What was your childhood like?
Although I was brought up in Madrid, a capital city with fast-paced lifestyle, I had the opposite of a city-kid upbringing. I was a from a big family where 3 generations from grandparents to children are gathered under roof. That's why, it is not exagerating that my family have feast everyday (laugh).
I helped my mother and grandmother to prepare food for dinner, while other kids were playing in the backyard. My passion in cooking grew stronger as I observed my mother chopping veggies and my grandmother stirring stew. That's when I kind of struck to my head that cooking was what i really wanted to do.
So yeah, my childhood was full of lots of fightings, loud noise, but amidst of that: great food. It was so much fun.
You are the co-owner and executive chef of one-michelin-star Chiron Restaurant in Valdemoro. For our readers who can't go there, could you tell us what Chiron is?
Chiron is a tribute for Spanish traditional food that have been existed and preserved for generations. Food brings people together, including my big family.
In Chiron, my approach is honoring spanish traditional cuisine with reference of my family recipes. I also let all foods to be local by using local ingredients. Personal and local.
Chiron also adapts local hospitality with frequent interactions with guests, treating them like our own family.
Your culinary style is sotobosque. What is it and what makes it special?
Sotobosque means undergrowth, where seasoning herbs like rosemary, truffle, and several kinds of mushroom grow wildly there. It is also where I spent my entire childhood.
Thus, sotobosque reflected combinations of ingredients and seasonings to bring authentic flavours of the nature. Local and natural.
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