A Day at El Bulli - Hardcover

Adrią, Ferran; Soler, Juli; Adrią, Albert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714848832 ISBN 13: 9780714848839

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2008

Synopsis

A Day at elBulli: an insight into the ideas, methods and creativity of Ferran Adria is an exclusive look behind the scenes at elBulli, the best restaurant in the world, and into the mind of Ferran Adria, the most creative chef working today.
With 2,000,000 requests for reservations every year and only 8,000 places, it is notoriously difficult to get a table there. Now, for the first time, A Day at elBulli opens the doors to everyone and reveals the inner workings of the kitchen and the gastronomic innovations that have helped create the spectacular food. Illustrated with over 1,000 colour photographs, the book includes recipes and inserted sections explaining the creative methods and food philosophy, the history of elBulli and the life of Ferran Adria.

About this title

About the Author

Ferran Adrią, who has been called "the Salvador Dali of the kitchen," has won global acclaim as one of the most creative and inventive culinary geniuses in the world. His restaurant elBulli has 3-Michelin stars and was ranked #1 for the past three years in a row by the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards. Situated on a remote beach on the Costa Brava of Spain, elBulli is famous for its ever-changing 30-course tasting menu and renowned for being the ultimate pilgrimage site for foodies. Each year elBulli is open for just six months, and receives more than 2 million requests for only 8,000 seats. Ferrįn Adrią began his famed culinary career washing dishes at a French restaurant in the town of Castelldefels, Spain. Here, Adrią familiarized himself with basic cooking methods as he applied a variety of culinary techniques, building his gastronomic repertoire. In 1984, at the age of 22, Adrią joined the kitchen staff of elBulli, and only 18 months later, he became head chef.

Reviews

An enormous undertaking, this monumental tome, complete with more than 1,000 photographs, chronicles one day at revolutionary eatery elBulli in northern Spain, arguably one of today's most influential restaurants. Adria, the culinary genius behind this success, along with restaurant manager Soler and brother and fellow chef Albert give the reader a firsthand look at day-to-day activities and the innovation for which elBulli is known. Lavish photographs are the main attraction in this work; text is sparse and offers only glimpses into activities. While there is an examination of the team's creative methods, most topics are only touched upon briefly, such as creative sessions, testing and utilizing a mental palate. Given the highly technical nature of the dishes served at elBulli, recipes (Pine Nut Marshmallows; Steamed Brioche with Rose-scented Mozzarella) are rare. A glance behind the scenes at a pivotal time and place in culinary evolution, this book will delight serious foodies, and its stunning package guarantees it will grace many a coffee table. (Oct.) --Publishers Weekly

In the world of culinary porn, this five-hundred-plus-page tome of photographs from the fabled avant-garde restaurant elBulli, in Spain, is curiously banal. Little of the chef Ferran Adri�s radical genius can be detected in the brochurelike text (�To produce a great wine you need the best grapes�) and the mostly prosaic images (sommeliers at their laptops, for example). But when the food arrives one feels a sense of wonder. Circles of dehydrated mango pur�e, daubed with a purplish black-olive emulsion, conjure miniature Rothkos; puffs of cotton candy, dusted with a freeze-dried passion-fruit powder, hang from spindly branches. Intrepid or technologically well-equipped readers may brave the recipes for such creations as liquorice-infusion-jelly lasagne and ignore the overserious eating instructions.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0714848832
• ISBN 13: 9780714848839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528