diarioculinario

[diarioculinario]

Mischa - Tempura de papa

- Wednesday 30th January 2019 📍Somewhere between San Sebastián and Bilbao

[diarioculinario]

San Sebastian #2

- Tuesdsy 29th January 2019 📍San Sebastian, Donostia

Today service went great! Everyday gets better and better and i’m starting to feel more secure. Also I got day of tomorrow so I went to San Sebastián where I hooked with my Dad and Uncle. We hit la Cuchara de San Telmo for some pinxos and we saw Mischa there. Mischa runs Maido the no 1 restaurant in the South America 50th best list.

[diarioculinario]

Failure

Day 12

- Thursday 24th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Todays was Ok, it was good until I accidentally mistook the pasteurized egg with the pasteurized egg yolks during the preparation of the Spherification... they had the exact same label and i made a silly mistake 😐.

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

Primer dia Servicio

Day 11

- Wednesday 23th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Dear Diary today I did my first service in a 3-starred Michelin. 

Let's jump straight to how it went. I must admit I was nervous. Nervous cuz I´m afraid to do mistakes and fuck shit up. I hate when I don´t have control over situation tho to lacking of instructions. We only had 5 pax so it wasn't so hard today. On the other hand, I learn more of my mistakes so it´s cool guess.   

Pre-service we went through the final routines of the station. I learned a lot how their system is built during service. I must admit that their system is not that hard, I wrote it all down and later me and Yvonne (Mexican girl who is also on the fish station) went through it together like it was homework. I'm really excited for tomorrow cuz now I know how to act and how to handle things during service. I have also started to work on the B-uppsats (essay). This month will be fun and intense tho, I'm looking forward to it and see if I will gain something from these experiences. Also, Eneko won the chef of the year here in Spain so it will mean that a lot of guests will be visiting Azurmendi. 

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

One day left to opening

  Day 10

- Tuesday 22th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

During breakfast, I had some butterflies in my stomach. I wasn't feeling so well on the inside meanwhile the other guys where all laughing and chilling. I´m so alone that I can scream, yell, claw at the top of my lungs and no one will hear.

Eneko started the day with a speech  “Nos vistimos de cocineros pero no somo simepre los que cocinan” as he presented his local egg supplier. Today we did some prep for tomorrow, tomorrow is the first day of the year which means the first service of the year, I'm lowkey a lil nervous tho but I´m here to learn so I should remain calm and keep forward. We went through a few components of each dish and different routines during service. Every day here seems like the same day, it´s hard to reminisce what I did each day tho. I´m having hard times writing down my days and experiences. 

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

Prep Monday

Day 9

- Monday 21th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

I need to learn the Spanish kitchen words for certain utensils and commandos ASAP otherwise is ya boi fucked. And also am having hard times understanding my Chef de Parties Korean/Spanish which leads me to do silly mistakes due to language factors... I should shut up and stop whining about it and focus more on his orders and learn the utensils and the station on my own. I'm feeling really frustrated atm but I took a trip to Bilbao and cooped me a pair of new GANT  trainers and two scarfs so I guess it´s cool for now  :)

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza 

[diarioculinario]

Lazy Sunday

Day 8

- Sunday 20th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Today I slept to 10 o'clock, I, Abel, Jose, Gillem, and Jose took a small trip to Bilbao where we found a Latin grocery store, We bought some Ajies and did a Peruvian dish for dinner “ Seco de Pollo”. No more than that today. Tho I Video Called with my Boi Folke and Christoffer so it was a good day after all :D

- Daniel Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

San Sebastian

Day 7

- Saturday19th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Today I slept till 11 o'clock. Tho I woke up around 7AM I stayed in bed listening to some 808 Goth Trap playlist and I slowly fell asleep as the 808 kicks and the distorted 2000s Alternative Guitar samples faded away in my ears. The big plan for today was to take a car trip in Juan´s car to San Sebastian, well known as the birthplace of pintxos. My cold has almost got away but my throat still hurt a little bit, anyways I decided to go. I was in San Sebastian last summer with my dad, Tho this time it was very cold here, but the Pintxos tour was great. The first stop was in my favorite Pintxos bar here in San Sebastian La Cuchara de San Telmo, very well known place among the locals and the international tourist. Gillen studied Gastronomy here so he took us to some really beautiful spots around the big hills with amazing views over the beach and the whole city. At nighttime, we were back at La Cueva.

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

Fever #2

Day 6

- Friday 18th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

The same start of the day as yesterday. The fever is still there but this time my through hurt like hell. 9 Am I have to set up the fish station and write down all the mice a place for today. Which means making the “bizcocho de Cauliflor”, “Crujiente de Cauliflor” and the Txakoli de Mar. 

The Txakoli de Mar was really interesting and also very tasty and fresh. The base for is Txakoli de Amibar that we made the other day, the other two main ingredients were very new to me, I mean I see them before when I dine here but I didn´t know that they were edible. “ Perejil de mar” and “Salicornia” edible plants that grow in the wild of the Mediterranean seacoast. We mix all the ingredients and strain it through the super bag, we then obtain a fine juice that gives the palate a taste of the fresh Mediterranean sea. Other than that my fever was starting to get worse, I stood for like 2 hours straight doing “ Chips de Ajo” in front of the hot stove. I was all dizzy and completely dried out, I could almost hear the sound of my dried lips scratch two each other. My mentality was strong and I kept going. During the lunch break, I took some aspirin and after 1 hour my head was feeling a little better. Pilar also had a review on how things work during service time, There are certain parts during service where we have have to interact with the guests. One is on the welcoming picknick and the other is when the guests visit EL Vernadero. I 'm not the strongest person when it comes to this kind of social behaviors but I see this potential lesson. I have to go and expose me, go out of my comfort to develop this kind of social skills that I don´t yet poses but crave to. Everything must be perfect, this is a 3 MICHELIN starred restaurant and the guests expect it is what Pilar said to us today.

I finish the day and went back to “La Cueva” where I stayed all day trying to recover. I should tho head to Larravetzu to buy some honey and ginger...

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

Fever

- Thursday 17th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Day 5

The same start of the day as yesterday tho I feel a little bit dizzy and with fever symptoms. 9 Am I have to set up the fish station and write down all the mice a place for today. Which means making the “Huevos Tempura”, and other few stuff. Today went Ok when it comes to felling well cuz I had like fever so my not kina in the mood to write ... but lucky I´m not the only one with the cold or fever. It must be some kind of virus in La Cueva..

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

“Reverse Spherification” la primera técnica Vanguardia que realizo”

Day 4

- Wednesday 16th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

The same start of the day as yesterday. 9 Am I have to set up the fish station and write down all the mice a place for today. Which means making the marinade for the Red mullet, Vac the parsley oil, make a bunch of garlic chips and finally what I'm been waiting for... making the Crema de Jamon spherification. I´m gonna skip all the everything and jump straight to the experience I had making the spherification. What is a Spherification? it´s something I badly, dreamed to master so I later in life can realize and create ideas that are running around in my mind. 

With the Crema de Jamon, we made yesterday, we added some egg yolks, Sunflower oil, and a pinch of salt to it. Then we whipped it on the stove until the temperature hit 57°C and cool it in on an ice bath until the temperature dropped to 25°C. Then we added Xanthan and Gluco and mixed it to reach a loose mayo texture. The next step was to vac it in the chamber to get rid of all the air bubbles. To get rid of the bubbles is important cuz otherwise your Spherification will get fucked. Then, Henry, the Chef de Partie showed us how to prepare the Alginate bath where de Jamon creme will be dropped. He demonstrated the steps and then I got to make 5. Well to be the first time it went well only I must do it quicker and with a better technique. The Spherification is 2 per pax (Guest-dish) so it according to how many bookings we have theirs is a certain number to be made. I did forget to tell you that Azurmendi doesn't have a big walking freezer like other restaurants. We make all our prep the same day and finish it all the same day. Zero waste did you know that Azurmendi got the number 1 spot in the world on the 50th Best 2018 list for being the most sustainable restaurant in the world?

Also, Henry didn't tell much about the theory or the science behind the process, maybe he didn´t know it so well or he just simply didn´t care that I asked for it. either way it cool cuz sometimes it can be hard to understand his Spanish through his Korean accent.. but shoutout to him cuz at least he can speak the language. Anyways back in la Cueva I and the other Stagiers started to trade recipes and techniques we learned today. I also got to know more people and we now have a common Google Drive document where we will be sharing all we learn so we can brainstorm new things. It´s beautiful here in La Cueva I like it. Since I arrived here I lowkey forgotten completely 712 60. The only time it pops up in my mind is if someone in the Pepparotskött essay group writes or I open Snapchat......Honestly, I don´t care about that essay no more. Cmon if you if you had something cool like Spherification in your mind all day and by the end of the day you are forced to write about something you don´t really find interesting u would fell the same. 

Well fuck it I have to focus on here and know. I wanted to learn more about the reverse spherification technique so I did a lil research on the web. Whoever reads my diary I hope you will appreciate the time a took to do the research so I could share it here and risk 7,5HP. 

The Spherification technique is a Vanguardia technique that was first introduced at El Bulli by Ferran Adria in 2003, if you know me then u know that I´m a big fan of El Bulli and mostly of Ferran Adria. Reverse spherification is a type of Spherification (in the future I will probably write about the other ones) used to enclose liquid containing alcohol content, as well as liquid with calcium content such as milk and yogurt. 

In this case, the calcium content from the Nata and the Egg yolks contributes. When the liquid containing alcohol or calcium gets dropped into the alginate bath (2L H20 & 15 g Alginate), the liquid containing calcium will react with the Alginate and draw itself into a spherical shape and get encapsulated by the gel-like membrane formed by the cross-linking of the calcium ions and the alginate polymer strands. Sodium Alginate that I mention in this post is a natural polysaccharide product extracted from brown seaweed that grows in cold water regions. In presence of calcium, sodium alginate forms a gel without the need for heat (RSC, 2017).

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

El primer dia oficial

- Tuesday 15th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

Day 3

The same start of the day as yesterday. Everyone gathered in the kitchen today we all gonna get assigned to different stations some will even go to Eneko. I´m hoping to stay in Azurmendi. The group is divided into two the ones that speak English and the other half that only speak Spanish. I join the English group and Pillar asks if we have some preferences. I ask to be at the fish station, which I get. The Chef De Partie in the fish station is a Korean guy named Henry. He shows me around the station and where to find certain utensils and also explains the different routines the fish station has. Azurmendi has two menus one called Erroak and the other called Addarak.

The fish station is responsible for four dishes 

“SALMONETTE (Red mullet) en dos Servicios: Salmonette a la llama - Salmonete asado, jugo de pimientos al carbon y perejil. (Adarrak)

COLIFLOR en texturas y trufas (Erroak) 

SETAS “al  ajillo” (Erroak) 

RAPE en costra de ibérico, aire de mantequilla, caldo de legumbres y uva encurida (Erroak) 

Today we got to prep the “Crema de Jamon” wich is a Jamon cut in pieces and let it cook in heavy cream for a few hours that cool. Later we blend with egg yolks and Alginate to make a spherification. “Agua de Jamon” a broth. Txakoli de almibar and “Ajos chips” which is garlic chips use as garny. We peel it the slices it thin and down in hot oil 120°C where we pick it up with tweezers and shape it like a ball with the fingers. At the beginning they Henry did not approve the ones a made but later with a lil practice came some through. Most of the day we did some mice a place we also went through the menus and the different components every dish has and by the end of the day cleaning on the station. I really enjoyed the day and also got to note a few recipes. After the day I explored Larrabetzu which is the small town with like only two pintxos bar a small market.  

Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

El primer dia no oficial/Un viaje a Bilbao

Day 2

- Monday 14th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

7PM the alarm goes, I shut it down and remain in bed for another half-hour. My mind has not yet digested the idea of reality and the present. My stage is about to start and I have to be dressed and ready at 09:00 to start writing the new chapter in my culinary career. Honestly, my mind is kinda numb no sign of nervously or happiness. I only look forward to learning everything that I get served both good and bad. I see potential in exposing me to both bad and good experiences, in the end, they are life lessons designed to build me as a person in both personal and career life. It's something u don´t learn in a book or in a school lecture. Ya kinda have to walk through it to recognize yourself and see the real you. Finally 09:00 all the stagiers are all lined up in the hall of La Cueva waiting for upcoming instructions. Suddenly Pilar shows up. Now how to i describe Pilar? Pilar Lojero the Head Chef of Azurmendi. She's from Mexico and has been in Azurmendi before Azurmendi was built. She started in Eneko (the other restaurant just down the hill from Azurmendi it also has one star in the Michelin guide). Shes gained all the 3 stars in Azurmendi. One thing I notice is that she never smiles or laughs, always serious and mysterious but at the same time artistic and the energy it reflects female power. Imagine Frida Kahlo paints a painting of a female chef. 

Up to the kitchen, we all go. There we are grated and welcomed by Eneko Atxa. He holds a speech, really inspiring word. He encourages us to rather be respected chefs than famous chefs. He also touched how the media and the guest portray Azurmendi. I can really tell that his very proud of his position and his team that is working with him. They are all his family and we will also be parts of his family, we are all welcomed to his house (Azurmendi) he tells us. After the speech, he presented us to his team (most of them just to be Stagiers here) after that is our turn to present us to everybody. After that, we all get to sign papers and hand over the 100 euros for the resident. 

Then we go on a tour on the whole Facility, Azurmendi, Eneko, and Bodega Gorka Izagirre famous for their Basque txakoli white wine. The rest of the day is only organization and get to know the different stations and find your way around. We also got staff lunch which is nice cuz we haven´t had any time to do some groceries. 

After the day was finished me and the two other paisanos Abel and Jose took a trip to Bilbao. Abel was looking for a white chef coat. It was grey and rainy in Bilbao lowkey the wrong they to visit the city. We didn´t do much besides following Abel. On the way back we took a cab to La Cueva.  

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza

[diarioculinario]

Primer dia en la cueva

Day 1

- Sunday 13th January 2019 📍Larrabetzu, Bizkaia

I left my home at 4 AM this morning at 6 AM i bid farewell to the family and then went to gate 35 where I started my journey, a journey who do not have a definite end, a trip that only existed for 20 hours. 5 PM i arrive at Azurmendi, i was here on a culinary experience last summer with my dad (we wanted to experience “El huevo trufa”.) 

Only this time I'm here to do a Stage, my first stage on a Michelin starred restaurant. Well in place I meet the remaining interns, at that time around 15 people (people continued to arrive). They where all from different origins, the first to I greeted turned out to be from Mexico a girl named Celeste and a dude named Carlos. Then I meet a Peruvian dude and a Chilean named Joaquin who had already done 3 months stage with 2 weeks remaining. Joaquin was a bit of the leader he knew his way around the facility and the small town down the valley while all this were new to us. Then we all went to “La Cueva” Spanish word for Cave, that's the nickname of the resident which is covered in the basement of the facility. A cozy place with showers and two kitchens. 

In La Cueva I met Gillem and his friend whos name I don´t remember right now... prior to this, they both did a 7-month stage at El Celler de Can Roca. Later we went to a local Pintxos bar in Larrabetzu there Gillem gave me some tip on how to act and behave fore tomorrow. “Cada uno tiene su mundo” what he said “everyone has their one world” you built your own experiences and the lessons that come with it are four your own growth as a person, kinda what he was trying to tell me. 

- Daniel Hermes Tapia Mendoza