BOOK REVIEW: Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking by Andoni Aduriz

      In 1998, Andoni Luis Aduriz stands in an empty Mugaritz. Named after the oak tree that dominates the property flora, Aduriz’s restaurant waits empty save for lofty dreams and failed expectations. The saying goes that “idle hands are the devil’s tools” and Mugaritz sure had a wealth of those. With nothing else to do and no patrons to cook for, Chef Aduriz put those idle hands to work surveying the restaurant’s surroundings for new, indigenous ingredients in hopes of sparking inspiration, and eventually, a full dining room. It was at that moment that Mugaritz took its first step down the path that would lead it to a pair of Michelin stars and a podium finish at the San Pellegrino Top 50 awards. More internally, it catalyzed the formation of Aduriz’s self-titled “techno-emotional” style of cooking.

       Fast forward over a decade and Mugaritz stands atop global top restaurant rankings and draws global applications from cooks abroad to come and work for free. What started out as an innocent excursion into the Basque countryside propelled Mugaritz to an internationally acclaimed profile and admiration from chefs and patrons alike. Needless to say, the hype and anticipation leading up to the inevitable release of a cookbook was palpable. Finally, Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking has been released upon the world, and it could not be more impressive.

         Years ago a chef by the name of Heston Blumenthal released his first cookbook revolving around the recipes and philosophy of his restaurant “The Fat Duck” in Bray, England. It was, and remains, one of the best restaurants on the planet. While the recipes and photography in that book were no doubt gorgeous and engaging, critics agreed that the literature accompaniments really fleshed out the quality of the book. Blumenthal included essays and research papers about everything from sous-vide cooking to his opinions on the facets of classic cookery. In that similar vein, Andoni Aduriz has fleshed out many of the concepts in his book with notes and papers about numerous topics ranging from the basis of inspiration and creativity to the perfect technique for cooking foie gras. Graphics are generated to convey the ideal times of year to harvest seasonal ingredients. It seems to be a growing, and fortunate, trend that professional cookbooks are to be more than just recipes and photographs. Chefs are more and more inclined to share their opinions, thoughts and curiosities with readers and it truly enhances the experience and immersion of the reader.

     Abandoning the cookbook standard of close-up photographs from carefully selected angles and properly placed lighting, Aduriz chose to have his photos scaled 1:1 life size and have the dishes presented on white canvas. Should a bowl be the suggested serving vessel, a depression is made in the canvas to serve that purpose. Such minimalism highlights the intricacies and brilliant colors on each “plate”. Unlike the Noma cookbook, which is also published by Phaidon, the Mugaritz cookbook favours a traditional layout with recipes and accompanying photographs grouped together, as opposed to the messy and disorienting tornado that was Noma’s recipe catalogue.

     While the recipes themselves may not be perfectly transferable from Mugaritz to the professional kitchen (not to mention the home kitchen, which usually isn’t equipped with immersion circulators, thermomix blenders and liquid nitrogen) due to scarcity of ingredients indigenous to Spain, concepts and ideas are easily replicated and recipes are quite simple on the ingredient front, though heavy on technique. Let’s face it; you’re unlikely to be making clay-coated potatoes or fossilized salsify any time soon. However, who’s to say you can’t read the little essay that accompanies the “fossilizing” technique that describes the effect calcium oxide has on fruits and vegetables, and then apply that knowledge to another concept?

            To its own end, the Mugaritz cookbook is not a how-to book; you are not likely to replicate the dishes seen within its pages. However, where the true value of these so-called “coffee table cookbooks” lies is with their ability to inspire creativity and original thought. Andoni Aduriz is unanimously a polarizing representation of forward movement in cuisine; he was voted “Top Restaurant, Chef’s Choice” at the 2012 San Pellegrino Top 50 Awards. Through Mugaritz: A Natural Science of Cooking, one is exposed to the philosophies and opinions of Andoni Luis Aduriz in a way that catalyzes new ideas and a hunger to learn more.

  

Mugaritz:A Natural Science of Cooking by Andoni Aduriz (autographed copies still available)

$49.95

Phaidon Publisher

Mugaritz Chef Andoni Aduriz: Buca Restaurant, Toronto, Entertains.

When the chef of the #3 Resto in the world comes to your city, where would you choose to take him? That was THE MAJOR question dangling on everyone's mind. Here is a chef with impeccable visual and oral aesthetics, at the top of his game. We decided to entertain him at Buca restaurant where chef Rob Gentile creates dishes that are both rustic and sophisticated ethnic representations of his roots and travel experience. Rob Gentile is a talented, fastidious perfectionist whose execution of a range of rustic dishes makes a strong impression on his diners. This rustic, ethnic aesthetic would provide chef Andoni Aduriz with a contrast to his usual experiences visiting other cities, such as New York, where he recently experienced elevated cuisine as a guest of chef Thomas Keller's Per Se and chef Wiley Dufresne's WD-50.


The Cookbook Store event with chef Aduriz, left to right, Alison Fryer, store manager, Chef Aduriz, Annie Sibonney and store owner Josh Josephson.

 
I must thank Annie Sibonney, food network show host and owner of Relish Tours, who made it possible to give chef Aduriz a full range of personal experience here in Canada. This connected experience was made possible by Annie's wide ranging personal relationships with some of the finest chefs in europe, extensive travels and her time living in Spain. Her good taste, flawless command of the Spanish language and her entertaining and lively personality all made it possible for Chef Aduriz and his english speaking hosts to have such an enjoyable social experience. Annie with chef Aduriz, below.

We began with bocconcino, gnocchi fritto accompanied by burro di lardo and Tuscan pistachios. We broke open the gnocchi "puff" and spread the lardo and chopped pistachios.

Crudo di mare

Raw B.C. spot prawns with coriander, unrefined citrus herb salt, Terre di San Mauro olive oil and crisp rosemary leaves. The head was minimally deep fried to perfect doneness so that the soft interior was enjoyed with the crispy shell of the head, legs and antennae, a potato chip of the sea!

Ricci, fresh shucked sea urchin with wild ginger, impeccably fresh!

Antipasti

Salumi di Buca, a selection of house cured salumi served with seasonal preserves, including 1 1/2 year aged elk leg, thinly shaved off the bone, beef tongue, lardo and pork heart sausage and a horse meat bresaola. The elk was particularly noteworthy for it's subtle, complex nutty flavours. Below, chef Gentile proudly displaying the elk leg for slicing.

The sliced elk.

The rest of the charcuterie, from left, beef tongue, lardo and pork heart sausage and the horse meat bresaola.

Nodini, bread knots with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and sea salt (no photo).


Orecchio di Maiale, crisp pig's ears with wild fennel salt. These were addictive, comparable to trying not to eat more than one chip when presented with a bag of truly great potato chips....but better!!

Noteworthy culture columnist of the National Post, food loving Shinan Govani, distracted for a moment....but, not for long!

Pizza alla Romana, Tuscan style porchetta with mostarda, mascarpone and agliata (a Sicilian herb). We were given scissors to cut the pizza. This pizza has a wonderfully addictive flavour/texture combination.

Pasta

Sciallatelli, fresh, hand cut pasta, zucchini soffrito, raw spot prawns and bottarga di riccci (a bottarga made with urchin roe). The pasta was tossed after presentation. A great combination of flavours of the sea.

Orecchiette, saffron infused, hand made pasta with baby octopus, cherry tomatoes and fava beans, finished with fresh chili and bone marrow. Another wow of a dish that filled one's palate with exploding flavour.

Carne

Polenta with smoked pork blood sausage, finished with wild leeks, moscato grapes and cacio di fossa cheese. This from a chef infused with local traditions whose passion brings together the flavours of the region.

Smoked mozzarella cheese foam (spuma), with a texture like hollandaise sauce, but made with olive oil rather than butter, and also scamorza cheese melted into this and mixed together. The top was caramelized and morels, rosemary leaves and a liquid reduction, was added. This was a mouth watering dish, with mild, smokey, rich tasting flavours all enhanced by the wonderful morels.

Sorbetti

Nespole (loquat) sorbetti with boreal honey to which passito (a late harvest wine)was added all topped with coltsfoot flower. This was a truly refreshing, palate intriguing dessert, with wonderful, subtle, complex flavours. The flower contributed a mild mellon like flavour.

Sapori di Sicilia, a tasting of Sicilian cannoli with a filling of buttermilk, riccotta cheese and bergamot; briosche with a pork blood, pistachio and red current wine gelato sandwiched in the briosche; and baba 'al rum soaked with balsam fir gelato and spiced rum, the baba drizzled with maple syrup.

Chef David Lee congratulates chef Andoni Anduriz on a spectacular meal!

Walnut "soap" bubbles with honey and oats ice cream

Celery root ice cream with fenugreek, herbs, flowers and candied celery root

Duck with wakame seaweed, borage flowers and summer truffle.

Milk-fed veal cooked sous vide, covered in ash (as if seared or bbq'd) with rosemary ash and stems and radish

Turbot with borage stems and flowers presented with risotto and walnuts.

"Fossilized" salsify with hake roe and chives

Enjoying a break in the fabulous meal at Mugaritz with Chef David Lee and tour organizer and fellow gastronome, Annie Sibonney.

Gnocchi of raw sheep's milk cheese with an Iberico ham and herb broth

The signature 80 ingredient salad

Carefully composed and assembled, element by element, with mini raw and cooked vegetables, edible herbs and leaves foraged from the restaurant gardens and the adjacent forest, all dressed with an emmenthal infused vegetable broth. What an explosion of flavours, like fireworks, going off in different areas of my palate in a planned and composed way, and experiencing all the while, alternate textures.

"Carpaccio" with hazelnuts and pine nuts

We had to try to figure out this trick of the eye and palate. Leave it to the highly discriminating chef David Lee to realize that the carpaccio was actually a form of dehydrated watermellon!!! Fooled most of us intially.

Ravioli of crushed crab and walnuts, in a citrus flavoured bonito broth. The incredibly delicate ravioli just melt on your tongue, followed by the burst of incredible complementary flavours.

Assembly in kitchen.

Chef Anduriz' signature edible clay-coated potato served with aioli.

Making "Scents" at Murgaritz

At Mugaritz, one of the very finest restaurants in Spain and #4 in the world.

In his sacrosanct lab, Chef Andoni Anduriz introduces us to the molecular components of smell, and how they play a role in the total smell experience by placing a drop of a fragrance essence onto a piece of filter paper. We were asked to guess the smell of each component as we waved the six filter papers in front of our nose in turn. The six strips, we discovered, each had one of the following fragrance elements: cinnamon, eucalyptus, mild hydrogen sulphide (similar to the fragrance of clean under-arm body odour), anise, clove and mandarin orange. Then we placed all six strips together and as Andoni asked us, we waved them in front of our noses. Behold, we discovered the fragrance of fresh basil! He told us that many of the herbs we were familiar with could actually have as many as 100 different molecular components to their smell.