ICC2011: Coverage of Spanish Chef Ángel León of Aponiente

Exploring Sustainability in Spain: From Plankton to Olive Pit Fuel

Chef Ángel León finishes a dish in his interactive workshop

Participants of Spanish Chef Ángel León's workshop on Tuesday got a taste of the sea in its purest form. The sustainability-minded chef passed around a bowl of bright green goo to sample, a paste made from 100 percent plankton. Participants described the flavor of the protein as salty, briny, and fresh. León pointed out that when he sows and harvests the plankton (the smallest contributor to the ocean's food chain) the impact on the ocean food chain is minimal, and he demonstrated how the naturally protein-rich plankton works as a substitute for butter in risotto made with Spanish bomba rice and finished with Sherry vinegar. He then passed around charcuterie he makes using fish, a product he developed in response to children's aversion to fish, Muslim dietary restrictions (from his seaside restaurant, Aponiente, you can see Morocco´s coast), and pescatarians suffering from chorizo envy. León also used a blowtorch to light olive pits (a by-product of olive oil production) on fire to create Smoked Oil, which he drizzled over sardines and crackers and served to the audience.

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ICC2011: Coverage of Spanish Chef Ángel León and Chilean Chef Rodolfo Guzman

Chef of the Sea: Cultivating the Ocean's Purest Flavors

Ángel León shares the Ocean's Purest Flavors on the Main Stage

Spanish Chef Ángel León walked onto the Main Stage, greeted the audience with a warm smile fresh from Spain’s southern Atlantic coast, and introduced close to 10 cutting edge techniques and concepts out of his kitchen at Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María outside of Cádiz. He bases his cuisine on the ocean’s food chain, from the smallest sea creature (picture plankton) up.  Squeamish audience members wrinkled their noses at the green plankton paste passed around for them to taste, but on the tongue it was salty, briny, buttery, and delicious. Beyond being the first chef on Earth to sow, harvest, and serve plankton, León seeks out other sustainable means of respecting the sea, like transforming the kind of catch deemed unfit to sell by fishermen into menu items at his restaurant. He also transports harbor-bound, bottom-feeding (and hence, petroleum-filtering) grey mullet to a natural reserve “paradise” fish sanctuary. After a time there, the fish bellies go through total detox. León’s team then harvests their unctuous fatty bellies and produces charcuterie that parallels pork-based boudin blanc or chorizo in texture and whose flavor carries a touch of brine—which made a splash with a crowd full of hungry ICC attendees. To close, we got a deeper glimpse into the heart of Aponiente: “He sido cocinero desde pequeño. Pero fue primero el mar que me llamó.” (I’ve been a cook since I was little. But it was the sea that first called to me.”)

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