8 Catalan lessons from Madrid Fusión

At Madrid Fusión many things happen at once: conferences, competitions, wine tastings, humorous monologues, and debates about where gastronomy is headed. It's impossible to cover everything. That's why we propose our own perspective based on what professionals, chefs, and pastry chefs based at home have said during the three days of the international congress, surrounded by influential international figures and a relentless agenda. Although this year's motto is The customer takes command, it's worth saying: those who have set the pace for many conversations have been the voices closest to us.

1. When Madonna enters the kitchen, the experience goes up a level

Albert Adriàhas been one of the great protagonists of this edition of the congress. In addition to collecting the European Chef of the Year award, he dissected ingredients such as tear peas or sea cucumbers while quoting Bruce Lee and reminding that the most difficult thing is not to start a dish, but to know when it is finished. He also presented 1895 Coffee Designers by Lavazza, which he accompanied with creations such as cookies made ofgianduiawithyuzu"The experience is as easy to name as it is difficult to create," he said, despite being one of the pioneers in using this concept in the gastronomic world. And he revealed the pop origin of his imaginary: "When I named 41º Experience, in 2011, I was inspired by the title of a Madonna tour." If Madonna set the tour, Adrià set the standard.

2. You don't need to have everything clear to cook well

One of the most powerful presentations was signed byAitor Zabala, Basque-Catalan chef and first chef to achieve three Michelin stars outside of Spain withSomni, in the United States. "For me, cooking is freedom," she said, and she demonstrated it with dishes that speak a language of their own, such as monkfish cocotxa or potatosouffléworked with laser. He explained that for a long time it weighed on him not knowing how to describe his restaurant, until he understood that the common thread is not manufactured, it is found. And it often appears while you make mistakes and return, while you insist, until the kitchen begins to say what you didn't know how to say. Perhaps that is the lesson: there is no need to define everything beforehand.

3. Reinventing is not adding, it is rethinking

ThatL'Atelier Barcelonaadd awards should no longer surprise. But that does not detract from the merit of what he has just won in one of the most unique competitions of Madrid Fusión Pastry: the award for the best gourmet croissant with smoked salmon.Eric Ortuñohe solved it with a cone-shaped croissant, an invention of his that revolutionized author's brioche, filled with smoked salmon and fresh cream, with a low-temperature egg,furikake, sheet ofshisoand a Dutch smoked butter. And the best part is that you don't have to wait for another congress to try it: you'll find it in his pastry shop in Barcelona in the coming days.

In parallel, Marc Pérez and Tània Doblas, from La Sosenga, and Toni Romero, from Suculent, also participated in the competitions. Romero entered the ring for the best steak tartar with a classic recipe he has been making since 2013 at the Raval restaurant.

4.- Mayonnaise is our essential ingredient

Ferran Adriàhe went on stage as he always does: asking aloud, looking the audience straight in the eye, and searching for words for ideas. "To improve the world, you have to understand the world," he said at the outset. From there, he pulled the thread with questions that seem basic until you try to answer them truthfully: what is bread with tomato? And what exactly does a gastronomic restaurant mean? In the same breath, he argued that a quality pizzeria can also be gastronomic, withSartoria Panatierias an example, and announced that he is about to publish a book on how to create a business plan in restoration. But the center of his message was another, more domestic and sharp: to vindicate mayonnaise as one of the great products of the country. An idea that, when put in front of you, no longer seems so simple.

5. Cooking is moving the frontier

Following a logiclewiscarrolliana, Joan and Jordi Rocaled the public of Pastry Madrid Fusión to that uncomfortable—and fertile—territory that separates sweet from savory. "How does savory influence sweet?" they asked, while displaying examples that play at disorienting you and, at the same time, making you understand. One of the clearest is the Comtessa asparagus ice cream or the foie gras nougat, with which they replaced the fat from nuts with foie and pushed it towards the sweet realm with cocoa or truffle. A lesson in the form of pastry: sweet and savory are not sides, they are tools.

6. Technique also tells a story

Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, ofEnjoy, also took the stage to show techniques and processes for some of their recipes. They talked about things as curious as a kiwi raisin, stewed peanuts orgarumof hunting. And if there was one element that turned heads, beyond the almost cinematic accompaniment of each step, it was the starch films, capable of turning golden or even iridescent depending on the ingredients. A lot of technique and a lot of projection explained with a disconcerting calm, as if everything were the most obvious thing in the world.

7. Without a client, there is no restaurant

Nandu Jubanywas one of the chefs who took the motto of this edition most seriously and dedicated time to putting the customer at the center. He did so from experience, recalling a journey that began in 1995 and a life of cooking designed for others. That same idea resonated in the presentation by Sergio and Javier Torres, where they spoke about narrative and emotional connection based on the restaurant's daily life. They emphasized the delicacy with which they address intolerances, tastes, and ways of being of

8. Less TikTok and more stoves

The general director of the Alícia Foundation,Toni Massanés, was one of those in charge of closing the congress with the final reflections on the Dreams stage, a space that focuses on the gastronomy of the future and through which they also passedElena Roura, Pol Contreras, Lluís García orFerran Centelles. And if there were two words he repeated between the lines, they were time and attention. Time to learn, to improve, to refine the craft and, above all, to give it the space it deserves if we want sustainable cuisine. A closing that, amidst so much information and so many topics, sets a direction and keeps our gaze fixed on a gastronomy that does not yet exist, but that we can begin to build.