Soon he will turn 60 and has been cooking for 15 years. From San Sebastián, he is the Spaniard with the most Michelin stars: a total of 10. The morning begins and he is already in the kitchen of his restaurant in Lasarte-Oria directing his careful choreography

Are you a cook or a chef? Chef is a word from another language. In my country he says cook and that's what I am. If I were French, I would be a chef.And you shouldn't invent a word to designate what you do? Being a good cook seems incredible to me, a good cook is a happiness carrier. So no, I do not miss another word, the cook goes very well. The job of cooking makes me crazy, and being a good cook is the host. Is cooking an art? For me it is a lifelong art. An art that is eaten, that is drunk, that is watched, that is smelled, an art that is enjoyed ... There is art that hangs on the wall and art that is eaten. There is art that lasts forever, like a painting, and art like ours that, if it is the host, remains engraved for life on the palate and heart. Are you, like some wines, better every year? Every day I try to be better at everything. It is a type of race, of overcoming, of nonconformity that one has or does not have. I tried to be a good grandson, a good son, I try to be a good father, a good husband, a good cook, a good teacher for my students ... You have more Michelin stars than any other Spanish chef. How does it feel? Every Michelin star I get is to touch the sky dressed as a cook with the fingertips. From the first they gave me to the last, they all made me live a dream. Is the Michelin guide the kitchen bible? No, it's more than the bible. Michelin is one hundred and twenty years of prestige earned on the basis of gout and sweat to make the only and unrepeatable guide. Well, if Michelin is more than the bible, then you are god ... Nooooo. I am only a superworker, superprofessional and noble person who never spares a drop of effort. And if I had to leave my eyelashes and leave blood on the road, I have. I have made many sacrifices, sacrifices that people cannot even imagine. But those sacrifices have led me to enjoy a way that I can't even count. If one day they took a Michelin star, would the world sink? It would be the biggest dislike of my life, yes. But I am sure that if they took it from me it would be deserved, for not being up to the excellence they seek. But I will try with all my strength and with those of my teams, not only to keep them, but to have more. This is what I have in the race. Some chefs are very stars, do they need a cure of humility? We are all here in passing, I do not understand the one that comes to mind. The more apples an apple tree has, the more it has to be grounded. If not, the first wind that comes tombs it. The more things you get in life, the more example you have to be for others. Many entrepreneurs and executives cook the weekend to relax. By that rule of three, do you do accounts and balances to relax? What relaxes me a lot is walking. And I marvel at San Sebastián. What is the recipe for a good Berasategui? The recipe for Berasategui is to have a lot of stick . Garrote is strength, seeing the bottle half full, not being afraid or ashamed or lazy to do things. It's courage, it's attitude, it's not wrinkling with anything, it's making everyone around you important. Is Spain a country with a club? Spain is a country too tender. Anything scares us, and we must stop bullshit. The day you have the flu you will go to the pharmacy, but first you have to enjoy the day, work, your family ... Take care, but not worry. But being born in this country is a privilege. You have already entered the history of gastronomy. How would you like to be remembered? As a super-authentic and generous uncle. As the most authentic and most unclean guy in Spanish cuisine. Of a Wagner opera, no one dares to comment; de 'Guerra y paz' ​​by León Tolstoy does not dare to give a judgment to everyone. But any neighbor's son thinks of gastronomy ... We are in a democratic country, why don't you think? It seems to me very well that people think. The sad thing would be that they didn't. I have a lot of fun hearing the diners talk and say what we do. Do you have customers who start crying in excitement at their plates? If many. And I have had two sick clients who have come to say goodbye to life with their friends at this restaurant. That excites me, there are no words to explain it. Have you seen the one that the animals have tied to Dabiz Muñoz for hanging on Instagram the photo of a roast suckling pig? Dabiz Muñoz is a unique cook, a professional of the copón and a lad of the host. Do you mess it up because you cook a piglet? And the lettuces are also alive, and the tomato, and by breathing you are taking the air away from another. Come on, don't fuck me, come on ... There is a lot of asshole. It would be better for many to do in their profession what Dabiz Muñoz has done in his. Bethoven was deaf, but still he was composing. If you lost your palate, could you continue cooking? Fuck ... I don't even want to imagine what it would be like to lose my palate, because it's the best I have. No, I really don't want to imagine it. Are there flavors that are impossible to combine? Everything is open to experimentation, of course, but for me there are things that are impossible to mix. Tell me some established mix that you consider aberrant ... Melon with ham. It does not stick or glue. And because he has eaten all his life does not mean that it is a good combination. And another mixture that I don't like is that of artichokes and champagne. People also usually drink white wine with fish, but for me there are many fish that ask for red. And vice versa: who was going to say that the kiwi a little green was going to go well with an oyster, and it is going superbien. You have created countless excellent dishes. But how many do you think are the bomb, the nuclear bomb? They should walk the thousand recipes. I have created many more dishes, but nuclear bomb, hallucinating in colors, will be a thousand.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Gastronomy
  • Kitchen
  • Final Interview

A barbarian in Asia A dinner with Mr. Toyo, the god of street food cooking with flamethrowers

Cocktails with Historia Negroni: 100 years of the concoction removes just an Italian count invented

GastronomyThe new address in Almería to eat a good rice next to the beach