Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen: José Andrés

I'd been a little ambivalent about going to see José Andrés –I thought if I wanted to see a boy play with his chemistry set I could always go hang with Sasha- but Dana Cowin, Food & Wine magazine's stylish editor, convinced me with her enthusiastic recommendation the night before.

So, the next morning, with a slight altitude sickness -it wasn't a hangover, I swear- I fumbled my way into a crowded auditorium. José Andrés had already taken up his spot on the stage, accompanied by his two adorable daughters Inez and Carlotta, and also by Katsuya Fukushima, the Chef de Cuisine of his restaurant Café Atlantico.

Having one's children around was quite de rigueur at the Classic. Mario also had his sons with him when I was at his demonstration the day before. And there were a constant stream of kids and their respective nannies coming through the press room, who knew whom they belonged to, but probably some important people. José's daughters were far more than decoration though. They were right on stage, interacting with their father and adding quite a hilarious comic touch in the show.

José Andrés is an amazing spokesperson for what Hervé This calls Molecular Gastronomy, which normal people might refer to as the 'weird food' movement. The high priests of this movement are mostly from Spain, or es-spain as José charmingly called it.

Have you ever noticed that Spanish people can't say Spain, but always es-spain? Supremely cute, no? Ok, I digress again. Back to the auditorium we go.

Where were we? Oh, the high priests, yes. The highest one of them all is indisputably Ferran Adrià, whose small Temple of Gastronomy elBulli in a tiny -and otherwise unremarkable- beach town somewhere outside of Barcelona has got hundreds of thousands of people scampering for the few hundred available reservations each season.

Ferran's influence is the world over -was that Altoid I saw on your watermelon, José?- but I seriously doubt that the movement could find a better spokesperson than José Andrés, anywhere.

He was extremely funny, reassuring, and had an amazing rapport with the audience. I mean, it took some kind of snake oil salesman to peddle a plate of sea urchin, grapes, and watermelon foam to a room full of people and made them coo with delight. A first rate kind, don't you think?

Somewhere in the audience someone shouted, "Could you pair wine with this?"
"Yes", José answered.
"What would you?"
"No wine", José shot back, to roaring laughter from his fans, and went on to explain that this was more about food than about wine, and it would be difficult to find a wine that would fit all the different flavor profiles of the Watermelon: ten ways that he was doing. But, of course, if there were such a wine it would be a wine from es-Spain. Ha.

He really was remarkable, taking the audience on a molecular dance, through making foam to making a watermelon 'yolk' with the Sodium Alginate trick, without missing a beat. All the while he reassured them that it really wasn't all that weird, after all. Putting his philosopher cap on, he pondered the nature of strangeness, concluding that things were only labeled as weird when they're unfamiliar. He had a point there, don't you think? PB & J sandwich, anyone?

Quite pleased with himself, José set out to make his next trick, 'watermelon steak'. He cut a rectangular piece of watermelon then let it brown on one side on a hot sautéed pan. "When it's nice and brown like this we turn the steak over to brown the other side", he explained to the audience.

"That's not a steak", chimed his adorable daughter Carlotta.
"Yes it is, it's a watermelon steak.", argued José.
"No, it isn't"
"Yes, it is"
"That's not a steak", she insisted.
"Ok, it's a watermelon, but I call it a steak", José relented.
"Well, then it's a silly steak.", Carlotta concluded, "We'll just call it a Silly Steak."

Let this be a lesson to the hyphen-ised, italicized, and "quotation marked" menu writers everywhere. Took a nine year-old to call a spade a spade.

P.S. Just found another blogger's write-up of this same session at the Classic. Check out Augie's account of his time in Aspen.

Comments

[Garrett]

Inez and Carlotta? Those are some damn cute names!

[ben]

E-spain? Anything remotely to do with Espana? Or is it just me?

[Kara]

Actually, it's because the letter 's' is never at the start of a word in Spanish. It's always prefaced by an 'e'. So if he had said Silly Steak he would have said 'esilly esteak' too.

Assuming he's got a thick Spanish accent and clearly has Spanish as a first language, that is.

[Brett]

Although my tastes tend towards the traditional, I have to admit José Andrés's enthusiasm for molecular gastronomy is infectious. He shares some interesting, unorthodox tips in his new cookbook in English that led to excellent results in my experience. In Spain I hear José's TV cooking show is incredibly popular, making him as big a star there as Mario Batali or Jamie Oliver are in the US and UK. Lucky for us, though, that his restaurants are on our side of Atlantic.

[gagatka]

feel like almost been there:) thanks!

[Dan]

Of course, it could be that those of us who speak English can't seem to pronounce the name of the country "es-panya" and insist on calling it "spain"... we don't even make the effort! ;-)

Great report on the demo. And not just PB&J, but think PB & bananas, or what I grew up on, BLT's with PB & Mayo... now that's strange...

[holly bechiri]

he's great! i recently returned from living in spain, and i tried to finagle my schedule every day to catch his cooking show on t.v.! i loved that he combined traditional spanish food with new ideas, and that he explained the how of foods, and the way he constantly said "we'll add a little olive oil. a little olive oil never hurt anyone," and then proceeded to add a portion which My eyes definitely would not call a little. amazing man. thanks for sharing about him!

[Sumitha Shibu]

You have a wonderful blog Pim!

[Julie]

I am so glad you went to see Jose Andres, Pim. I just ate at his restaurant, Zatinya in Washington DC and it was remarkable as well as my absolute personal favorite type of food. The whole menu is meze from Greece, Turkey and Syria. One of the best parts of the experience was the piping hot pita bread that the very accomodating staff brings to your table and replenishes throughout the evening. All the wines by the glass were Greek and I wish it was easier to find more Greek wines at non-Middle Eastern restaurants. Even though Andres may be a molecular gastronome, he knows how to create a menu that can please the masses. The gorgeous restaurant was packed at 6:30 on a Thursday night. The goat cheese stuffed grape leaves with a tomato compote were my favorite taste of the night. Enjoying your blog...
Julie

[Dianka]

Great post Pim! Wish I could of been there, sounds so fun!

[Luke]

I got to try a full 30 dish tasting that was prepared by Katsuya. Cafe Atlantico has a small six person bar, called Mini-Bar where they serve these creations. They prepare each course in front of you, it is truly a great time. If you are ever in DC, you have to check it out.

[Raquel]

Hola PIM!

I watch Jose Andrés´s show without sound! I really can´t stand listening to him. He speaks as if his audience were 3 years old which can be really annoying. He´s a good chef, though.

Fantástico blog! :)

Greetings from España!

[S]

They have a hard time with any "s-consonant" sound - like special, becomes e-special.

[slurp!]

a remarkably witty encounter :) truly enjoyed reading. thks! And back to the es-spain, I'm curious, so why always es-spain?? :P

[Stefan Engeseth]

Sounds great but: Why not produce a wine from a place that every consumers now about but don’t have an opinion on the taste a wine history? Who will make the Moon Wine?
http://blog.detectivemarketing.com/2006/07/moon-wine-new-brand-made-in-moon.html