Behind a shelf loaded with history and smelling of old books, we discovered a unique library: 19th-century books, classic cookbooks, original Dalí lithographs, typewriters, and small treasures signed by great names in European cuisine. But here there are no display cases or "do not touch" signs: the books are opened, smelled, and used.
This is Eugeni de Diego's studio: a space that reflects the career of a chef who at 14 was already at Ca l'Isidre, who at 17 worked with Francis García, and who at 21 entered elBulli, where he stayed for more than a decade. Passionate about craftsmanship, collecting, music, and cooking as a living language, for him tradition is not a memory, but an active tool. And books, an open door to new ways of thinking and cooking.
--- You have books signed by Marie-Antoine Carême and Ignasi Domènech. How do these centennial volumes get to your studio?
--- I have them here because I work with them. They are reference books, work tools. For example, the other day, at Lombo we made a dish taken from a 1570 book by Bartolomeo Scappi: a cabbage stewed with meat juice, where panghiotto also appears, which was a bread with guanciale and cinnamon.
--- How do you organize your collection?
--- At the entrance we have all the classic books, many by Carême. I have one from 1822 that shows the cuisine made in courts, not in restaurants. I have about thirty by Ignasi Domènech. Also from El Gorro Blanco, the first Spanish cooking magazine. I have a copy from 1912.
--- How does Carême inspire you?
--- He is one of the first to start cooking thinking about buffets, and that works very well for advising, for example, hotels. In fact, all traditional French cuisine from 1900, like that of Maxim's, is very based on Carême, not only on Escoffier.
--- One of Maxim's great admirers was Salvador Dalí.
--- Precisely here I have two of the twelve original lithographs that Dalí made for the book Les Dîners de Gala. They have the same spirit as the still lifes that appear in Carême's 1822 book. It's an artistic concept.
"When I conceive a dish, I always start by drawing; I draw everything"--- Do you also use art books as inspiration for cooking?
--- I like to paint. If you look, this is like an artist's studio. Although I don't consider myself one, I am attracted to the more imperfect side of things. I don't seek perfection. And yes, Plensa, Dalí, Mariscal... are part of my world.
--- When you start to conceive a dish, do you do it from the kitchen, or from paper?
--- I always start by drawing. I draw everything. Today I am working on a four-dish menu, and the first thing I do is put them into a sketch. I always carry a pencil case with different pencils. I also make collages, I cut things out.
--- Which book have you opened the most times?
--- Every year, for my birthday, I like to cook a recipe. It's usually one by Michel Guérard, father of the nouvelle cuisine. I also have original photographs of his, like the one of the presentation of his book, within Robert Lafont's collection.
--- Is there any recipe of his that you would highlight?
--- The last one I made was a lamb with eggplants, from the book La comida suculenta (The Succulent Food). But I also really like La cocina de la esbeltez (The Cuisine of Slenderness), because it deals with the topic of health. I like this trend towards healthy cooking. I do traditional cooking, but always with a lighter touch.
--- Would you say that the relationship between health and food will be key in the future of cuisine, as has been happening in Eastern cultures?
--- Absolutely. I think it's a future trend. I also have quite a few Chinese and Japanese cookbooks. I would compare more but I don't understand the characters (laughs).
--- On the walls you also have very special pieces, many from your time at elBulli.
--- Yes, I have elBulli's last chef's jacket and another one they made for my son. Also the menu of what Paul Bocuse ate when he visited us.
--- I see you mark many books with post-its. How do you use them?
--- For example, in this one by Joan Roca, which is technically brutal, I mark many things. I take ideas, apply them, and once I've made them my own, I unmark them.
--- Who have you been most excited to meet, among the people you admire?
--- Jaume Plensa. I discovered him through a documentary and got hooked. One day I ran into him on the street and told him I was a fan of his.
--- Do you also read outside the gastronomic world?
--- Yes, look at this one: 1+1=3, by the former president of Louis Vuitton in China, Ramon Ros, who is now at Fendi. It's a brutal book about leadership. I always have a book in my backpack, and another on my nightstand.
--- You've also read Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara. What did you like most about the book?
--- "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." It's one of the phrases from the book and I think it's key for those of us dedicated to hospitality. In fact, I have it hanging in the kitchens of my establishments.