This is without a doubt one of the finest squabs that can be found anywhere in Spain. What’s the secret? First, there is a standard variety used: the squab comes from Bresse, weighing about 450-500 grams each, and is tender and very flavorful. Secondly, the preparation technique has two components: on one hand, the body, covered by a crust of salt, flour, and egg white, is roasted whole in the oven at 230°C for 10 minutes. It is then removed from the oven and left to stand for another 10 minutes. The breasts, which remain completely and uniformly red, are then cut, releasing their juices against the knife - they have an unprecedented, delicate flavor. On the other hand, the upper part of the legs are deboned and stuffed with pine nuts and raisins, then breaded with chopped parsley, sage and rosemary, and fried rapidly so that the surface becomes crispy while the interior remains succulent, as a consequence of the breading and the herbs. Finally, juices from the squab, perfumed with the wild aromas of the herbs, finishes off a recipe in which truth, work, and erudition prevail… savoir-faire.

Gerhard Schwaiger wonderfully demonstrates his noble style with this dish - erudite, academic, and cosmopolitan, with technique and efficiency at the forefront. This particular example is imbued with enormous clarity, intermingling Mediterranean cultures in order to achieve a dish of great substance and complexity in which two contradicting yet complementary textures are juxtaposed – gelatinous and crunchy – with the luring saffron flavor standing out, completely dominant on the palate, above the cod tripe and the pasta, its uniformity strengthened by the flavor of the base and by the quality given to it by the Espelette pepper. Vice.

With this dish, Andrea Menichetti won the First International Prize for Cuisine with Olive Oil: “Jaen, paraíso interior”. A creation that has become the flagship of the restaurant. It constitutes an exaltation of the most characteristic flavors of Italy. The pasta is imbibed with extra virgin olive oil and imparts its immaculate flavor. It evokes bread dipped in oil, as well as bread with oil and tomato. It transmits the unctuousness of the vegetable’s oil—a drop is felt as it runs through the mouth, spreading its exquisite essence. This recipe’s magnitude is such that it has traveled around the world in honor of its fame.

The grill is not absent from the current boom in haute cuisine. In a clearly nonconformist gastronomic age, at the start of the third millennium in which innovation and perfectionism mark the difference between success and failure, the most archaic and primal of preparations—grilling over a flame—plays a part in the great beginnings of this golden age that we are enjoying, and of which we would never have dreamed.

Like an Adrià or a Berasategui, the names of Pedro Arregui and Victor Arguinzoniz are rising. They have been incorporating new delicacies to the grill. In the case of Elkano, in Getaria (Guipúzcoa), which is attaining a legendary career of more than 40 years, the turbot stands out for its virtuosity, followed by the collar of hake, the clams and, recently, the hake cheeks and baby squid.

Its evolution has brought with it the adaptation of tools that make possible the preparation of these ingredients over coals—“newly fashioned grilling pans”. In the case of cephalopods, this consists of two small, flat, parallel grills separated from one another by a centimeter and attached to the handle from the opposite side. The device is placed a short distance from the coals, about ten centimeters, and over high heat—since these are delicacies of limited volume, they need a blast of heat and exterior aromatization, with just the slightest penetration of heat on the interior of the meat.

The size of the baby squid depends on the season and the market. If you are able to choose, pick two bite specimens, six or seven centimeters in length. If not, you will have to try them a bit bigger, three to four bites, which are tastier and more consistent than the very small ones, infinitely more delicious and more ecologically sound—pieces that spend two minutes on each side over the heat of the embers for a total of four minutes, depending on the aforementioned factors. Served with a black sauce made with onions, garlic, large squid and their ink.