A Day at El Bulli
by Albert Adrià, Ferran Adrià, Juli Soler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Albert Adrià, Ferran Adrià, Juli SolerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-01
ISBN: 0714848832
Number of pages: 600
Publisher: Phaidon Press Inc.
Book Reviews of A Day at El Bulli
Book Review: Be sure this is what you really want
Summary: 1 Stars
If you win the reservations lottery for elBulli, you might want to buy this as a souvenir. It is hard for me to imagine why a chef as successful as Senor Adria would need an homage to himself. Most let their offerings speak for themselves. This monstrous pile of paper has few words, but they are all bloated and fatuous. "Adria is the most innovative chef working in the world today." That may be true on any given day out of six months, but I suspect somewhere an un-Adria meal might be choked down without killing the diner with banality. It gets worse quickly: "A good dinner is inseparable from good scenography." Such blather is more than wrong; it is wrong-headed. But absurdity just around the bend. A heading of banal photographs reads "Adria's Secret Laboratory". And how could we do without all those childhood snaps of the young Einstein.
The organization of the book is simple. Each page is time-stamped, 24 hour format to be sure -- none of this a.m., p.m. nonsense. "A 11:00 hours the creative sessions begin! It is not what you look for that matters, it is what you find!" The very scales fall from mine eyes! Kant kneels.
Many of the hundreds of photos of the maestro's puss are close enough to count the pores on his nose and the hairs within.
Breaking news on page 73: "Knowledge is essential for judging the products". My life in a ditch. All my failures illustrated in a hairy wrist.
14:30 hours THE TEAM ARRIVES! Eighteen photos of them sniffing their fingers. 15:10 hours "Ferran does not do mise en place himself (that would be wasting sacred time, like Christ washing feet. I should have named this review 'Christ stopped at elBulli' but I could not bring myself to do that to Primo Levi) but continues creative. That about covers the God of Abraham's shift.
15:40 hours I break into tears at the photos of the wiping of the forks. Two pages of just forks. How beautiful. By page 173 we hit 16:50 hours. A picture of a Micro Plane used to grate hard cheese. I swoon. 18:50 an onion is sliced.
Finally on page 283 we get partial pretend recipes. What good real ones wasted on dirt such as we. But he gives us directions on how to eat "Eat a different cube with every mouthful". And Picasso thought HE was a Spaniard.
Thankfully on page 340 you see tail lights of a redeemed customer leaving paradise.
Summary of A Day at El Bulli
Book DescriptionA Day at elBulli: An Insight into the Ideas, Methods and Creativity of Ferran Adria reveals for the first time the creative process, innovative philosophy and extraordinary techniques of the multi-award-winning restaurant, elBulli, and its legendary head chef, Ferran Adria. Situated on a remote beach on the northeast coast of Spain, elBulli is famous for being the ultimate pilgrimage site for foodies, and a reservation that is nearly impossible to obtain. Each year elBulli is open for just six months, and receives more than 2 million requests for only 8,000 seats. Renowned for his spectacular ever-changing 30-course tasting menu, Adria's pioneering culinary techniques have been applauded - and imitated - by top chefs around the globe for the past decade, and he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people of our time.
If you weren't one of the lucky few to get in this year (2008 reservations were booked a year in advance), you can now experience the restaurant like never before. This generously-illustrated 600-page ''day in the life'' features over 800 photographs, menus, recipes and diagrams, and presents a guided tour through a full working day at elBulli. The book documents the activities of each hour of the day, from dawn at 6.15 am to switching off the lights at 2.00 am.
The book highlights 30 dishes which represent a full elBulli menu, and Adria shows you how he creates the restaurant's innovative cuisines. Sample recipes include Samphire Tempura with Saffron and Oyster Cream, Steamed Brioche with Rose-Scented Mozzarella, and Coulant/Souffle of Granadilla with Cardamom Toffee.
A Look Inside A Day at elBulli
(Click on Images to Enlarge)
 08:30 elBulli Restaurant Terrace |  14:35 The rest of the kitchen team arrives. |
 16:45 Making an olive oil cylinder from a special caramel made with olive oil and Isomalt |  20:00 Chefs make cocktails: a tray of Margarita frappé with a salt air served in a cube of ice |
 Cigala con quinoa (Langoustine with quinoa) |  23:15 The pace slows down as act three approaches |
Amazon Exclusive: A Recipe Excerpt from A Day at elBulli
 Marshmallow de piñones (Pine nut marshmallows) |
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