The secrets that menus hide

The history of the menu, as a list of dishes offered by an establishment, dates back to imperial China. Specifically, to the Song dynasty, which reigned from 960 to 1279. It will be France, however, that introduces the word menu (from the Latin minutus, something small) in the same way that it will create the concept of restaurant (to restore the body with food) and à la carte (at the diner's choice, often linked to a blackboard).

From the 18th century onwards, the menu becomes the simplification of a venue's gastronomic proposal. And this proposal, both for its elements and for its description and design, can give us many clues as to whether a place is worthwhile. One example: if a restaurant advocates radical seasonal cuisine, it makes no sense for it to have a fixed menu with many dishes. Another: if you want product, menus stripped of ornamentation, like that of Tramendu Braseria, hit the mark. "Grilled steak" and that's it. Simplifying what nourishes us.

There are also menus that educate. For example, that of Dos Pebrots. Its menu not only lists dishes, but also explains that Phoenicians and Egyptians were already curing fish in salt in 2000 BC or that ox tongue salpicón used to preside over the banquets of Castilian nobles in the 16th century. Also very original is the menu of Casa de Comidas Buenavista, where they specify that the term restaurant comes from Boulanger's famous motto, who sold homemade broths: "Come to my house, men with weak stomachs, and I will restore you."

Other menus stand out for an internal game, like that of Teatro Kitchen Bar, which pays tribute to its name by proposing acts and scenes, in addition to complementing the experience with a physical ticket. At the end of the menu, moreover, the team is portrayed as if it were a cast. Which reminds us of the entrance of Lluritu2, in Gràcia, where the name and surname of the team starring in the evening are specified every day.

More futuristic is the menu of Comida Codac. Its design does not deceive: only a highly divergent establishment, which poses unsettling contrasts of flavor, could have devised a menu that looks more like a game of UNO. Full of geometric figures, striking colors and abstract descriptions ---Olivas cacao, Cordero pino, Gamba tomate---, it already tells us that the experience here will be differential. Marinetti brought to the 21st century.

On the other side of the scale, we find narrative menus, which even unfold in comic book form. An example of this is an old but fantastic menu from Va de Cuina, in which Jordi Vilà and Alexandre Freitas explain how they make Alkimia-style cannelloni. The queens of menus with personality, however, belong to the cocktail kingdom. We see it in the cosmos of mimetic flavors of Dr. Stravinsky, in the Vinyl record of pop references from Monk Barcelona, or in the groundbreaking designs of Paradiso.

It's no wonder that gastronomic fanatics keep these menus for years, often with the chef's signature included.

Haute cuisine, of course, is another master cartographer. We kept the menus from Cocina Hermanos Torres and Moments, at the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona, ​​especially the one created in homage to Les dîners de Gala by Salvador Dalí. It's no wonder that gastronomic fans save these menus for years —often, with the chef's signature included—. Who knows if, in time, these menus will be museum pieces that explain how people ate or thought in a given society.