San Sebastian (Spain) (AFP)
The only woman at the head of a three-star restaurant in Spain, Elena Arzak is certainly an heiress, she is nonetheless a pioneer, thirsty for innovation, but always at the service of taste and the Basque Country.
Between her 3D printer, her juicer and her library of flavors, this energetic little brunette receives AFP in her "laboratory" above the "Arzak" restaurant in San Sebastián (north).
Here, hundreds of boxes marked with a QR code (quick response barcode) contain tastes, textures, secrets.
"It's research for the good of the kitchen," the cook warns.
"Gastronomy must bring happiness. You can use all the technology in the world, it must bring something to the dish."
At Elena Arzak, innovation does not eclipse tradition.
"Arzak", a slate-covered building, was the tavern of his great-grandparents, opened in 1897.
His father, Juan Mari Arzak, the driving force behind new Basque cuisine in the 1970s, received a third Michelin star in 1989, an award that has never been lost.
Five years ago, Elena - who had been assisting her father since returning to San Sebastián in 1995 after seven years abroad - took over the kitchen during a "slow" transition, although Juan Mari, 79 , will always be there.
The terroir remains.
"I like parsley, anchovies, chipiron, garlic, tuna ... My cuisine is an identity cuisine, Basque, very rooted in the sea", explains the 51-year-old chef.
A "tenderness" for seafood which earned him during his studies and his stints in the kitchens of Maison Troisgros, Louis XV in Monte Carlo, Gavroche in London or El Bulli in Spain, to be often assigned to "fish".
- "Daughter of" -
To be "the daughter of" a burden?
"It could have been a handicap that everyone compared me to him. But I was aware of it," recalls the boss who triumphed without waves or rupture.
She also brushes aside the subject of women in the kitchen: despite a staff composed of 70% women, she says "only interested in talent, regardless of gender".
Its arrival in the kitchens of Arzak has slowly changed the menu towards dishes "with less elements".
"People eat faster, more vegetables, healthier. Cooking times have been reduced, people want more" experience ", analyzes the one who currently confides in devouring vegan magazines.
Supporting photos, she deciphers certain dishes like this "squid tattoo": like a dancer in a tutu, a small squid was placed on the plate next to a sketch in parsley juice drawing an elegant octopus, accompanied by a squid ink tartare.
There is also this mackerel marinated in shio koji, a Japanese condiment, and its triangle of tomato puree mixed with fish collagen, "a natural gelatin".
Or "Enigma", a dessert with churros dough shaped in a graphic mold which contains all the letters of Arzak and filled with white chocolate, "placed on two balls of inulin - dietary fibers of fruit - between mousse and gelatin. One almond-cherry, the other orange, "and a bright fuchsia powder made from beetroot.
- "Pioneer" -
Her talent is hailed by the big names in gastronomy, such as Pierre Gagnaire who saw her pass through his kitchens and appreciates "her reserve and her modesty".
"Delicate, joyful, it symbolizes the Basque Country so much," he told AFP.
Carme Ruscadella, another three-star woman in Spain until the closure of her restaurant Sant Pau in 2018, speaks of a "tireless woman".
As for the French Hélène Darroze, one of her close friends, she describes a "pioneer", "the strength of taste in something completely new".
The stars do not weigh down on Elena Arzak because "if you don't have pressure, you relax, unwittingly".
Mother of two teenagers, she is preparing the reopening of her restaurant, closed since December due to the curfew in her region, and already knows that she will want to "boost people's morale".
© 2021 AFP