Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food.
Ferran by Coleman Andrews is a biography of the man who pretty much changed how food is perceived – the man at the helm of the world’s best restaurant, El Bulli (2006 through 2009). This book was first released in October 2010, and is now updated with facts that everybody knows: Noma being No. 1, and the doors of El Bulli now closed and what I quite enjoyed- the last day at El Bulli.
In this book, we do get a closer look at Ferran Adrià’s professional life, although I would have loved to read about the thought process involved in coming up with menus, recipes and all the other thousand thoughts in his head about food. Maybe I’ll just have to watch the El Bulli movie for that. Who would have though that the man that made molecular gastronomy (or avant garde cuisine, as he calls it) fashionable and is deemed to be the best chef in the world is so humble: “Every time he came to town he liked to stay at a little thirty-euro hotel in Montparnasse.”
Colman Andrew almost idolizes Ferran, and statements like “from the time he first gave this project his blessings” lead to the thought that this is not an unbiased biography. I mean, of course one has to be in utter awe of a person to actually invest two years of their life to such a project. But sometimes it just sounds too mushy.
Thanks to the good folks at Gotham books, one copy of the new book is up for a giveaway. Just leave a comment below to enter. Giveaway open to all until 8th December. A random winner will be selected and announced on 9th December.