What are your earliest memories of being interested in food?
As my parents were divorced and my mother was working, often I had to cook my own lunch, coming back from school. I lost, therefore, the fear to cook very young. My favourite were pasta dishes as for most kids.
What would you say has inspired your cooking the most?
Travelling, working in some great restaurants, visiting markets, recipe books. Many different streams of inspiration,… Hard to pick one…
Describe how you see your own culinary style and how it has evolved over the years…
My cooking is based in renewing tradition and tradition could come from everywhere but mainly from our surroundings. At the beginnings of Zaranda, my cooking was far more cautious and conservative based on myworking experiences in other top European restaurants. As I age and gain experience leading my own project, I have lost the fear to create and my cooking becomes more and more dynamic.
What are your most indispensable ingredients?
Garlic, onion, Spanish sweet paprika
What kind of experience do you aim to give guests at the Grand Gourmet Award 2015’ at Castell Son Claret?
An interactive experience where the will get to discover the style of the best chefs from the island while they cook live
What would you say has been the most memorable moment in your culinary career so far?
The moment I was told I won my Michelin star for the first time back in 2006. My restaurant was only open for a year at the time and since then, I have been dreaming of the 2ndone. Therefore, I hope that, at some point, that most memorable moment will be replaced!!
If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self, starting out a career in the world of food?
Honestly, I am quite happy with everything I did although there could be things that I wouldn’t do again, of course. I try not to look back and always look forward, and my main advice would be to find a goal as soon as possible and keep focus without losing perspective, because there are many roads that can lead to the same point as long as that happens.
What’s next for you?
Who knows…hopefully keep on growing within the walls of Zaranda and beyond…