NAVARRA GOURMET

Healthy Ecogastronomy

GASTRONOMY & HEALTH. Moderator Jordi Estadella

Michel Bras.

Gastronomist and botanist

Michel Bras, from the Bras de Laguiole Restaurant, in France, winner of this year's Navarre Gourmet award, was the first chef to dare to prepare a dish using solely vegetables. His love for his market garden, in which vegetables are picked twice a day for his restaurant, developed as a result of his inspiring walks in the countryside. "I pioneered the use of wild plants in cuisine, although this has now been distorted by many chefs who simply want to stay with progressive cuisine", he stated.

“In actual fact, I was really inspired by going out jogging and also by my mother who is capable of making a dish out of nothing", he affirmed during his talk, whilst showing some of the plant species grown in his market garden, including asparagus, which he is allergic to. This French chef reminded the audience that "it should never be forgotten that the pleasure of eating lies behind all this, in order to feed body and soul".

Michel Bras also presented his signature dish: ‘Garguillou of early vegetables" in which he mixes 30 vegetables, clearly demonstrating why he is said to be the only chef "who can put a landscape on a plate". According to what Bras explained, the most exciting thing is not the actual recipe itself but "the way in which it's prepared and how we take ownership of the product". This self-taught French chef stated that he was against fruit and vegetable combinations "because this in no way enhances the dish" and he made every effort to explain how each vegetable should be cut and presented.

In his dishes, smell is the guiding line."What I like about this recipe is that it's not a showpiece, but is experienced by body and soul alike", he explained, a sensation which he also feels in his allotment, "imagining the future recipes to be prepared with each plant".

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