The mountains of Arzak

From some of the windows of her restaurant you can see the imposing view of Mount Ulía, and it was with this image that Elena Arzak began her presentation, explaining that "in our house, the cuisine of the sea is as important as that of the mountains". A cuisine with deep traditional roots which, for the heiress to the new Basque cuisine, is based on a careful selection of ingredients. To this end, she believes it is essential to work closely with local producers, "whom we must take great care of, as well as trying to preserve the indigenous species and breeds that give the restaurants their identity", referring, in her case, to the Lacha sheep from which her cheeses are made.

Sustainability was another point that Elena defended, not only in favour of the circular economy of zero and zero waste techniques, but also in favour of educating society. I believe that farming and cooking should be taught in schools to instil respect for the environment in new generations. If not, we will run out of seasons," he laments, although he admits that chefs have no choice but to adapt to change. And so he donned his apron to prepare, with his team, four exceptional high mountain dishes.

Garlic soup and eggs of the day

Inspired by the rustic landscape, she began with "a risky bet in an avant-garde restaurant that has become one of our stars", presenting a black garlic soup in the form of creamy croquettes. They crush the traditional garlic soup and mix it with more bread, freezing the dough in the shape of a ball, then coating it in panko and frying it in very hot oil. It was served with chives on top and toasted bread. This unusual starter was followed by the 'egg of the day', the emblematic dish of the family, the result of Juan Marí's passion for eggs. At home it's like caviar, because all the eggs were sold in my grandmother's farmhouse, so my father could only eat them outside the house. At Arzak, we have made them in a thousand different ways, with flowers, graffiti or ellipses, and to get them we pay our suppliers 'a million dollars'," he explains. In this case it was a salted fried egg, "cooked at 650 degrees for 25 minutes and coated in panko", served with an obulato biscuit with pieces of old or salted sardines, dried and fried capers and a vegetable sauce.

For the main course, the team proposed a lamb chop with rosemary honey, because 'in the Basque Country, if there is one thing that reminds us of the mountains, it is rosemary and honey', accompanied by crusts of polenta and black lemon cream. A few edible bees, made with a special mould and turmeric to give it colour, flew on top, along with oregano powder and a pinch of pollen. And finally, a refreshing dessert based on apples and cider, "as a tribute to the great work of the Basque cider makers". On a crumble of walnuts, he placed a ball of namelaka cream, 'made with the Japanese technique of beating a lot of apple puree with dark chocolate', bathed in textured cider soup with a little roasted saffron, and crowned with apple chips of an intense orange colour, pickled 'with aubergine powder and vacuum-packed with a few drops of lemon'.