Aug 17, '10

El Bulli

Dinner at El Bulli was like a dream come true and I am not exaggerating. How did I manage to get a reservation when there are only 8000 places available per year versus to one million ( or two million according to some sources) requests? Well, I didn’t. I’ve never been lucky in lotteries. One day I got an email from a friend who said she had a reservation and we finally went to El Bulli together. That day I started believing in Santa Claus again. You don’t get invitations to go to Ferran Adrià’s restaurant every day, do you?

Even if I call the dinner at El Bulli “a dinner”, it was not really a dinner but an experience of new textures, forms, structures and tastes. Adrià is pushing the boundaries of cooking using innovative techniques and creating surprising mixtures of surprising products. Not everything was tasting good (some dishes were even strange) and maybe only half (or one third to be fair)of the nearly 40 dishes were really exciting, but the overall experience was something I will remember all my life. What Ferran Adrià and his team are doing is unique and I am sure one day he will be remembered among the biggest artists of the 21st century.

Here are all the dishes that night. My apologies if I can’t describe all of them – 38 is a lot to remember…

1.The very first amuse bouche was a frozen ( and I am sure it was deconstructed) strawberry, but I didn’t take its picture.

2. Mojito and apple flute. Looks like a sandwich, but tastes like a mojito. Adrià is a master of illusion.

Mojito and apple flute
Mojito and apple flute

3. Almond fizz with amarena. This time the cocktail had a conventional form. Milky almond liquid was fizzy and sour. Can’t say that it was my favourite discovery of a new taste.

Almond fizz with amarena
Almond fizz with amarena

4. Nori seaweed with lemon. Crispy seaweed chips with lemon inside. Something very new and amazing at the same time.

Nori seaweed with lemon
Nori seaweed with lemon

5. Gorgonzola globe and cherry umeboshi. Umeboshi is a Japanese pickled fruit. You had to break the gorgonzola globe with fingers and eat it with the cherries umeboshi. The globe looked spectacular but tasted exactly like gorgonzola cheese.

Gorgonzola globe and cherry umeboshi
Gorgonzola globe and cherry umeboshi
El Bulli

After 12 pm. This is how the world’s most wanted tables look like.

El Bulli

6. Can’t remember exactly what was in this picture.

El Bulli

7. Spherical olives. The classics of El Bulli. They are created using a spherification technique that is a process of shaping liquids into spherical forms. No need to say that the olives tasted like real olives.

Spherical olives
Spherical olives
El Bulli

8. Mimetic peanuts. I think they were created using the same technique as for the olives. Really loved them.

Mimetic peanuts
Mimetic peanuts

9. Shrimps omelette. It was served in two servings.

Shrimps omelette
Shrimps omelette
Shrimps omelette
Shrimps omelette

10. Sugar cane

Sugar cane
Sugar cane

11. Coconut sponge- cake. It had a mild coconut milk taste, I loved the texture.

Coconut sponge- cake
Coconut sponge- cake

12. Tea biscuit. It was frozen. The pure green tea taste was very strong and maybe too pure for me.

Tea biscuit
Tea biscuit

13. Roses with ham won- ton and melon water.  Chinese ravioli made of roses and warm ham jelly. It was delicious.

Roses with ham won- ton and melon water
Roses with ham won- ton and melon water
Roses with ham won- ton and melon water
Roses with ham won- ton and melon water

14. Ham and ginger canapée. Absolutely loved it .

Ham and ginger canapée
Ham and ginger canapée

My friend is vegetarian and she had a truffle sandwich instead. I was a little jealous 😉

truffle sandwich
Truffle sandwich

15.Oysters and bone marrow tartar. Very good.

Oysters and bone marrow tartar.
Oysters and bone marrow tartar.
Oysters and bone marrow tartar.

16. Caviar cream with hazelnut caviar. Real beluga caviar versus fake hazelnut caviar. Exceptional.

Caviar cream with hazelnut caviar
Caviar cream with hazelnut caviar

17. Boiled shrimps. No magic here- it was just a slightly cooked shrimp. It was good to chew something though. When almost all the dinner is made of liquid ( even if it is often “spherificated”), creamy or melting things, you do realize the pleasure of chewing your food. 

Boiled shrimps.
Boiled shrimps.

18. Prawn two firings.

Prawn two firings
Prawn two firings.

19. Parmegiano ice cream with modena, basil and strawberry.

Parmegiano ice cream with modena, basil and strawberry.
Parmegiano ice cream with modena, basil and strawberry.

20. Pine nuts shabu- shabu. The whole interest of the dish was in its form and the presentation.

Pine nuts shabu- shabu.
Pine nuts shabu- shabu.
Pine nuts shabu- shabu.
Pine nuts shabu- shabu.
Pine nuts shabu- shabu.

21. Soy ” flan”. Delicate cream with soy sauce.

Soy " flan"
Soy ” flan”

22. Marrow and belly of tuna sushi. For me, it was the most regrettable dish as the fatty tuna was served hot. Because of the heat, it lost its wonderful taste.

Marrow and belly of tuna sushi.
Marrow and belly of tuna sushi.

A piece of dried (? ) tuna. It looked like wood. It was brought to the table and then taken away. I am sure there was some hidden idea behind all this that i obviously didn’t get.

dried tuna
Dried tuna
El Bulli
El Bulli

23. Tiramisu . Again, Japanese inspired.

Tiramisu
Tiramisu

24. Miso soup. The white snow on the right was made of sake.

Miso soup
Miso soup

  25. Clams “ceviche” and kalanchoe cactus. 

Clams "ceviche" and kalanchoe cactus
Clams “ceviche” and kalanchoe cactus

26. “Ceviche” and clams cocktail.

"Ceviche" and clams cocktail.
“Ceviche” and clams cocktail.

27. Oaxaca “taco”

Oaxaca "taco"
Oaxaca “taco”

28. Anemone cold omelette. Anemone is a sea animal, I didn’t like its taste at all.

Anemone cold omelette
Anemone cold omelette
Anemone cold omelette
Anemone cold omelette

27. “Gazpacho” and “ajo blanco” . A deconstruction of “ajo blanco”, classical Spanish cold soup made of almonds and garlic. One of my favorite dishes that evening.

"Gazpacho" and "ajo blanco"
“Gazpacho” and “ajo blanco”

28. Abalone with Iberian ham fat. Interesting presentation but didn’t find it very exciting taste wise.

Abalone with Iberian ham fat.
Abalone with Iberian ham fat.

29. Pork nem- Thai.  It was very good.

Pork nem- Thai.
Pork nem- Thai.

30. Hot strawberries with hare soup and fame meet canapée. The only dish that I didn’t try as I don’t eat hares ( and their cousins rabbits)  or game. I found the concept of the dish very ironic and even shocking. The idea of cute fluffy hare ending up in a beautiful wild strawberries soup made me think of how we treat our food in general.

Hot strawberries with hare soup and fame meet canapée.
Hot strawberries with hare soup and fame meet canapée.
canapée
Canapée

31. Parmegiano “macaron”. The cheese part of the dinner.

Parmegiano "macaron".
Parmegiano “macaron”.

32. Gorgonzola bonbon with fresh walnuts canapée. Another “cheese” dish.The gorgonzola bonbon was very bitter.

Gorgonzola bonbon
Gorgonzola bonbon
fresh walnuts canapée
Fresh walnuts canapée.

33. Pond. As beautiful as delicious.

Pond
Pond

34. Sugar cube with tea and lime. You had to put the liquid from the dropper on a “sugar” cube.

Sugar cube with tea and lime
Sugar cube with tea and lime
Sugar cube
Sugar cube

35. Mile-feuilles of pineapple.

Mile-feuilles of pineapple
Mile-feuilles of pineapple

36. Apple rose. Pretty and refreshing.

Apple rose
Apple rose

37. Molluscs. They were filled with chocolate cream.

Molluscs
Molluscs

38. Box. Box with various forms and colors chocolate. 

Box of chocolate
Box of chocolate
Box of chocolate
Box of chocolate

P.S. Mugaritz coming next.

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