Sometimes as a consumer we need to be a little less concerned about seeing our food displayed and rather insisting that it be stored correctly.

Here in Spain the people seem to be attracted to the place which proudly displays it’s offer in the window for the word to admire. Take the photo above as an example of what to look for in a place you would never eat. This is a restaurant around the corner from my house in the center of Madrid which is always quite busy.

The photo is not the best as it was snapped from my iPhone, but I think it is clear enough to spot the error of their ways. We could use this as one of those photos where you try to find as many errors as possible. I will list a few:

1. It is an open chiller with no separation of the meat and seafood, so the meat will start to develop the smell of the fish and the fish that of the meat.
2. They obviously don’t rotate the stock as they get an order as the skin of the Hake was dehydrated and the surface of the meat was oxidized, plus the eyes are sunken.
3. The fish below the Hake will be taking the flavor through osmosis
4. The cubes of Ice are too big and will be crushing the flesh of the fish from direct contact
5. Etc, Etc, Etc

But by far the most alarming of all of this has to be the effect of the sun. This window gets the effect of the full afternoon sun for about 2-3 hours!

As a general rule I will never eat anywhere that displays their produce in this fashion except if it were a fish market where they have a high rotation of stock and fresh everyday.

Are you one of these people who find this inviting?

My hopes for the last day of Madrid Fusion were very early dashed………………….

Well we can say it is a very fitting end to a very average Madrid Fusion, I have never been to a food conference anywhere in the world with such poor content and blatantly obvious sponsorships that made it hard to even stay focused on what was being demonstrated.

But there were a few saving graces worth seeing!

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I don’t like to put anything negative in my stories as I feel you can find something positive in everything…………………

But unfortunately the grand image I used to have of Madrid Fusion is slowly coming down brick by brick this year, Day 1 was lacking content and day 2 was just the biggest commercial exercise I have seen in the 5 years I have been coming. I will explain more later.

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It’s that time of year again that we all wait 12 months for in anticipation for what we we can expect to see. Madrid Fusion is now 1 day into it and the program is sure to have something for everyone!

The first day saw many conferences from a wide variety of Chefs including David Munoz (New 1 Star Michelin Chef and friend of mine from Diverxo Madrid), Ferran Adria (El Bulli, Rosas), Mark Best (Marque, Sydney), Grant Achatz (Alinea, Chicago), Joan Roca (El Cellar de Can Roca), a Jam session by a group of 4 Danish progressive Chefs, + many more………………………………

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It’s that time of year again! The event us Chefs look forward to more than Christmas is starting on Tuesday. For those of you who do not know the event, Madrid Fusion has become the more important culinary conference in the yearly calendar where the best of the best gather to show their years work. This year is my fifth year and one which is sure to be one of the best, the invited country this year is Australia, so it will be a special year for me. It is also starting on Australia day, what a gift!

There will be many of Australia’s top Chefs here for the event who I will be hosting (being the Aussie Chef in Spain, I have been asked to assist) and providing assistance where needed and helping to present.

Watch this space for daily updates on what is happening in and out of the conference…………………………

3 days to go!

I have been trying to play it cool all day, but now is the moment of truth………. Michelin Guide 2010 Spain and Portugal is being released tonight at a special cocktail to mark the 100 year Anniversary. We will be preparing 3 tapas as well as all the best Chefs from around Madrid.

Never have I been in a city where the rumors were as strong about the contents of the Michelin Guide as they are here in Madrid right now, which makes it even harder to remain cool.

We are hoping for our second Star tonight and to tell you the truth it is long over due with the first star being awarded a long time ago and Paco really deserves it!

It would complete my goals of being here in Spain as I came here 2 years ago with the mission of Helping Paco gain his second Star. Now with my next project in the pipeline it would be a dream come true if we achieved that second Michelin Star before I leave for New York.

Cross your fingers for us!

The most stereotypical thing to do when sitting in the many Plazas around Spain is to drink a jug of Sangria with your friends in the sun. I must admit this is nice but it has also been hijacked by the scores of tourists to the point that you look like a tourist in your own city if you drink sangria. The funny thing for me is; in Australia and England it is very common to drink Pimms in the summertime (as it is so refreshing), but Spain does not know about Pimms! It is just across a very small ocean!

So I am taking it apon myself to introduce the Spainish to this summer drink. To make it fit in with the “Progressive” style of restaurant we have, I have texturized the Cocktail with a little Xanthan and suspended the normal garnish inside. The trick to this drink is keep it very cold! So I keep the liquid mix at zero, Freeze the glass and shock freeze the garnish in liquid nitrogen (which actually helps to sprinkle it inside more randomly).

Let’s see if we can’t start a trend here in Spain just in time for summer.

It has been at least a month since my last story……………….. Many things have been happening here in Madrid and out of Madrid.

While trying to transfer hosts I lost all of my data from this Blog, so basically after many many hours of searching google cache I found about a third of my work (as you can see all stories before this one have the same date. So I can look at this as a total disaster or a chance to start fresh and maybe even tell some of the same stories but now more updated with what I am doing today, I chose the later more positive option.

My new Lab has also just been finished (which I will write a story about) and I have also recently been to the World Gourmet Summit in Singapore. So many many stories to tell, Keep reading!