Nacho Manzano is one of the most personally expressive Spanish chefs around. He is further distinguished by another virtue that has contributed to his prestige: an innate talent for producing refined and harmonious flavors. Both qualities are evident in this dish, in a way a tribute to the Fabada (a bean stew typical from Asturias, Spain). A dish he has nurtured with great care both using the traditional recipe, worthy of an 8.5/10 in The Best Fabadas, and creatively—in its day he presented it in a wonderful salad.
This new creation can certainly be interpreted in various, not necessarily accurate, ways. It gives us the impression of being inspired by Fabada since it contains green beans, the stew’s broth and the pancetta, even if the latter must share the limelight with the beans and soup.
The meat is first cooked, along with vegetables, chickpeas and herbs, in water that is short of bubbling for about 4 hours. It is then allowed to cool in the same pot before it is removed and cut to serving size pieces. Just before serving, these are fried in hot oil so that the outside is crispy and the inner 90% melts in your mouth.

This recipe appears to be inspired by escabeche or gazpacho, or perhaps both. The sauce, the broth from the beans, is seasoned with olive oil and vinegar to make a sort of green bean puree vinaigrette. The appearance of vegetables (spring onion rings, green pepper julienne, small carrot slices and tomato concassé, all raw, imparting vibrancy, naturalness, texture and color) next to the piece of pancetta, the beans and the subtly acidified soup reminds us of the bold addition of a symbiosis between escabeche and gazpacho. Any way you look at it, it is a magnificent example of original cuisine with brilliant idiosyncrasy.

Joan Roca’s creative capacity never ceases to amaze us. In 2004 we have tried about thirty new dishes, almost all of which are masterful. The most stunning one—for its spectacular aesthetic, its sheer craziness and its harmoniously confrontational flavors—is the grilled cep ice cream. Genius. We repeat, genius.

It is a salty mushroom ice cream topped with a half bell made of colorless caramel (similar in appearance to a blown glass ball); it is translucent and very crunchy, with fragrances deposited inside that are imperceptible to the eye but captivating to the olfactory—the olive tree smoke aroma it releases is a surprise, albeit a subtle one designed with good sense so as to intensify the other elements without saturating the olfactory. A few thin slices of mushrooms confit serve as a base for the ice cream and sugar dome, making for exceptional culinary architecture.

This recipe is spawning offshoots, like the char-grilled pine nut ice cream with pineapple aroma.

With this recipe El Celler de Can Roca is awarded a sixth Recipe of the Year—following the hot foie gras with lychees, rose petals and Gewurztraminer sorbet; the velouté of crustaceans, fennel, tomato, sea urchin and caviar; the pigeon liver parfait with juniper, Bristol Cream, hazelnuts and orange; the Trésor de Lancôme; and the Norway lobsters with curry smoke, apples and asparagus lettuce. A number equaled only by Akelare and Las Rejas and surpassed by Martín Berasategui and El Bulli.