Reviews

Madridfusion
«Enoteka» №3(62) 2008

The Madridfusion forum, annually held in Madrid, is a precise barometre of what is happening in the culinary and gastronomic world today.

For the sixth time it hosted leading chefs who presented their concepts and dishes on a large stage to the audience of professionals and press. As usual, the event also included seminars and master-classes. Part of exposition featured stands with food products, wines, drinks, kitchen equipment, books and other things related to culinary and gastronomic spheres.

Madridfusion four-day programme is very intense, and after the first edition in 2003 the forum became a central event for the industry. Professionals from Russia have also started to show interest, albeit slowly. Representatives of Moscow restaurant and retail businesses were noticed among participants in the past two years.

New dishes, cooking techniques and tendencies in the kitchen are primarily interesting to chefs and restaurateurs. But some questions discussed in Madrid are also related to wine industry which helps draw common parallels between approaches of chefs and winemakers. Or find certain difference between them.

It should also be noted that changes in gastronomy influence wine consumption patterns. It means that wine professionals should keep abreast of the latest trends in the cooking world.

Wine is or is becoming an integral part of the gastronomic culture in many countries. Thus it is not surprising to see famous wine estates or regions participating in the forum. The majority come from Spain and are represented by such names as Alejandro Fernandez and Ribera del Duero DO who run own tastings or seminars. Wine for lunches is traditionally provided by Champagne houses, including Moet & Chandon and Bruno Paillard. Several renowned Spanish producers — Marques de Riscal, Codorniu, Chivite and Grupo Pesquera — are traditional sponsors of receptions and gala-dinners.

This year one of the most memorable presentations for me was that of a well known Italian chef. Fulvio Pierangelini works in Gambero Rosso restaurant (2 stars by the Michelin guide) in San Vincenzo on the Tuscan coast.

Pierangelini spoke about the aesthetics of creative gastronomy. That true talent to be a chef is given by nature, not education. That chefs remain one of the last strongholds against unification of taste. He stressed that food products have social and cultural value practically lost by global industry and also that a true chef cooks not for himself but for cuisine. He should be a creative interpreter rather than a composer of a certain cuisine.

Food critics were cautious to accept his ideas, especially a near-puritan attitude to products and a statement about their absolute superiority over chefs. But his words are close to those who share philosophy of terroir winemaking. Pierangelini principles resonate with fundamental winemaking ideas that great wines are born in a vineyard and the winemaker’s task is to preserve and demonstrate the features of terroir in a wine. Estates aiming to produce wines according to the concept of terroir winemaking continue to defend the idea of wine individuality as opposed to general globalization of taste.

Today leading chefs find new inspiration in the nature. Both natural materials such as compost and clay and manmade textures imitating sand, stones and earth are put to use.

A great Spanish maestro Juan Mari Arzak makes a distillate of compost gathered in the woods. Arzak says that adding it to a dish gives a real flavour of earth. The chef also presented a recipe where white clay was one of the ingredients. It acquires find aromas of truffles after boiling. It is used as edible paint in fish dishes.

Imitation of textures is the other “natural” tendency. Pedro Subijana, owner and chef of Akelarre restaurant (3 stars by Michelin guide) and a close comrade of Arzak in creating avant-garde Basque cuisine, presented coloured “sand” made of red and green peppers and “earth” made of butter and seaweed. Juan Mari Arzak invented chocolate pumice which can float on the liquid surface like an original stone.

Also the idea to transform best wines into hard, powdered or jellied substances will hardly be welcome in winemaking industry, mineral aromas and flavours have always been one of key points of difference for wines originating from great sites. Thanks to various terroirs we can distinguish between Chardonnay from Chablis and Mersault, or Riesling from Mosel and Wachau. If flavours of nature become fashionable in gastronomic circles, winemakers should take advantage of this trend as well to promote their wines.

Leader of the modern culinary movement Ferran Adria chose Madridfusion to present his latest manifest. Along with several specialized cooking concepts the manifest features some general trends. They will certainly have an impact on the choice of wine in restaurants.

These days chefs give more preference to working with vegetables and seafood, as well as other products suitable for lighter dishes. Large cuts of red meat and whole birds are not popular anymore. It means that white, rose and light red wines will be chosen more often for these dishes.

“Even if the characteristics of products are changed… the goal is to preserve their original flavour”, states the manifest. Sommeliers will have to work harder to create balanced food and wine matches and guests will need to listen to his recommendations in order to appreciate the food.

Emotional perception and intellectual analysis are a new and important aspect of gastronomic experience. Wine can and should contribute to it.

There is a trend to serve dishes in a new sequence. The classical hierarchy “appetizer — main course — dessert” is being broken. Dishes with elements of sweet, salty, spicy, savoury can be served at any stage. This also changes a traditional way of serving wines. Semisweet and sweet wines can precede the dry ones.

Recipes are conceived to be served in small portions. Snacks, tapas, small-format dishes all heavily feature in the tasting menus. Multitude of flavours demands a wider wine offer by glass in order to get successful food and wine matches.

To conclude, I’d like to note once again that food and wine are different facets of a general gastronomic culture. The tighter the link, the richer is the total experience. Madridfusion is the “melting pot” of all modern culinary and gastronomic achievements and trends. It is only beneficial for the wine industry to support the forum and to take notice of what is happening there.