Referring to the theme of the 26th edition of Gastronomika, "an open city is a source of inspiration, a concept that helps us to generate and exploit synergies and content", the chef of El Celler de Can Roca*** explained as he reflected on the project that began eleven years ago with the premium Scotch whisky company Macallan, which has taken them to different cities, countries and continents, seeking to gastronomically synthesise the essence of each place.

They started this adventure in Scotland, where "at the end of this month we will open our first restaurant outside Spain. Called TimeSpirit, it will be located in The Macallan Estate, the company's distillery in the Speyside region of Scotland, which will serve as our inspiration,' announced Joan. After the UK came New York and its edible cloud, or Mexico City, which gave birth to a mullet-headed catrina, "which can be eaten whole because we cover it in obulato and steam it so we can extract the bones without breaking them". Then came Paris and London, and even Jerez, and the distillation of all these experiences gave rise to extraordinary dishes and whiskies, which he has now summarised in emotional documentaries.

Girona, the El Celler ecosystem

But for Joan, distilling a city also means "settling in and creating an ecosystem of business models that generate local wealth and contribute to its growth. This is what we have done with our native Girona, the city where we were born and grew up, and to which we always return'. And it is in Girona that the family, which still runs the original Can Roca, 'where my mother served squid a la romana and kidneys in sherry', has developed all its businesses, which feed off each other, from El Celler to Normal, including Rocambolesc, Casa Cacao, Mas Marroch, the Espirit Roca distillery and the latest, Vii, a natural wine bar, 'which we accompany with my mother's tapas'. We're also helping to provide more options for those who can't make it to El Celler... we have 129,000 people on the waiting list for 2023 alone'.

Girona is obviously a great source of inspiration for the Roca family, and today we have seen it translated into two very representative dishes. The first is a range featuring the new Tutti apple, the result of research carried out by the Catalan IRTA and Plant & Food Research in New Zealand, "designed to withstand water stress and also very tasty and versatile in the kitchen". Natural, grilled and roasted at 60º for 10 days, with these different textures, he has prepared several presentations based on wild boar meat, 'which is practically a plague in Girona and we are promoting its meat for regular consumption', such as the delicate flower of apple slices stuffed with meat and roasted in the oven. The second proposal simulated 'the fog of Girona, which envelops its forests because it is crossed by four rivers', creating a mist that did not dissipate but remained at the bottom of the dish, as it was made with steam and a glycerine base to envelop an ice cream of candied trumpets of death, cocoa leaves and pine essence, with beetroot parfait and earth distillate, 'the same one we presented at Gastronomika in 2005, almost 20 years ago'.