Plankton rice, mussel pudding, squid cheese, murex stew or menthol seaweed... In this establishment in El Puerto de Santa Maria, a fishing town in southern Andalusia, the plate has the air of adventure, centered on the ocean and its treasures.

The sea is "an extraordinary pantry" but often "insufficiently taken into account" by cooks, justifies to AFP this hyperactive chef, round head, massive build and turtle tattoo on the forearm.

"The problem is that the human being is always selective" in the products he chooses to eat, adds this apostle of "zero waste". But "everything we find" in the ocean "is likely to be cooked" if we move away from "fashions", he believes.

Tidal mill

Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Angel León spent his childhood in the marshes of Cádiz, where he went fishing on weekends with his brother and his doctor father. A real breath of fresh air for this student in cold with the school, but passionate about fish and their preparation.

Determined to make this love his profession, Angel León joined the hotel school of Seville as a teenager, then went to make his weapons in France at the Chapon Fin, a mecca of Bordeaux gastronomy.

Spanish chef Angel Leon outside his Aponiente restaurant in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Andalusia, September 15, 2023 © CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

In 2007, it was time to return to his roots: after a visit to Madrid and then Toledo, the 30-year-old chef opened his own establishment, the Aponiente, a few kilometers from Cádiz, with the desire to revisit the products of the bay.

The bet is risky and Angel León, for lack of customers, fails to close down. Until its first Michelin star in 2010, which gave it the necessary impetus to attract gourmets from all over the world.

In 2015, his project gained momentum: the Aponiente, ranked by the Wall Street Journal among the 10 best restaurants in Europe, moved to a tidal mill from 1815, for which Angel León says he fell in love.

This building of 1,800 square meters, located in the heart of the salt pans and exposed to the ebb and flow of the ocean, is then in a state of ruin. Lined with old tin sheds, the adjoining land serves as a garbage dump.

Angel León, nicknamed the "head of the sea", is investing 2.5 million euros to refloat the building. And opt for a contemporary décor that blends into the salt landscapes just behind the windows.

Being in the heart of the marshes "allows people to understand why we cook the way we do," says Angel León, now head of a crew of 70, in a region with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

"The mouth and the mind"

In recent years, the success of the Andalusian cook, known in France for having participated in Top Chef, has been emulated.

In the wake of Aponiente, Andalusia's first three-star restaurant, three other chefs from Cadiz have been awarded Michelin stars – including its former head chef, Juanlu Fernández. A dynamic that has come to consecrate the renewal of Andalusian cuisine.

Spanish chef Angel Leon at his restaurant Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Andalusia, September 15, 2023 © CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

Determined to "open the mouth" of gourmets but also their "minds", Angel León has embarked on new experiments, combining defense of the environment and search for new ingredients, to adapt our diet to global warming.

The boss of the Aponiente - inventor in 2008, with the Marine Research Center of Cádiz, of the "Clarimax", a machine using seaweed to remove fat from broths - has thus given himself a challenge: to domesticate and cultivate "eelgrass", or sea rice.

In partnership with academics, the forty-year-old chef has succeeded in planting in the marshes of Cadiz this cereal with great nutritional potential, capable of absorbing large quantities of CO2. A test that Angel León and his team hope to expand quickly, to give impetus to this "superfood".

© 2023 AFP