Interview with chef Jordi Vilà (Núvol)
The original blog posts are written in Catalan; the Spanish and English translations are automatically generated.
Interview by cultural critic Joan Burdeus in Núvol
A few weeks ago, in the magazine Núvol, cultural critic Joan Burdeus, prompted by the publication of the Manual d’Autodefensa de la Cuina Catalana, interviewed our favourite chef, Jordi Vilà.
This is how he introduced the interview, which, by the way, we loved.
“Jordi Vilà is one of the best chefs in Catalonia right now, but he is worried and feels something calling him to go further. Born in 1973 in El Papiol into a family of keen cooks, Vilà is a case of total dedication that has led to success and recognition: in 2004 he won a Michelin star with alkimia, one of the longest-standing in the city, which it has kept to this day, and he has gone on adding projects: restaurants such as alkostat and vivanda, a ready-meals shop like Va de Cuina, and the culinary direction of the Moritz group. But the big news is that, for some years now, Vilà has taken a cultural and communicative turn to champion Catalan cuisine at a time he considers worrying. That is why he has just released the Manual d’Autodefensa de la Cuina Catalana (Catalan Cuisine Self-Defence Manual), a tongue-in-cheek document with nine arguments to fight negative trends, with short texts written in collaboration with Uri Costak and illustrations by Joan Manel. He invites me to lunch at alkimia’s La Taula de Cuina Catalana, and the meal is the first part of a conversation about technological revolutions, preserving memory, and the avocado”.
You can read the full interview at this link
Photograph by Marina Miguel Pavia.
Maria Nicolau and the avocado
It was precisely the reflection by Jordi Vilà on the avocado (in the Núvol interview) that prompted a response from the writer and cook Maria Nicolau, probably the finest communicator of Catalan cuisine today.
“With an avocado I can’t make suquet fish stew, or casserole rice, or a stew, or romesco, or fideuà, or broths, or escudella. If I put avocado on the table I have to stop speaking my culinary mother tongue” she says, among other well-argued points, in her article.
You can read her piece (if you’re a subscriber; we are) at this link.
Thank you, Maria Nicolau, for joining this wider reflection on what Catalan cuisine is and how we can define it, strengthen it and share it better!!! That was exactly Jordi’s idea: to put on the table the question of what we want on the table when we talk about Catalan cuisine.