Time has blessed him with an achievement that can be only described as divine.

It is exceptional for its ingredients, its gustative purity, its lightness, its technique, its colorfulness… and, above all, because it represents a different way of looking at salad. Berasategui, perfectionist that he is, goes beyond creation and reinvents his cuisine on a daily basis. In this way, little by little, he has altered this creation to its present richness as if it were a flat topped, square-shaped mosaic. It gives the impression of being inspired in Michel Bras’s Gargouillou, but in reality it has nothing to do with the Laguiole chef’s recipe. It is composed of ingredients deeply rooted in Spanish culture and presented in original forms: tomato hearts, cream of lettuce, very finely sliced spring onion, beans and asparagus sautéed differently, cauliflower and broccoli stalks… as well as more recent ones, such as avocado in spiral shapes and fresh almonds… to which are added a few lobster medallions to round out such an assorted salad, and an iodized mollusk sauce made with delicious clams, cockles, murexes, etc., and finished with a gelatinous tomato infusion.

One of those brilliant dishes that has succeeded in dazzling even the most atavistic of diners—those that question anything that is not the habitual recipe—char-grilled or with refrito (olive oil and sautéed garlic, typically Basque). It dazzles, and this is no small feat for various reasons. First, because the fish gives the sensation of being semi-raw due to its cooking at low temperature—a technique of which Isaac Salaberria is a master. Specifically, the filet is submerged in olive oil, where it remains at 40º C for 5 minutes, after which it is removed from heat and left in the oil for 1 hour. The result is an homage to nature, as much in flavor as texture, in which the technique makes a delicacy out of something that until now has not been. We have never seen such a bold and precise treatment of this fish.

The talent is evident in two other elements: the garnish and the sauce, which, as with the pancetta, is offered on the side in a cup and must be taken in small sips with the horse mackerel. A daring sauce that provides an electrifying and delicious contrast to the primary ingredient—it consists of liquefied watermelon, to which two pieces of tomato concassé and a few magical drops of balsamic vinegar are added. It has great substance and stands out radically against the fish to provide a fruity, refreshing and capricious element. The garnish, tapioca cooked in chicken stock and then impregnated with garlic oil, garlic flowers and spring onion, is a more traditional touch: though in altered form, it maintains an aspect of historical memory, a touch characteristic of this gifted chef.

In Basque cuisine, cod has always traditionally been prepared in sauce (pil pil, a la vizcaína, al Club Ranero, en salsa verde, etc.) or in other ways (in an omelet, with bread-garlic soup in zurrukutuna, as stuffing for peppers, fried with green peppers, etc.); but strangely never fire-grilled, while it was always a food abundant in cider houses and txakoli wineries. In recent years, it has finally taken its place in the best Basque barbecues, for various reasons: its absence had no logical basis and there are not many fish that are better, and much less with dependable market availability.

The person who has best developed its grilling is, logically, the man who has made a galactic revolution of the grill, Victor Arguinzoniz. As always, he acquires the highest quality and treats it with singular skill. He uses filets from huge specimens of over 10 kilos. Each piece is lightly brushed with olive oil. It is placed skin down on a flat fish kettle, which is laid on the grill, also flat, about 10 centimeters from the embers. The Holm oak embers need to have already burned quite a bit so that they do not damage the fish, which should be cooked very slowly. The skin side cooks for 8 minutes; during this time, some of the fish’s juices as well as some of the olive oil drip into the fire and intensify the flames, producing smoke that ends up lightly flavoring the fish. Once the 8 minutes have passed, the filet is turned over and cooked skin side up, still at a distance of about 10 centimeters, for 2 minutes. Once done, the filet is removed from heat and served skin down, encircled by a ribbon of pil pil.

The fish could not come out any whiter, any more iridescent; a filet that separates into slices when touched with knife and fork—whole slices, triumphantly juicy with the clean, exquisite flavor of fresh salt cod with rustic fragrances that add to its charm.

We had not rewarded this great dish of Isaac Salaberria’s, and we do it now because rectification behooves the wise. The reason for this mandatory recognition: for some time it has garnered the highest praises from authorities as well as being the most oft-ordered by the restaurant’s clientele.

The Iberico pancetta with almond milk cup is patent, emphatic testimony to this young, clairvoyant chef’s style, which, as we have always said, is one of the three or four most developed on the Spanish scene. It surpasses all of the recipes created to date in essentiality: one main ingredient and two sauces. It adheres fully to the use of stocks, consomés, infusions… which define the work of artists. The low temperature cooking technique is used, as in many recipes: his scallops over a seasonal mushroom and olive oil cream infusion, horse mackerel with liquefied watermelon, tomato and tapioca garnished with garlic flowers, cod confit with pig’s ear and Bomba rice, etc. In this case, the pieces of Iberico pancetta, each weighing some three kilos, are submerged in a reduced vegetable stock (onion, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper), which is maintained at a stable temperature of 80º C for 9 hours. When ordered, it is cut and browned in the pan. Such a delicious piece—most importantly melts in your mouth, with some meaty parts (the loin) coated in a fragrant pork essence with eucalyptus oil; and served on the side, in a different space, is a magical cupful of almonds, to be delicately sipped and intermingled with the fat of the pork.