Martin Berasategui: “The really important thing is to be authentic”

He is there ready to assist me and he always shows it., for years. The huge chef (in heart and sympathy) -which adds up to a dozen stars- He specifically attended to me between the whirlwind of his work schedule at the restaurant MB (two stars Michelin), to which is now added CORNER, another gastronomic approach that also has the Abama de Guía de Isora hotel as its location.

Despite the logical hustle and bustle with his executive chef Blazing Holly and the whole team, Martín looks for the moment and we talk calmly that he deserves the moment..

With those “tags”, we could affirm, He answered my question about his feelings about the opening of that corner What it means so much to the Lasarte chef. “Let's say that this is a casual way to have a great time with cooking in small places, charming and where friendship is forged; It is another different bet on the avant-garde that we have pursued at the MB restaurant all these years”, comment.

When Berasategui talks about a menu with live oyster in different presentations, tartars (raw and smoked), white fish ceviche from the Tenerife coast… with sausages, cheeses, salad with belly... not only recreates the culinary intensity that it intends (for that brand new project) but also think of gratitude. “In all my unforgettable trips I keep a special feeling for Tenerife y Canary Islands; I can only be amazed at the welcome I have always had here and I transmit that feeling by feeling like a Canarian too”.

So this chef, who brings together a dozen Michelin stars in several concepts, insists that this Txoko brings together his own dressings and those of the team “who have no limits in their improvement.”. “When the owner of the hotel complex approached me with this possibility, I thought of a place that linked origin, experience of many years of sailing; a kind of still life that showed culinary authenticity in a calm way, polite, cultured,…”.

Squid croquettes, mushroom; gazpachos, mussels with cilantro, fish, fabulous meat pieces (feather, cheek piece, …) with sauces and garnishes of the diners' choice. Martin Berasategui tells me what's in this corner that point of the nonconformist chef, eager for experiences that he now squanders after four decades of work in the kitchen and with which he wants to surprise again.

tourist gastronomy. For now, we move on to a reality that continues to gain strength: tourist gastronomy and that linked to hotel complexes., and that there will be a specific powerful Congress in September such as Culinaria Tenerife 2016. It will happen in Adeje, of the 21-23.

Berasategui is blunt: “Spain has achieved a reality that we did not even dream of and part of that power comes from the Islands that are, by nature, exponents of innovation and temples of raw materials”.

“I consider,” continues the great San Sebastian chef- that in Tenerife the examples of a restoration of which we should be proud are increasingly clear; I feel like this, like another canary and I see passion and enthusiasm every time I come here. May this land not fall into the laziness of continuing to present a gastronomy that many in any part of the world would like.”.

From congress to congress. From Culinaria in September to San Sebastián Gastronomika a few days later, in october. Are there reasonable recipes for the success of Euskadi and the capital of San Sebastian as a gastronomic destination that can be extrapolated to the Canary Islands??

Martin Berasategui launch an immediate response. “San Sebastián is the gastronomic capital of the world because we all row in the same direction. with congress, For example, We water the garden again so that the fruits of continued work come out strongly., of many years, of illusion, …and that is how we are collecting successes and regenerating ourselves”.

“Not only for the Canary Islands but for any land that wants to expose its specificity of recipes and products to those who visit it.”, “The important thing is to be authentic”, the Basque chef adds.

The suggestive atmosphere. Txoko is a term that Basques automatically associate with gastronomy, welfare, friends, toasts… Also to unsurpassed food and frank and tasty preparations. The incombustible chef Lasarte Martín Berasategui has named his new culinary space in Tenerife with a sign of his land to which he places so much value and in which he intends to extrapolate that genuine concept of the North.

“Having suggestions is important to decide the specialties but I love chestnut soup so much, like some kokotxas in green sauce, sea ​​bass with barnacles or squid in its ink, a well-made mushroom scramble”.

Martín Berasategui and his chef Erlantz Gorostiza, together with a committed kitchen and dining room team, select a wide variety of dishes full of wisdom and excellent ingredients, seafood products, fresh vegetables, Galician meat ready for the grill that then encourages you to choose sauces (red wine, green pepper, chimichurri,…

It is worth highlighting the stewed cheeks that are so the mother as Martín's aunt prepared on countless occasions and the chef, on this occasion, turns them into updated proposals in which the authentic traditional flavor of home cooking enriches the memories of all diners..

The decoration has followed the spirit of these charming spaces: Walnut wood acquires a special visual relevance. The winery, surrounded by glass, is transformed into a notable and visible space where you can - and should- appreciate the entire variety of wines that accompany each of the culinary specialties.

Tell me Berasategui that “he has a good mouth” and that he likes everything in general, so that is necessarily transferred to the letter. When he goes out with his crew he always lets himself be advised by the people at the restaurant., whether it is the specialty of the house or because the products they have are seasonal.

Flashes of a whole personality. “At home – details- I also feel like what my body is asking for at that moment.. I usually go for walks in the mountains and when I return I could eat an ox. In addition to everyday dishes, If the craving hits me, I love a pigeon roasted over embers., a wild rabbit, some scallops, …”.

On the sweet line, he lets himself be carried away by those queens of Basque cuisine, that make the table and tablecloth a charming moment. “I really enjoy that with friends.”; to provide, nothing like my big brother's txacolí Carlos Arguiñano, “a man who was an expert in making us happy and a paragon of kindness and the ability to give affection.”.

*Allow this note as current as it is supposedly sarcastic, and?, for god's sake, no one bothers me: This text is not written with AI, evidently.