00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.800
The greatest competition I have
is with my own head.

00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:25.280
Bittor Arginzoniz. Living in silence

00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:05.240
In everything I do,
whether in or out of the kitchen,

00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:08.919
I try to be the best.

00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:14.000
I'm a perfectionist

00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.680
and I like things to be
as I think they should be.

00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:23.279
Nobody needs to demand anything from me,

00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.800
everything I want to do,

00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.800
I demand it of myself.

00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:33.360
It's also a way to motivate myself.

00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:36.839
So, that challenge of

00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:39.800
how far I can go,

00:04:39.879 --> 00:04:42.600
if I can achieve everything
I intend to achieve,

00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:45.759
all of that is always on my mind.

00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:55.839
I liked to eat.
I liked to eat a lot.

00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.519
Cookery didn't really attract me.

00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:01.439
At that time,

00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.399
I was in another world,
I didn't even think of that...

00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.000
Because, of course, on the farms,
it was a woman's job.

00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:13.720
It was something
that you saw from the outside,

00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.040
it was a territory that men didn't enter.

00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.759
So, it was never very attractive.

00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.839
They told me that he had

00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:34.199
a high quality grill restaurant,

00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:37.279
that he was a very ethical,
honest person,

00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.360
whose work had great authenticity, etc.

00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:44.160
That's what made me
go to that restaurant.

00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.680
And I discovered those qualities.

00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.360
He made a magnificent product,

00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:52.519
a traditional cuisine

00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:55.920
that sought juiciness, freshness.

00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:59.600
He showed great promise
in his cooking,

00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.040
but it was just the beginning
for Bittor.

00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.279
Bittor was not yet a chef.

00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:09.519
Bittor was a chef due to circumstances.

00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:20.399
I was born in this farmhouse.

00:06:21.680 --> 00:06:24.160
In a rural setting,
surrounded by nature.

00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:30.680
I spent the first stage of my life here,
until I left

00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:32.879
and set up Etxebarri.

00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.399
I lived with my parents
and my four siblings here,

00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:42.319
two boys and two girls.

00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:47.279
My parents always worked with animals
and here, in the field,

00:06:47.480 --> 00:06:49.680
or in the vegetable garden
or the mountain.

00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:51.639
Working in the field

00:06:51.720 --> 00:06:53.199
was hard work.

00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:59.639
The farmhouse has always been
a reference point for me

00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:02.920
for everything
we're still doing today in Etxebarri.

00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.839
I try to transmit those values
that were instilled in us in this house,

00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.079
values such as respect, humility,

00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.199
honesty.

00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:44.639
When I was young,
what I was always thinking about

00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.800
and what I would have liked to be
was a pelota player.

00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:54.480
But I was bad at it,
so I had to give up on that dream.

00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.319
And, well, life was passing by

00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:02.079
and the time came when I had to
think of my future and do something,

00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:07.120
that's when I knew
that I couldn't be a pelota player.

00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:10.639
And then I knew
that I wanted to buy Etxebarri.

00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.839
When I left the military,
I worked in the mountain

00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:17.839
until I got a call
from a local cellulose factory,

00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.680
I worked there until I came here,

00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:23.800
which was almost ten years later.

00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.120
I worked shifts,
I was the shift manager.

00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:30.959
When I took over this farmhouse,

00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.960
I worked for another year in the factory
until the renovations were finished.

00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:40.440
I'd work there by day
and here by night and vice versa.

00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.080
It was a tough year.

00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:53.600
Bittor was a restaurateur
who turned himself into a grill chef

00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:57.879
in order to give his restaurant
more prestige and more charm,

00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:01.960
and, of course,
I think he wanted to fulfil his dream

00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:07.279
and apart from starting a business
and, in the beginning, making money,

00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:11.120
he later saw that

00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:16.159
if he didn't take responsibility
for what he wanted to do,

00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.799
his restaurant wouldn't go that far.

00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.399
I met him in that first stage,

00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:27.399
when he was a grill chef,

00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.360
someone who had come from
a different profession,

00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:34.720
but someone who was concerned enough
to find the best style,

00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.200
to try to do things to perfection,

00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.879
highlighting the intrinsic qualities
of the product.

00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:02.120
-Bittor! How are you?
-Rafa!

00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:08.279
Your face looks healthier than
one of those fish you put on your grill.

00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:12.879
It's all the suffering from the grill.

00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:15.559
-Do you want a coffee, Rafa?
-I've already had two.

00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:17.120
You know I get up early,

00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:20.200
I start the day
with two coffees at 7 a.m.

00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:21.559
I'll have a coffee.

00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:25.360
-We can't start with a gin and tonic yet!
-No, not yet!

00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:29.200
But a coffee, if you bring me
one of those magdalenas...

00:10:29.399 --> 00:10:32.240
-Gorri's magdalenas.
-Gorri's magdalenas.

00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:35.240
Smoked magdalenas,
which is one of the joys of this house.

00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.960
-Alright.
-A fantastic coffee.

00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:42.080
Look, I already had
the magdalenas ready.

00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.759
-You know me so well!
-I had them ready, and not one but two.

00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.039
I'm passionate about coffee,
but these...

00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:53.639
They always come out perfect.

00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:55.600
Do you make the butter?

00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.000
We make the butter here.

00:10:57.919 --> 00:11:00.360
-Smoked goat butter?
-No, from cow's milk.

00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:02.159
Cow's milk?

00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:04.720
They're delicious.

00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.559
How did it occur to you
to give such a personal touch

00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:10.759
to a magdalena?

00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:12.559
The smoke.

00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:16.799
The embers grace
everything I cook here.

00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.919
And fire is the common thread
in practically all my dishes.

00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:25.720
So, for me, it's just another ingredient

00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:29.120
that appears in the dish,
you can't see but it's noticeable.

00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:29.960
Of course.

00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:35.000
It's the majesty of your cooking,
it's what makes you stand out.

00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.440
You've created a concept.

00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:42.320
But if you were to analyse
what makes you stand out the most,

00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.159
what would it be?

00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.960
For example,
the use of embers instead of wood,

00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:53.159
the amount of utensils

00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.559
that you have created for...?
-It's everything together.

00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.320
It's a combination.
It starts with the wood

00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:03.840
that we use to create the embers,

00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:08.759
then we make the embers
in separate ovens so we can control it,

00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:11.919
embers can only be made
in separate ovens.

00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:15.559
Then there's the grill and the utensils.

00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.840
There's a need to create
the adequate utensils

00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:22.519
in order to cook products
that were unthinkable so far.

00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:24.080
What you call a frying pan

00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:29.519
which, we could say, is a sieve,
was that the first and best?

00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:30.759
That was the first.

00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:34.440
Also, I remember
the first few times you came here.

00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:37.039
-Yes.
-We were sitting at that table.

00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.279
-I don't remember that.
-You came to try the anchovies.

00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:42.919
And when we tried the anchovies,

00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:46.039
I said to you:
"Next time you come,

00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:47.360
you'll try the elvers".

00:12:48.039 --> 00:12:50.240
And you replied: "That's impossible".

00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:53.080
-Of course.
-And that was why

00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:55.960
I created that metal mesh frying pan
-Yes.

00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:59.679
...that allows all the wood's aroma
to pass through.

00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:02.360
And after the elvers,

00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.320
I could use it
for any other small product

00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:08.639
that needs sautéing over the embers,
mushrooms, small octopuses...

00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:13.000
I was sure about what I wanted to do

00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.200
and I thought:
"sooner or later it will come".

00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.799
Then I was lucky enough
to meet Rafa García Santos

00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:23.519
and he was my motivation

00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.559
to carry on doing the things
I wanted to do.

00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:28.799
He was a visionary of what I was doing

00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.840
and he immediately understood
what was happening in this house.

00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:35.120
That was an enormous help for me.

00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.159
When I was young,
cooking was always done over a fire.

00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.360
Because, back then, we still didn't have

00:13:48.919 --> 00:13:51.559
gas or sufficient electricity.

00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:56.080
So, the first job of the morning
was to light the fire

00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:00.399
and to start preparing lunch.

00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:03.960
The cooking would begin
early in the morning,

00:14:04.039 --> 00:14:08.080
stews, beans or whatever had been
harvested from the vegetable garden.

00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.000
My mother cooked goats
that we'd slaughtered,

00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:15.039
pigs, rabbits,

00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:19.039
all the different types of animals
that we reared on our farm.

00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:21.080
We ate really well

00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.279
because food was sacred.

00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:26.799
We didn't have an abundance of anything,

00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.159
but what we ate was made really well.

00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:52.440
Above all, what I value from all that,

00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:57.399
within the humility
surrounding the preparation of food,

00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:01.720
was the respect for
the things being done, for the product,

00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:07.200
their way of cooking with love
that produced excellent results.

00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:14.399
For me, those are values
that stay with you forever.

00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:21.720
I kept just the four walls,
we pulled everything else down.

00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:26.519
I started working here
with the help of my family.

00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.960
You couldn't even fry an egg
when you started?

00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:30.200
Absolutely nothing.

00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:33.039
-So what did you do here?
-Well, I...

00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.639
-Cashing out the register?
-No.

00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:39.879
Because I don't see you
chatting with clients.

00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:41.080
No, no.

00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:46.000
No, but I gradually
spent more time in the kitchen

00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.159
and, when we were up and running,

00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:52.360
the first thing I wanted the business
to be a success,

00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.039
and when the business
was on the right track,

00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.600
I devoted myself to
the thing I'd always missed,

00:15:58.679 --> 00:15:59.879
which was the embers.

00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:01.960
I started by purchasing a...

00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:06.399
I went in an old truck to Guetaria
and I bought a grill.

00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.159
I put it out there,
it was still completely open then.

00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.320
And that's how I started.

00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.279
-I worked...
-When did you start?

00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:17.000
-When did you open?
-In 1990.

00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:20.320
You opened in 1990
and you started in the kitchen then?

00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:21.440
No, about a year later.

00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.480
Then came all the development

00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:27.159
of self-fulfilment through your work.
-Yes, that's right.

00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:32.519
When I started,
and just before starting,

00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.120
I liked eating out
in different places.

00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:38.840
And my inspiration came from
grill restaurants

00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:43.200
such as Elkano, Guetaria,
Julián de Tolosa.

00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:46.840
They were my inspiration back then.

00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.360
But, later on,
I thought that

00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:56.360
what I was doing at the grill
should be something very different.

00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.600
I didn't focus on what others did,
I focused on what I was doing,

00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.720
and how I thought things should be.

00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:23.799
I don't really like talking.

00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:27.720
I prefer...

00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:31.160
action.

00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:41.599
Things should be reflected upon,

00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.000
studied and well thought out
in order to...

00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:47.599
And yet, something will always fail.

00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:52.640
I've always preferred
to tire out the brain first.

00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:59.319
I don't like to do things suddenly.

00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.839
Things should be left to mature,
to settle.

00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:08.039
And then they can be put into practice.

00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.319
People think that everything
a grill chef does is simple.

00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.759
But that's not the case.

00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.319
What you need
to work in a grill restaurant,

00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:37.160
to place anything on the grill
and cook it correctly...

00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:39.799
that's not simple at all.

00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:45.000
You need the necessary practical skills

00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:49.240
to master and have complete control
over cooking times and temperatures,

00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:52.119
that makes this business
purely artisanal.

00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:55.400
Wood, fire...

00:18:55.880 --> 00:18:58.039
and the seasonal product
we have decided on.

00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:19.079
We bring the wood from Mendaro.

00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:22.680
It's holm oak,
they call it Cantabrian holm oak.

00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.880
We source the wood
from a protected area.

00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.640
Selective logging, we don't clear-cut.

00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.759
Every time we come,
we bring 10,000 kilos.

00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:41.240
Four times a year,
every three months.

00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.839
Since discovering fire,
man has eaten hot food.

00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.680
I always tell people
that this is a primitive kitchen.

00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:03.200
When they see it, they're speechless,
they ask: "You make all that here?".

00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:05.359
I'm sure many can't believe it.

00:20:11.839 --> 00:20:14.279
What I've done is
slightly change my concept

00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.279
of how I should work the embers.

00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:20.279
I discarded charcoal
from the very beginning.

00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:24.759
The charcoal gives off
very aggressive aromas,

00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:29.000
something which will mask
the subtle flavours of many products,

00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:30.519
you wouldn't notice them.

00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.200
That doesn't happen with wood.

00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:36.279
Wood gives off clean, healthy aromas

00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:40.680
and it helps to enhance the flavours
of the food you're cooking.

00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.440
That is one of the most important
parts of that change.

00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:49.480
The second part is so
to use that wood to create

00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:51.960
the embers in a separate oven,

00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.279
that way we can control the embers.

00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.839
We can then take
the necessary amount of embers,

00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.799
transport them to the grill
and cook what we want.

00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.920
Once on the grill, we change the height
to control the cooking.

00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:14.640
The third part was to invent
these types of utensils

00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:19.359
in order to cook all those things
that were unthinkable before.

00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:26.359
For me, those are the three
most important factors

00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.079
in this small revolution
in the world of embers.

00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:39.839
Hi, Bittor.

00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.680
How are you, Rafa?

00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.559
You can't imagine how happy I am.

00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.119
I'm happier to see you here.

00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:50.160
No, I'm happier
because of how well I'll eat later.

00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:54.680
I remember when you were here alone.
How many people do you have now?

00:21:54.759 --> 00:21:55.599
Ten people.

00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:59.319
Six here and four over the other side.
-And, after that,

00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:01.640
people ask me:
"Is this creative cuisine?".

00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:03.519
The most creative thing in the world

00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.519
is to manage to do
something they've done for centuries,

00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.319
which is to cook over fire,

00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:11.880
and you've managed to cook over fire,
embers and cinders.

00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.119
But tell me, because
there's something that surprises me,

00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.519
all the great chefs these days
are doing more things,

00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.480
opening new restaurants,
offering take away food.

00:22:22.440 --> 00:22:24.359
Is the financial side
less important to you?

00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:27.839
If my restaurant doors are open,

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.000
I have to be here.

00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:33.359
I have to be here
out of respect for the client.

00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:37.720
Clients come from far and wide
so that I can cook for them.

00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.559
Not the second or third chef, but me.
-Yes, of course.

00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:43.160
That's sacred for me.

00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.400
Also, people think that all you do
is cook and that's not true.

00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:50.119
You bought buffaloes to make mozzarella.
-Yes.

00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:54.279
-And you milk them in the morning.
-Yes, yes.

00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.039
I always look for the product
at its source.

00:22:57.160 --> 00:23:00.079
In this case, what did I need?
Buffalo milk.

00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.400
So, what should I do? Get a buffalo.
-You needed a buffalo.

00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:05.839
That's it,
there's no other way.

00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.400
The same for vegetables.
I have a vegetable garden.

00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:13.640
I try to supply all the vegetables
I need from my vegetable garden.

00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:15.400
And eggs from my hens.

00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.759
Everything I can obtain from the source.

00:23:18.279 --> 00:23:21.119
Also, you inspect the meat and
if you don't like it you send it back.

00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:22.119
Yes, of course.

00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:25.440
One thing is for certain
in this type of cuisine,

00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.680
everything is based on the product.

00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:29.640
If the product isn't top quality,

00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:31.960
the grill can't work miracles.

00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:34.359
And even when top quality,
you always wash the anchovies.

00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:35.519
Yes, I do that too.

00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:38.640
You say: "Yes, yes",
but nobody does that!

00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:40.920
Can you imagine
Ferran Adrià or Arzak doing that?

00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:43.400
Impossible.
-Well, to each his own.

00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:48.000
So, you don't just have
the best raw ingredients,

00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.039
but you check them,
you select them,

00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.200
you clean and prepare them,
you do everything.

00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:54.240
It's fundamental.

00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:56.240
And you'll continue
for as long as you can.

00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:58.160
For as long as the body resists.

00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.400
You're very young.

00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:01.119
-Still young.
-Well, yes.

00:24:01.240 --> 00:24:03.440
Young!
I've almost been here 30 years.

00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.559
And today?

00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.160
Today, you'll eat
what was delivered today.

00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:08.960
But there's one special dish

00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.960
that I've reserved for over a month,

00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.519
elvers, I've saved them for you,

00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:18.599
because I know you love that dish.
-Absolutely.

00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:22.039
I think the four aces in the deck are:

00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.759
caviar, which you have,
truffle, when available,

00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:27.680
foie gras and Iberian ham.

00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.839
But, elvers are fifth.
When they're good, they're fantastic.

00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:31.880
Yes, elvers.

00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:34.519
I've never had elvers in May.

00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:37.599
Never.
I thought it was impossible.

00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:41.319
You're the only person
who's eaten elvers in this house in May.

00:24:50.480 --> 00:24:51.599
That couldn't be better.

00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:55.200
How wonderful.

00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:10.759
I've always been
aware that elvers

00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:15.640
are one of the star dishes
here in the Basque Country.

00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:25.480
So, I tried to change the concept

00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.640
of how to work with this product,
with elvers.

00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.799
By offering a fresh product
by keeping them alive

00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:35.359
until the day you want to eat them,

00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:39.880
and then cook them just once.

00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:43.000
Give them the same treatment
as any other fresh fish.

00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:45.720
But it has more merit than that.

00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:48.400
It's also how you balance
the elvers on the grill,

00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:50.160
that was difficult to work out.

00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:52.799
-No.
-Because nobody knew before

00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:55.559
how you would place the elvers on there.

00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:59.680
Even today, there are still
lots of people who come to the grill

00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:03.200
just to see how I cook the elvers.

00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.079
People think I put them one by one
and then turn them over.

00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:08.519
People... well.

00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:13.720
Then, when I show them the utensil
that I use to cook the elvers

00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:15.880
everyone says: "Aaah!".

00:27:16.759 --> 00:27:21.720
For me, the most important dishes
are the elvers and the anchovies.

00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:16.400
Yes, but you've always been
someone who's very open to the world.

00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:19.880
-I've always searched for the best.
-In the concept and the product.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.119
And in the concept.

00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:24.799
In other words,
you haven´t set limits

00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:27.599
to your knowledge, your products.

00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:32.559
You look for products in
the Mediterranean, Galicia, wherever.

00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.279
-Even in Italy.
-Yes, yes.

00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:40.079
Because the most essential thing for me
is a good raw material

00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:43.720
and that product has to be sourced
from wherever the best products are,

00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:45.599
whether that's here or abroad.

00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.160
Sometimes, you have to stop navel-gazing

00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:51.440
and look for the best products
wherever they are.

00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:07.759
Each cut weighs 66 kilos.

00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.839
This is the type of animal
that Bittor likes.

00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:14.279
The fat is yellow from eating
lots of corn from Galicia

00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:17.680
and the meat is well marbled.

00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:26.200
The cows that Bittor likes most

00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.319
Bittor likes the animal to come
straight from the slaughterhouse

00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.400
so that he can add his own touch
during the maturing process,

00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:37.680
with the right humidity
and temperature

00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.200
He does it to his taste.

00:31:40.279 --> 00:31:44.279
So, all we do is select the best animals

00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:47.400
that we buy direct
from the best farms in Galicia

00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:51.279
and we select the best cuts.

00:32:05.799 --> 00:32:07.400
It's not overly lean.

00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:08.519
Yeah, yeah.

00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:11.240
A huge difference in the marbling,
of course.

00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:16.920
No, it's very lean.

00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.599
The same price and from the same farmer.

00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:27.920
And look at the difference.

00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:29.480
They were identical alive.

00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:33.160
They ate the same.

00:32:58.079 --> 00:33:00.480
They are a week old

00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:07.519
It was fine.

00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:09.920
That one was
a week or ten days.

00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:12.920
-Shall we leave them both?
-Yes, then...

00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.440
And if you remember next week,
do another test.

00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.119
I'll look at it before I bring it in.

00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:20.920
We have lots of clients
and no one else measures the pH.

00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.680
But it's a good indicator
and if you have the tools...

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:26.519
He's grilling meat every day,

00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:29.319
and if he sees a difference
between different pH levels

00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:31.400
then it's the right thing to do.

00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:34.599
Bittor is extremely demanding,
but I understand

00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:37.880
because his clients
come from all over the world

00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:39.839
and they want the very best meat.

00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:43.480
So I understand
that he has to be demanding.

00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:44.799
That's why he's where he is.

00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:20.360
Well, this is the origin of Etxebarri

00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:30.159
Excellent!

00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:32.039
Perfect!

00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:41.920
This is the best match for red wine.

00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:44.760
Red wine was made for eating meat.

00:36:45.719 --> 00:36:46.599
Especially this one.

00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:02.360
I've eaten at Etxebarri several times.

00:38:02.440 --> 00:38:06.400
The first time was around
six or seven years ago.

00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:08.519
Since then, I've tried to go

00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:11.960
almost once a year or
as often as Bittor allows me.

00:38:16.199 --> 00:38:20.400
DiverXo and Etxebarri
are two completely hedonistic places

00:38:20.679 --> 00:38:24.519
that are 100% connected
to the product and to flavour.

00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:26.960
Although the concepts
may seem different,

00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:29.920
the ultimate aim
and the experience are very similar.

00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:33.159
That's why Etxebarri fascinates me

00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:35.719
and I think Bittor loves DiverXO.

00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:41.480
Bittor is crazy about grilling.

00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:45.239
He's up there in the mountain,
in his restaurant, and I think

00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:49.199
he's taken something that is
so basic in the Basque Country

00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:52.000
and created his own extreme
version of grilling food.

00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:55.159
He's raised it to a different level,
it's more intellectual

00:38:55.559 --> 00:38:56.880
and better thought out.

00:38:57.159 --> 00:39:00.519
But over the years, it's become more
than just a revolution in grilling.

00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:02.039
Apart from that,

00:39:02.119 --> 00:39:04.239
I think he's reinstated it as a cuisine,

00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:05.880
slightly irreverent.

00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:10.039
He doesn't just grill,
he thinks about how to complete the dish

00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:13.119
and what he does with the embers.
I think that over the years,

00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:15.320
Bittor is not only improving

00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:17.360
but regenerating his cuisine.

00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:22.239
If you go to London now,
you'll find two or three restaurants

00:39:22.440 --> 00:39:24.880
with exactly the same concept
as Etxebarri.

00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:28.800
Go to Singapore and there are two
restaurants doing the same as Etxebarri.

00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:32.920
Go to Japan and you'll find restaurants
that are starting

00:39:33.199 --> 00:39:38.039
to move away from
Japanese robata and yakitori

00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:43.559
and they're doing something inspired
by Basque grills and Bittor's work.

00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:46.840
I think his work
is much more significant

00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:50.320
than he's willing to admit
or, even, to think.

00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:24.159
The prize goes to the master chef.

00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:26.480
This award goes to a magician of fire.

00:41:26.559 --> 00:41:29.719
Yes, you heard correctly,
he's Bittor Arginzoniz.

00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:39.760
We could say that his work isn't focused

00:41:40.119 --> 00:41:42.519
on achieving the applause
that has turned him into

00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:47.159
another world-famous Basque man,
without leaving Axpe.

00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:49.119
That has its merit.

00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:52.079
No, above all, it's because I don't like

00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:56.760
fame or everything
that surrounds fame.

00:41:57.119 --> 00:41:59.719
I feel comfortable

00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:01.920
where I think I should be,

00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:05.519
which is in front of the fire,
in front of my grills.

00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:08.280
-That's how you express yourself.
-I express myself in a way that...

00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:10.760
I feel real pleasure when I cook

00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:14.119
and I try to convey that
to the diners at my restaurant.

00:42:14.239 --> 00:42:17.280
Sometimes I manage it
and sometimes I don't, of course.

00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:27.679
I never go into the dining room.

00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:31.639
If someone wants to see me,
they have to come to my kitchen.

00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:35.280
My work place is
in front of the grill, there's no other.

00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:47.559
But you've received compliments

00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:52.280
The only compliments
that mean something to me,

00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:54.280
that mean a lot,

00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.119
in this life I have here in Etxebarri,

00:42:58.199 --> 00:43:01.800
are the ones from you,
those really touch my heart.

00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:03.480
I'm not interested in the rest.

00:43:04.199 --> 00:43:06.920
What's left to do?
More research?

00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:11.400
Yes, now what I'm trying to work on

00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:13.519
is roasting on a spit.

00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:18.159
-The spit, yes.
-Working with the whole lobe of foie gras.

00:43:18.440 --> 00:43:20.480
That would be very interesting.

00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:25.199
Even working with eggs,
the yolk of an egg on a spit.

00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:28.440
Egg yolk on a spit?
That is really unusual.

00:43:28.519 --> 00:43:29.800
Egg yolk on a spit.

00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:08.159
Well, the restaurant opened in 1990.

00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:12.440
It opened on 27 April

00:44:12.960 --> 00:44:16.960
and I started working here in May,

00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:18.800
the long weekend of May 1.

00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:21.800
So, this is where we met.

00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:43.719
He doesn't talk much.

00:44:43.800 --> 00:44:46.079
Bittor is very different

00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:50.000
when he's in his place

00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:52.760
or with the people he wants to be with

00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:55.320
or when there's someone else.

00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:05.559
You know someone is comfortable
when they're chatting away to you, right?

00:45:06.480 --> 00:45:08.599
But in Bittor's case, I realised

00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:11.039
that it doesn't have to be that way.

00:45:11.639 --> 00:45:14.920
I often said to him:
"But if you aren't very talkative",

00:45:15.159 --> 00:45:17.840
and he always replied,

00:45:17.920 --> 00:45:21.079
"I wouldn't be with you
if I didn't want to"

00:45:21.239 --> 00:45:24.800
I find it funny now,
but then I found it odd.

00:45:25.239 --> 00:45:27.480
That certainly shuts you up.

00:45:58.679 --> 00:46:01.360
I started working here
when it first opened.

00:46:02.480 --> 00:46:03.559
First, on the bar.

00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:05.639
Then, the restaurant floor.

00:46:05.719 --> 00:46:08.000
And then, a bit of everything.

00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:19.039
I'd like to have
more free time but...

00:46:21.239 --> 00:46:25.159
I come from a hospitality background.

00:46:25.639 --> 00:46:28.320
My father always worked in a bar.

00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:32.519
So, I lived hospitality at home as well.

00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:36.000
And, yes, I like it.

00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:47.440
We're fully booked until September.

00:47:51.599 --> 00:47:53.599
It makes your head spin in the beginning

00:47:53.679 --> 00:47:58.440
because you go to similar
or better restaurants

00:47:58.760 --> 00:48:02.239
and you think:
"My God, what am I doing among these?

00:48:02.599 --> 00:48:05.119
These are really fantastic".

00:48:16.119 --> 00:48:17.559
Very often,

00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:20.320
not now because they're older,

00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:23.800
but it used to make me sad

00:48:23.880 --> 00:48:26.159
that I couldn't be with them,

00:48:26.239 --> 00:48:29.199
especially at school events,

00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:31.280
matches, parties.

00:48:31.679 --> 00:48:34.840
I used to get up early
to spend some time with them

00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:39.639
but then, I had to ask someone else
to bring them back home.

00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:41.800
Yes, those things make me sad.

00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:46.840
The thing is that you often don't know

00:48:46.920 --> 00:48:48.760
if you've done the right thing.

00:48:48.880 --> 00:48:51.760
Sometimes,
spending lots of time with them

00:48:51.840 --> 00:48:56.199
isn't as important as making the most
of the time you do have together.

00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:04.519
When something doesn't work out
as you wanted,

00:49:04.679 --> 00:49:08.679
you blame yourself for the little time
you've spent with them.

00:49:09.280 --> 00:49:14.000
But, after seeing them grow up
over the years,

00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:18.679
I think they've learnt a lot

00:49:20.079 --> 00:49:22.400
from watching us work hard

00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:26.760
and from the family members
who looked after them.

00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:16.719
It's a pleasure to work here.

00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:20.760
We cook to the rhythm of the grills.

00:50:21.480 --> 00:50:25.559
We do the same things every day.

00:50:25.639 --> 00:50:27.800
We receive the fresh products,

00:50:27.880 --> 00:50:30.079
many products are seasonal.

00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:35.679
So we change them every season

00:50:35.760 --> 00:50:38.559
and they're always very good.

00:50:44.320 --> 00:50:46.480
It's lots of fun cooking like that.

00:50:46.960 --> 00:50:49.960
It's stress-free and exceptional.

00:50:54.199 --> 00:50:57.239
I'm a third-year student in Chile.

00:50:58.840 --> 00:51:01.239
I spoke to Hector,
I sent a few emails.

00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:06.599
They replied
and I came to do an internship.

00:51:07.559 --> 00:51:09.559
I'm very happy, I've learned a lot.

00:51:10.119 --> 00:51:13.360
The people are great, I like it.

00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:18.159
My name is Tetsuro Maeda.

00:51:18.760 --> 00:51:21.639
I've been here for seven years.

00:51:21.920 --> 00:51:23.159
I'm from Japan.

00:51:29.639 --> 00:51:32.639
I do a bit of everything.

00:51:35.280 --> 00:51:37.280
Lots of Japanese clients say to me

00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:39.920
that it's very similar
to Japanese cuisine.

00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:43.880
Even though
the technique is completely different,

00:51:44.519 --> 00:51:46.599
it's the philosophy, the idea.

00:51:47.760 --> 00:51:51.920
Above all, the way of respecting
the products and the culture,

00:51:52.559 --> 00:51:56.320
their parents, their grandparents,
the village, how they lived.

00:51:58.239 --> 00:51:59.440
He once told me:

00:51:59.880 --> 00:52:02.679
"I was Japanese in a previous life".

00:52:45.360 --> 00:52:46.119
My father,

00:52:47.320 --> 00:52:49.519
before going to sleep,

00:52:49.599 --> 00:52:51.719
he always thinks about tomorrow's menu,

00:52:51.800 --> 00:52:54.280
what products he will have,
what he will cook.

00:52:54.360 --> 00:52:56.119
I bet he dreams about it too.

00:53:09.239 --> 00:53:12.119
And you decided to make a chorizo

00:53:12.519 --> 00:53:14.360
that would beat Joselito's.

00:53:14.480 --> 00:53:15.639
How did that come about?

00:53:16.320 --> 00:53:18.880
Well, it came about, above all,

00:53:18.960 --> 00:53:22.480
because we haven't got
used to the paprika,

00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:26.360
which is the way they make their chorizo.

00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:29.000
We've always used
choricero pepper here.

00:53:29.079 --> 00:53:32.519
We would remove the pulp
of the choricero pepper

00:53:32.599 --> 00:53:34.599
and make chorizo with that.

00:53:34.679 --> 00:53:36.960
That's what I grew up with.

00:53:37.360 --> 00:53:39.519
We'd dry them in the kitchen.

00:53:39.599 --> 00:53:43.360
And that flavour has stuck in my memory.

00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:46.400
So I decided that if I'm making chorizo,
I'll use the best meat

00:53:46.480 --> 00:53:48.920
which is the meat we get from Joselito,

00:53:49.360 --> 00:53:52.599
with home-grown choricero pepper pulp,

00:53:53.559 --> 00:53:55.280
and it came out...

00:53:55.480 --> 00:53:58.320
Remodelling the concept
of chorizo as well.

00:53:58.400 --> 00:54:00.360
More tender.
-More tender, not as dry.

00:54:00.679 --> 00:54:01.760
Not as dry.

00:54:02.440 --> 00:54:04.920
-More tender.
-That makes it easier to chew,

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:06.960
juicier, easier to eat.
-Yes.

00:54:11.320 --> 00:54:14.239
The menu begins
with a selection of starters,

00:54:14.320 --> 00:54:17.800
they're handmade
and of extremely high quality.

00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:22.280
First, a chorizo,
which is a real wonder.

00:54:22.880 --> 00:54:24.199
It becomes,

00:54:25.360 --> 00:54:28.360
for everyone who tries it,
the best chorizo of their lives.

00:54:30.280 --> 00:54:34.880
It's as if Arginzoniz's cuisine
is in that chorizo.

00:54:36.880 --> 00:54:39.280
He's obsessed with the raw ingredients,

00:54:39.360 --> 00:54:41.639
raw ingredients of all varieties,

00:54:41.719 --> 00:54:44.679
expensive, cheap, etc.

00:54:44.840 --> 00:54:47.360
Because he's authentic,

00:54:47.440 --> 00:54:50.039
he believes in what he practises.

00:54:50.480 --> 00:54:52.760
And he has had many achievements

00:54:52.880 --> 00:54:55.880
that are, however, certainly modest.

00:54:56.360 --> 00:54:59.119
Who would have thought
a country man from Axpe

00:54:59.199 --> 00:55:02.400
he would make
the best chorizo in the world.

00:55:06.400 --> 00:55:09.239
It was something I've seen
from a young age at home.

00:55:09.679 --> 00:55:14.679
It was the primary product
from the yearly slaughter.

00:55:16.199 --> 00:55:19.920
I normally buy lean Iberian pork
from Joselito,

00:55:20.159 --> 00:55:25.039
I only buy it in the slaughter season,
which is roughly January to March,

00:55:25.840 --> 00:55:30.320
and that's when we make
our cured sausages for the whole year.

00:55:36.320 --> 00:55:40.519
We make the mix with
home-grown choricero pepper,

00:55:41.760 --> 00:55:45.199
a little bit of salt and garlic,
nothing else.

00:55:47.039 --> 00:55:49.800
Once it's mixed,
we let it rest for 24 hours

00:55:50.199 --> 00:55:52.719
and then we stuff the sausages
the following day.

00:55:58.440 --> 00:56:00.559
This pig was killed on Monday.

00:56:00.639 --> 00:56:03.079
The carcass has to be chilled
for 24 hours

00:56:03.159 --> 00:56:05.159
and then they send it to us.

00:56:09.519 --> 00:56:11.440
Everyone has their own recipe

00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:15.159
but this one contains
Guernica choricero pepper,

00:56:15.719 --> 00:56:18.360
that we grow here,
in our vegetable garden,

00:56:18.760 --> 00:56:23.360
and that's what singles it out
from other types of chorizo.

00:56:29.440 --> 00:56:33.760
It's as simple as making a sausage
out of exceptional meat,

00:56:33.840 --> 00:56:38.400
in the way our
mothers and grandmothers taught us.

00:56:38.840 --> 00:56:41.320
How they made it, how they treated it.

00:56:41.800 --> 00:56:43.079
It's simply that.

00:56:43.159 --> 00:56:46.599
The same common sense
that leads you to make a top product

00:56:47.320 --> 00:56:48.519
that has disappeared.

00:56:54.079 --> 00:56:56.519
What we're doing now
is stuffing the sausage

00:56:57.360 --> 00:57:00.840
with the meat
that has been rested for 24 hours.

00:57:06.679 --> 00:57:09.960
We stuff it in natural pig intestines.

00:57:10.719 --> 00:57:14.079
Once stuffed, we hang them up

00:57:14.159 --> 00:57:18.159
and we leave them to cure
for approximately one month.

00:57:18.239 --> 00:57:21.239
Everything depends on the temperature,
the humidity,

00:57:21.360 --> 00:57:23.440
but after approximately one month

00:57:23.559 --> 00:57:27.960
they should be ready
to be taken down and packaged.

00:57:30.679 --> 00:57:35.639
In kilos, we have
about 700 or 800 kilos of meat.

00:57:37.440 --> 00:57:40.360
In chorizos, we have around 2,000.

00:57:45.920 --> 00:57:49.079
It's just like preparing any other dish,

00:57:50.679 --> 00:57:53.679
but instead of eating it hot,
you eat it cold.

00:57:56.119 --> 00:57:58.320
Creativity surfaces
in two different ways.

00:57:58.800 --> 00:58:01.280
It can surface
when developing something,

00:58:01.360 --> 00:58:04.760
which I think is normally
a positive type of creativity,

00:58:05.239 --> 00:58:06.960
and it can also surface when

00:58:07.039 --> 00:58:09.360
doing completely different
and original things.

00:58:49.519 --> 00:58:52.920
Cookery is about changing flavours,
textures, temperatures and aromas.

00:58:53.039 --> 00:58:56.400
He changes flavours, textures,
temperatures and aromas.

00:58:56.639 --> 00:58:59.719
Therefore, he can continue developing,
and that's what he's doing.

00:59:07.159 --> 00:59:10.079
We've invented this gadget to do this.

00:59:11.880 --> 00:59:13.400
Another gadget among many.

00:59:27.559 --> 00:59:30.440
We can put as many as we want in there.

00:59:31.880 --> 00:59:34.559
What I want is for this to heat

00:59:35.039 --> 00:59:37.360
very gently over the grill.

00:59:37.840 --> 00:59:40.119
We're going to see if it works.

00:59:47.920 --> 00:59:51.599
We'll make this rotate continually,

00:59:52.480 --> 00:59:54.239
at a very slow speed,

00:59:54.480 --> 00:59:59.239
so that, within the mould,
where the egg is,

00:59:59.719 --> 01:00:01.400
the yolk is turning continually.

01:00:03.119 --> 01:00:07.119
One of these that you've put in there
was broken, right?

01:00:07.559 --> 01:00:08.880
-Yes.
-It was broken.

01:00:08.960 --> 01:00:10.039
-It was broken.
-Right.

01:00:10.360 --> 01:00:12.960
Why did you put a broken one in there?

01:00:15.800 --> 01:00:19.159
Then what we do is heat it
over a small amount of embers.

01:00:19.239 --> 01:00:20.960
The yolk doesn't stop turning,

01:00:21.039 --> 01:00:25.320
the heat will stop the yolk
from sticking to the metal mesh

01:00:25.400 --> 01:00:28.920
and it's always rotating
within the mould.

01:00:33.280 --> 01:00:37.079
These are "sarments" to give them aroma.

01:00:40.280 --> 01:00:43.039
This is another grilling system.

01:00:43.360 --> 01:00:47.239
It's a rotary system and it can be used
to cook whatever you deem appropriate.

01:00:49.039 --> 01:00:52.840
You can judge the temperature
by touching the mesh.

01:00:54.519 --> 01:00:58.920
We have to see if this works well
and if it's practical.

01:00:59.679 --> 01:01:02.760
When you cook something on the grill,

01:01:03.199 --> 01:01:04.880
it can be fine for one person

01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:07.880
but the difficulty
is when you have to do it

01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:09.920
for a whole restaurant.

01:01:10.760 --> 01:01:12.239
You have to find a balance

01:01:12.320 --> 01:01:15.599
so you can cook what you want
for large numbers of people

01:01:15.679 --> 01:01:16.920
but you have to do it well.

01:01:17.000 --> 01:01:19.599
That's often
the difficult thing.

01:01:19.840 --> 01:01:22.800
You can put three of these on here,
all three rotate.

01:01:23.039 --> 01:01:26.960
Each one holds around ten yolks.

01:01:27.039 --> 01:01:29.039
So you can make up to thirty.

01:01:36.360 --> 01:01:37.960
This is the delicate part.

01:01:40.960 --> 01:01:42.239
Open those.

01:01:45.079 --> 01:01:49.639
This is a dish that could be served
with a pepper, with truffle, with...

01:01:52.719 --> 01:01:56.239
It's now a dish: grilled egg yolk.

01:01:59.039 --> 01:02:01.840
For me, doing something
that I know how to do

01:02:01.920 --> 01:02:04.280
and that I do every day
bores me.

01:02:04.360 --> 01:02:06.800
I always need an incentive

01:02:06.880 --> 01:02:09.719
to keep trying different things.

01:02:11.599 --> 01:02:15.519
Things that have never
been cooked on a grill in this way.

01:02:28.679 --> 01:02:32.239
I remember, in the last
six or seven years of El Bulli,

01:02:32.440 --> 01:02:35.519
Bittor and I would go to the restaurant.

01:02:35.639 --> 01:02:38.280
And one day something happened,

01:02:38.360 --> 01:02:41.320
we were served a dish

01:02:41.480 --> 01:02:44.679
which was simply an oyster
cooked on a chrome griddle.

01:02:44.760 --> 01:02:47.079
I remember that Bittor and I
looked at each other,

01:02:47.519 --> 01:02:50.679
we smiled but we didn't say anything.

01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:54.119
But I knew perfectly well
that the next time

01:02:54.199 --> 01:02:56.639
that I would visit Etxebarri,

01:02:57.519 --> 01:02:59.519
I would eat a grilled oyster.

01:03:06.039 --> 01:03:07.880
You have the oyster liquor,

01:03:07.960 --> 01:03:09.880
you have the grilled oyster

01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:12.039
and you eat the whole.

01:03:12.480 --> 01:03:14.960
It's a French Atlantic oyster

01:03:15.079 --> 01:03:17.599
which, as you can see,
is an enormous oyster.

01:03:22.280 --> 01:03:25.800
Marvellous, because it's the fusion
of the iodine from the sea

01:03:25.880 --> 01:03:28.599
and the perfume of the wood, the embers.

01:04:25.360 --> 01:04:29.000
This is the most beautiful village
in inland Biscay.

01:04:33.480 --> 01:04:35.599
People come here
from all over the world.

01:04:38.440 --> 01:04:41.360
This is fantastic.
You have to see it to believe it.

01:04:42.519 --> 01:04:47.440
Bittor's ability to innovate
is astonishing.

01:04:47.679 --> 01:04:49.679
Here, he has been inspired

01:04:49.760 --> 01:04:53.119
by the traditional spits
used in grill cookery.

01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:57.920
He has created a recipient
to hold the spit,

01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:01.440
two bars of spit and mesh tea infusers,

01:05:01.559 --> 01:05:03.280
used for making tea.

01:05:04.079 --> 01:05:07.280
This rotates and allows you to grill

01:05:07.360 --> 01:05:10.000
an egg yolk,

01:05:10.239 --> 01:05:13.519
which is cooked over a low heat

01:05:13.599 --> 01:05:16.159
and it becomes deeply impregnated

01:05:16.280 --> 01:05:18.880
with the aroma of straw.

01:05:20.280 --> 01:05:23.880
All of that by bringing together
a limitless technology,

01:05:23.960 --> 01:05:27.239
because we should be looking for a system

01:05:27.320 --> 01:05:30.559
in order to give
a future perspective

01:05:37.880 --> 01:05:39.199
Is that a bit of bacon?

01:05:40.239 --> 01:05:42.000
-Yes, pancetta.
-Pancetta.

01:05:43.800 --> 01:05:45.440
-Do you know why?
-Why?

01:05:45.559 --> 01:05:48.320
Because St. George's mushroom,
in contact with the egg yolk,

01:05:48.400 --> 01:05:49.519
ruins the yolk.

01:05:50.440 --> 01:05:52.559
The mushroom creates
a sort of chemical reaction.

01:05:52.639 --> 01:05:54.639
-Yes.
-And it ruins all the yolks.

01:06:14.039 --> 01:06:17.719
This is missing a stroke of genius.

01:06:17.840 --> 01:06:18.960
Do you know what it is?

01:06:20.280 --> 01:06:23.280
You should put smoke inside the cover.

01:06:25.360 --> 01:06:26.400
Yes, yes.

01:06:26.480 --> 01:06:28.280
It would be amazing.

01:06:28.519 --> 01:06:32.719
And when you take it off
all the smoke will come out.

01:06:33.559 --> 01:06:34.239
Yes, yes.

01:06:43.920 --> 01:06:47.480
Egg yolks grilled at low temperatures,

01:06:48.039 --> 01:06:50.320
tea infuser, chorizo juice.

01:06:54.280 --> 01:06:56.039
This is amazing!

01:06:58.000 --> 01:07:00.079
This is a marvellous dish.

01:07:00.519 --> 01:07:01.800
really outstanding.

01:07:10.199 --> 01:07:11.320
Héctor,

01:07:12.360 --> 01:07:15.840
we're going to change
the menu from yesterday.

01:07:17.760 --> 01:07:21.239
We'll keep this,
we'll add the mushroom cracker,

01:07:25.920 --> 01:07:28.440
we'll change it for the anchovies.

01:07:28.599 --> 01:07:29.360
OK.

01:07:29.440 --> 01:07:33.199
We'll keep this.
We'll add the pod razor and beans here.

01:07:33.280 --> 01:07:34.760
You have beans, right?
-Yes.

01:07:35.639 --> 01:07:38.000
We'll add the beans, then the prawn,

01:07:38.079 --> 01:07:41.880
we'll remove the royal cucumber
and add the squid.

01:07:42.760 --> 01:07:43.360
OK.

01:07:43.440 --> 01:07:47.920
With the caramelised onion and ink.

01:07:48.440 --> 01:07:53.039
We'll also keep the cod cheek and tripe.

01:07:56.039 --> 01:08:00.960
To the egg yolk,
we'll add St George's mushroom.

01:08:01.440 --> 01:08:03.039
-Yes.
-And pepper.

01:08:03.119 --> 01:08:04.800
-OK.
-Red pepper in the base.

01:08:05.800 --> 01:08:10.800
And perhaps we'll add
a little bit of chorizo juice.

01:08:12.239 --> 01:08:16.560
Those are the changes,
everything else is as usual.

01:09:12.239 --> 01:09:15.119
This one is quite cold,
this one is straight out of the cellar.

01:09:16.479 --> 01:09:17.840
Isn't there an open bottle?

01:09:18.079 --> 01:09:19.720
There aren't any open.

01:12:56.399 --> 01:13:00.000
In truth,
from the very first day to today,

01:13:01.560 --> 01:13:04.359
I've seen that
it's getting harder every day.

01:13:06.079 --> 01:13:10.760
Because I demand a lot of myself.

01:13:13.920 --> 01:13:16.279
And not just with cooking,

01:13:17.239 --> 01:13:20.319
when it's your own business,
there are many things.

01:13:20.399 --> 01:13:23.000
As soon as you walk in through the door,

01:13:23.079 --> 01:13:27.600
either something has failed
or you may need to change something.

01:13:29.680 --> 01:13:32.760
You're fighting fires all day long.

01:13:36.479 --> 01:13:40.159
We don't have public relations
or a manager at Etxebarri.

01:13:41.479 --> 01:13:45.000
It's just me and my wife,
nobody else.

01:13:59.479 --> 01:14:00.840
This is fundamental for me.

01:14:00.920 --> 01:14:05.640
It helps me to find the inner peace
that prepares me for the external war.

01:14:10.199 --> 01:14:14.079
As I child, I used to come
to the mountain with my father.

01:14:14.159 --> 01:14:17.800
We'd come to fell pine trees
or for goats.

01:14:17.880 --> 01:14:19.600
We were always in the mountain.

01:14:21.239 --> 01:14:23.880
There are places here
that I carry inside me.

01:14:24.119 --> 01:14:27.239
Cooking and emotions both
begin in my homeland.

01:14:27.359 --> 01:14:28.560
I love my homeland.

01:14:28.840 --> 01:14:32.279
I enjoy my work,

01:14:32.840 --> 01:14:35.119
knowing that I'm where I want to be.

01:14:35.239 --> 01:14:36.239
I love where I am,

01:14:36.319 --> 01:14:37.880
I love the people close to me.

01:14:38.159 --> 01:14:39.560
I love everything, my surroundings.

01:14:39.640 --> 01:14:41.920
I enjoy everything around me.

01:14:44.039 --> 01:14:46.239
That's why, when they ask me:

01:14:46.359 --> 01:14:49.399
"Why don't you open your restaurant
in Bilbao or in Madrid?",

01:14:50.800 --> 01:14:52.800
that would be something different.

01:14:55.920 --> 01:14:58.199
My cookery can't be exported.

01:14:58.680 --> 01:15:02.199
I am where I am, and it's the only place
I think I should be.

01:16:01.760 --> 01:16:05.199
People talk about friendship
or friends

01:16:05.520 --> 01:16:08.800
but I would classify them.

01:16:09.239 --> 01:16:12.840
There are very few true friends.

01:16:12.920 --> 01:16:15.199
and a lot of acquaintances.

01:16:20.600 --> 01:16:24.840
And for me, like food,
friendship is sacred.

01:17:27.880 --> 01:17:29.880
Now, they only serve lunch,

01:17:30.239 --> 01:17:32.439
but until I was ten years old,

01:17:33.279 --> 01:17:37.840
I only remember seeing my parents
in the mornings.

01:17:37.920 --> 01:17:41.279
They took us to the school bus stop
and that was it

01:17:41.399 --> 01:17:44.880
because from there
they went to Etxebarri.

01:17:45.000 --> 01:17:48.520
At Etxebarri, they'd serve lunch
and dinner

01:17:48.600 --> 01:17:51.760
and my father would get back home
at two in the morning

01:17:51.840 --> 01:17:53.960
and my mother
at three or four in the morning.

01:17:54.039 --> 01:17:57.119
The next day,
she'd get up at half past seven

01:17:57.199 --> 01:17:58.439
to wake us up,

01:17:58.520 --> 01:18:01.199
make our breakfast
and then straight back to work.

01:18:01.520 --> 01:18:03.680
The person who was always there for us,

01:18:03.800 --> 01:18:06.000
always, always, was my grandmother.

01:18:06.359 --> 01:18:07.800
Many people ask us:

01:18:07.880 --> 01:18:09.720
"Why do your call
your grandmother mama?"

01:18:09.800 --> 01:18:11.880
Because, in reality, she was our mother.

01:18:12.760 --> 01:18:15.640
Until they were able
to stop serving dinners,

01:18:16.399 --> 01:18:17.800
our mother was grandma.

01:18:17.880 --> 01:18:20.239
This was when my father won

01:18:20.319 --> 01:18:24.880
the Youth Hand-Pelota Championship
in 1978.

01:18:27.319 --> 01:18:29.039
I was also good at
eating T-bones.

01:18:33.960 --> 01:18:36.199
He's always observing what others do,

01:18:36.279 --> 01:18:39.800
he's always trying
to improve what he does.

01:18:39.920 --> 01:18:43.920
He always tries to keep his mind open.

01:18:44.199 --> 01:18:47.239
If we go to Japan,
we do traditional Japanese things.

01:18:47.359 --> 01:18:50.760
If it's traditional to eat four bees
and two cockroaches,

01:18:50.880 --> 01:18:52.960
we eat four bees and two cockroaches.

01:19:28.760 --> 01:19:32.920
My father has been falling
and picking himself back up

01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:35.600
once and again for thirty years
until he got to where he is.

01:19:35.680 --> 01:19:38.479
Etxebarri only opens for bookings
every three months.

01:19:38.560 --> 01:19:43.000
We opened the other day, 1st March,
and in 17 minutes it was fully booked.

01:19:44.319 --> 01:19:48.600
One day, we may think: "What a shame
Etxebarri is closing".

01:19:48.680 --> 01:19:51.800
And I know
that my brother and I could do it,

01:19:51.880 --> 01:19:54.279
but we would never, ever, ever

01:19:54.399 --> 01:19:56.640
reach my father's level. Never.

01:19:56.720 --> 01:19:59.000
Because my father
has a passion for cooking.

01:19:59.079 --> 01:20:01.760
He has a passion for the embers,
for the wood.

01:20:02.079 --> 01:20:03.840
He has a passion for it all.

01:20:04.319 --> 01:20:08.119
And it's not a passion
that my brother and I share.

01:20:12.439 --> 01:20:16.199
I would like for this

01:20:16.279 --> 01:20:19.600
to start and finish with Bittor.

01:20:19.680 --> 01:20:23.920
I don't want my sons
to continue with this.

01:20:24.359 --> 01:20:27.600
Parents never want
to give their children

01:20:28.159 --> 01:20:31.119
something that has deprived
us of so many things

01:20:31.319 --> 01:20:33.520
or that has made us suffer so much.

01:20:48.319 --> 01:20:50.359
I think that someone...
I don't know.

01:20:52.279 --> 01:20:56.039
There's someone up there,
I don't know if it's God or someone else

01:20:56.560 --> 01:20:57.600
but I...

01:20:58.479 --> 01:20:59.800
I do think that...

01:21:00.079 --> 01:21:01.279
there must be...

01:21:03.279 --> 01:21:04.520
I don't know, someone.

01:21:04.840 --> 01:21:06.399
As a child,

01:21:07.119 --> 01:21:10.920
they made me spend hours at church.

01:21:11.000 --> 01:21:13.960
More hours than a lot of priests.

01:21:14.359 --> 01:21:18.159
But since I opened Etxebarri,

01:21:18.239 --> 01:21:20.960
I've hardly set foot in a church.

01:21:21.039 --> 01:21:24.279
But that doesn't mean
that I don't believe in God.

01:21:25.319 --> 01:21:28.119
I prefer to believe that God exists.

01:21:29.760 --> 01:21:32.640
And it's not just that,
it's also that I don't believe

01:21:32.720 --> 01:21:36.680
that things happen by chance
in our daily lives.

01:21:37.479 --> 01:21:39.359
I'm talking from personal experience.

01:21:39.439 --> 01:21:42.880
I think that often,
in all the decisions I've made,

01:21:43.199 --> 01:21:45.520
decisions I've had to make quickly,

01:21:45.600 --> 01:21:48.159
or that I've had to reflect on,

01:21:48.359 --> 01:21:52.000
someone has helped me
to make the right decisions.

01:22:21.439 --> 01:22:22.600
I've always liked

01:22:24.039 --> 01:22:26.399
the village where I was born,
this village,

01:22:26.479 --> 01:22:30.159
and then to be able
to work and live here,

01:22:30.920 --> 01:22:33.279
I think I've been very lucky.

01:22:35.640 --> 01:22:38.520
I wouldn't change it
for anything in the world.

01:22:44.199 --> 01:22:46.920
What I will never do,
nor have I ever done,

01:22:47.239 --> 01:22:49.920
is to work with the aim

01:22:51.039 --> 01:22:53.399
of being in a guide, in any position,

01:22:53.479 --> 01:22:55.680
or achieving a star or two, no.

01:22:56.439 --> 01:22:59.920
I work doing what I love,

01:23:00.000 --> 01:23:01.319
which is to cook.

01:23:02.439 --> 01:23:06.079
When I cook, I try to transmit
my joy to the table.

01:23:06.199 --> 01:23:10.000
And I want the people
who visit Etxebarri

01:23:11.239 --> 01:23:13.000
to leave as happy as possible.