ANDONI LUIS ADRUIZ // WINE & DINE // 129

OF EGGSAND ACORNS// The BASqUe cOUNTRy IS hOme TO SONe Of The wORLD’S mOST ReveReD TempLeS Of gASTRONOmy. mASTeR chef ANDONI LUIS ADURIZ IS BAck UNDeR The OAk TRee, wITh A RepeRTOIRe AT mUgARITZ TO feeD The SOUL.. //

By // OLIveR JONeS. phOTO // peR-ANDeRS JöRgeNSeN & JOSé LUIS LópeZ De ZUBIRíA / mUgARITZ

tour of the holy land of innovation, the Basque country, is

probably on the wish list of every discerning food lover. And

San Sebastián is the Mother Superior projecting a thou-

sand images.

The guide books will fill you in on green rolling hills meeting the

Atlantic waves, of impossibly fresh produce and mouthwatering

‘pintxos’ (tapas) in every nook and cranny, and of more Michelin-star

restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world, including Paris.

But what it all might boil down to is the ‘Gernikako Arbola’.

On a hillside above the town of Gernika, leaders from the villages

of Biscay would for centuries hold democratic assembly under an

oak tree, swearing to defend their freedoms. The father oak lasted

450 years until it caught fire in 1860 and its trunk is now kept in a

garden templet. The oak tree remains the most powerful symbol of

freedom and wisdom among the Basque population.

Mugaritz is ranked among the best restaurants in the world and is

an essential stop on a Basque food-pilgrimage. Its story begins with

the oak tree, of which a unique specimen graces its garden.

“The oak tree that we have marks a border between two towns, this

was translated in our philosophy”, says the 39-year old master chef

and owner Andoni Luis Aduriz. “The line represents the contradictions

of our habitat; urbanity versus nature, individual minds versus collec-

tive spirit, slow innovation versus the pressure of time in the kitchen.”

The name of the restaurant is derived from the Basque word

‘muga’ for border, and ‘haritza’ for oak tree. With high-tech meth-

ods, science coaches and a full-time ‘investigative team’, Aduriz is

today widely regarded as the young, yet low-key, trailblazer of pro-

gressive Spanish cuisine.

“I wasn’t very good at school so my parents started giving me

books about food. At the age of sixteen I remember seeing the

A first book by Michel Bras and being blown away. Among the chefs

in the Basque country, I discovered that gastronomy was not just

food, these chefs were telling stories about their lives through the

recipes,” he says.

We speak on the phone as he is standing in the heart of San

Sebastian, having just come out from a meeting with the organisers of

the Jazz Festival. The following day Aduriz is travelling to Sydney to

host a dinner together with master chefs Heston Blumenthal (The Fat

Duck), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry) and Neil Perry (Rockpool).

Cooking wasn’t a vocation, he says, but a gradual development

that took him from his mother’s kitchen via chef school and, at the

age of 22, to the kitchen of Ferran Adrià.

“I saw a feature article about Ferran Adriá and became obsessed

with going to work for him. He could express something through

the dishes that I had never seen before. When I joined Adrià in ‘93,

nobody knew who he was. He didn’t care whether people liked what

he was doing. He was deeply dedicated to pursuing the unknown,

which had a great impact on me.”

Gastronomy marks the daily lives of the Basque population,

from the tapas-bars to gastronomic societies known as ‘ txokos’.

Aduriz describes how food often claims a second or third place, after

language, in surveys where Basque locals are asked about their

cultural attachment.

As for the green hills surrounding the city of San Sebastian,

Aduriz and an esteemed group of chefs including Juan Mari Arzak

and Martín Berasategu, continue to draw the limelight away from

France with that hallowed notion: food for the soul, not the stomach.

For some, that could be translated as “revolution”.

Aduriz, ‘the quite one’ as he is sometimes referred to when com-

pared to his peers in the avant-garde, recently experienced a period

130 // WINE & DINE // ANDONI LUIS ADRUIZ ANDONI LUIS ADRUIZ // WINE & DINE // 131

“FOOD HAS ALWAYS HAD SCIENCE.”

of great trial but also triumph. In February of 2010, he was woken up in the night by one of his colleagues; a fire was tearing through the kitchen

and within three hours his life’s work had been tragically demolished. The restaurant was closed yet within just five months he made a spectacular

return and the oak, the patron saint, was still watching over him. It marked a new era, he says.

“Something shocking like that really puts things into perspective, I think I’ve become more bold in my choices now and I don’t worry as

much. We don’t have a menu this season, for example. That would have been unthinkable for me before to the fire happened. I thought it was

too revolutionary”, he says.

During the five months that the kitchen was closed Aduriz kept things moving, sending a team of chefs to gain experience from other famous

kitchens, including El Bulli and The Fat Duck.

Since the autumn, 2010, Mugaritz has been back up and running and Aduriz says he feels stronger than ever. In addition to the twenty chefs

in the kitchen, a full-time ‘investigative team’ of seven people keep the wheels of innovation turning, often sourcing knowledge from experts in

science labs.

“We might consult a rheologist, for example, to help with gels and liquid. During the low-season when we’re closed we conduct around 300

experiments that usually result in 30 dishes.”

The Michelin-two star Mugaritz can be described as a spiritual retreat in the heart of the Basque countryside where rituals are performed

almost religiously. Before each seating the Maître D passes through the dining room gently swinging an incense thurible carrying aromas from

the kitchen.

Backstage, Aduriz is famous for keeping a chalk-scribbled phrase on a blackboard to inspire his team, reading: “The possible and the impos-

sible is measured by the will of a human being”. When I ask him about his most advanced creation to date, his answer is – an egg. Too simple to

be true, no doubt.

“We’ve been working on it for five years now. The idea is to be able to eat a whole egg without peeling off the shell. It was very complicated

to achieve, we managed but I am not entirely satisfied. These things evolve.”

Among the restaurant’s signature dishes are the ‘Patatas al Kaolín”, made by dipping potatoes in a white lactose clay. Resembling beautiful

pebbles, they are set aside at a 50 degree temperature to retain the vapour and creaminess of the potato.

“I am very passionate about this dish”, he says while claiming no pretence to secrecy regarding his recipes. The stones inspire metaphors,

they are simple but achieve a high poetic value, and that’s why they are important to me.”

To collect and study plants is common in the higher echelons of gastronomy. But in the Basque hills, stepping out of the Michelin-starred front

door into nature has less to do with finding flavours and ingredients and more to do with texture.

“I believe that science will always be able to reproduce flavours, but not necessarily textures. There are many surprises yet to be discovered.

The gastronomy of the future will be to improve and incorporate interesting textures. Beyond that, it’s a fascinatingly broad field,” says Aduriz

and continues:

“We look to nature also for emotions. Nature is a source of inspiration and not just for the harmony. She is pragmatic and cruel and she doesn’t

care what you think of her, she only acts.”

Mugaritz aims for the intellect as well as the palate. It is also one of the foremost exponents of ‘molecular gastronomy’, the most talked about

trend until recently. But as many restaurants today are tending to go ‘back to the roots’, Aduriz finds it to be a somewhat fictitious concept.

“Food has always had science, whether or not you are aware of it. Using technology is like using a loupe, but what really matters is the talent

of the person holding it.”

Innovation, creativity and transmitting values are what make San Sebastian the capital for high gastronomy. Good food is simply not an issue and

locals will swear to the fact. But if you want to alternate the ‘pintxos’ with a near religious experience, Mugaritz is sure to plant acorns in your mind.