Fabulous.
Fifth: Deconstructed potato omelette
This is weird. It is served
in a wide fluted glass like a babycham
glass, and looks like an ice pudding. This is an omelette? No, it is a
deconstructed omelette. The elements of an omelette are all here, but
the omelette has been made back to front. Instead of all the elements
ebbing mixed and cooked together, they have all been separated into
layers. The white of egg is on top, then there is a thin layer of olive
oil, the liquefied potato with onion flakes is at the bottom. You eat
with a spoon, and the secret is to dig the spoon right down through all
the layers, and mix them together in your mouth. You get the intriguing
sensation of the separate tastes, but at the same time, the combined
tastes. The potato has a rich deep taste. Another fine intriguing
experience.
I have been drinking a fino with these courses. This also was rather
unusual. I had originally ordered the fino as an aperitif; after all, I
am in Seville, and fino is the traditional local drink. It arrived
chilled, but not ice cold, which was a good sign. I had already told
the wine waiter that as I had no idea what any of my meal was going to
taste like I had no idea what wine to order, so suggested he bring me a
glass of something suitable as we went along.
As he poured the fino I thought he'd made a mistake, as the wine was a
golden colour. I sniffed the glass, and the nose was right for a fino, but with a slight almond tang.
"So what is this?" I asked, looking very puzzled.
The waiter explained
that it was from the small Hidalgo. I did not know there were two
sherry houses with the same name. I have visited the bodega of the big
Hidalgo, and drunk their perfectly good Gitana brand. But the small
Hidalgo?
"Normal sherry is aged for a couple of years. This is aged for
fifteen," claimed the waiter, which explained the darker colour of the
wine. The taste was dry but clean and rich. This is the sherry for me.
I must try and find some bottles; La Panesa.
Sixth: Lobster gazpacho with basil aroma
This I found disappointing.
This was another of those deconstructed
dishes, hence the plate arrived with the elements of a gazpacho ranged
around the plate. There was stuffed leek, chives, tomato stuffed with
lobster, pieces of lobster, and crisp slices of bread. Then the waiter
came by with a tureen, and ladled a lobster bisque on top. This was a
bit weak and tasteless.
My next wine was an Alvear. This also rather puzzled me. I am used to a
kind of hierarchy of local styles. At the top of the tree is sherry.
Next down the list is montilla, which is a sherry style drink made to
the east around the town of Montilla. Next down the list (or so I
thought) was Alvear, which again is a sherry style drink, but generally
not so well regarded. So why am I being offered this drink?
However, this was not a sherry style wine, but a straight forward white
wine; Marques de la Sierra. I must find some of this as well. I liked
it.
Seventh: Warm and cold clam chop suey
As i cant eat clams I passed on this one, and was brought instead some
tuna with mayonnaise, with tomato and fennel, plus something else I
couldn't identify. I found this a bit dull.
Eighth: Gnochis of Polenta
The polenta consisted of small capsules that melted in the mouth. They
had been glazed with milk, capers were added, and threads of saffron.
Coffee was shaken over the top. The polenta just melted away in the
mouth like wisps of smoke. If people would make pasta this light I
would eat more of it.
Ninth: Red mullet with cabbage and potatoes
This was disappointing. The
red mullet had been roasted and in my
opinion had been overcooked, and had lost its essential taste. The
cabbage was cooked into a slightly al dente paste. The sauce on the
mullet was made from pork kidney and soya sauce. The potato was a
boring wodge of mash. Not my cup of tea at all.
The wine waiter appeared at this point with a red wine. This was a 2006
Rioja which was very fine indeed.
Tenth: Rabbit shoulder in civet sauce with warm apple
jelly
The rabbit was quite gamey, and there was an occasional sliver of bone,
which is not acceptable at such a class of restaurant. This seemed to
be a "normal" dish, not an el Bulli style dish at all. The sauce had
cocoa sprinkled over it, and had a very dark taste, which accentuated
the gamey taste of the rabbit.
Eleventh: Tiramisu
This was another deconstruction. There was a coffee spattered coffee
ice, a cognac jelly, and a chocolate garnish.
Twelfth: White chocolate and English bread
This is a strange name for the dish. It consisted mainly of sherbet. We
were instructed to eat this straight away before it collapsed.
Unfortunately, while I was mucking about taking photographs it did
indeed collapse. It was another delicious course.
Thirteen: Fruit
This was simply cubes of reconstituted fruit served on a bed of ice
which we eat with a U-shaped implement emulating chopsticks.
The bad news was that a meal for two with drinks came to €271. Putting
this another way, that meant that each dish was less than a tenner, and
my glasses of wine and sherry were listed at €5 each which is scarcely
over the top for such quality drinks.
I will have to save up for a second trip.
Just for fun, here are some of the other items that have been on the
menu over the years:
Ferran Adria is obviously
seriously into deconstruction
tempura Tagliatelle consome
alla carbonera
Green pistachio with
strawberries
I dont know what this is
Salmon with citrus
Flowers in tempura batter.
And just for fun let's finish the day with breakfast in the garden:
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