Barcelona: September 2022
At Dos Pebrots, historical gastronomy and avant-garde philosophy collide in an experience inspired by the Mediterranean’s rich food legacy. Albert Raurich, a former disciple of Ferran Adrià at elBulli, weaves a tale of traditional cooking methods, forgotten recipes, and innovative fusion. Undoubtedly, the result is one of the most exciting restaurants in Barcelona.
A profile of Albert Raurich
Born in 1970 in Barcelona, Raurich’s culinary journey took root in ESHOB, Barcelona’s school of hospitality and pastry. His professional beginnings were modest. His love for pasta led him to his first stint in an Italian restaurant. He later passed by establishments like Els Pescadors and El Cafè de l’Acadèmia.
However, the true turning point in Raurich’s career was his entry into elBulli, the avant-garde institution run by Ferran Adrià. He joined the restaurant as a stagiaire in 1997, right after Adrià’s overhaul of the kitchen and his move to a more conceptual and technique-driven cuisine. Over the course of a decade, Raurich climbed the ranks and became one of the head chef (2001-2007) behind the establishment at the time of its most revolutionary period. This time helped shape Raurich’s culinary philosophy, solidifying his fascination with gastronomic history and the exploratory approach to food.
In 2008, Raurich decided to move on and open his own restaurant, Dos Palillos. The restaurant, nestled in the eclectic neighborhood of El Raval, was an ode to the fusion of Iberian and Asian cuisines. Dos Palillos offers its patrons two dining experiences – a casual bar at the entrance and a Japanese U-shaped counter with live cooking – both inspired by his profound love for Asia. The concept garnered a Michelin star in 2012, which it has maintained since then.
However, the journey was not always smooth. Notably, Dos Palillos in Berlin, a sister location to the one in Barcelona, didn’t find its footing. This closure, however, led to the creation of Tamae Bar, a collaboration with Eugeni de Diego, another former head chef from elBulli. This new venture offers Asian takeaway and began serving in late 2021.
A historical approach to cooking
While deeply engaged in his research of Asia’s culinary traditions, he had also been exploring the rich and diverse intricacies of the Mediterranean cuisine. nspired by his discoveries, he founded Dos Pebrots in 2017, just a short distance from Dos Palillos. In a way, the restaurant was a result of Raurich’s collaboration with elBulliLab, Ferran Adrià’s gastronomic think tank and laboratory. There he had performed an extensive study of Catalan gastronomy. At Dos Pebrots, he seamlessly integrated this historical research with elBulli’s avant-garde techniques.
Dos Pebrots invites diners to travel through time and taste the Mediterranean culinary traditions from ancient Rome to medieval Europe. The restaurant revives and reinvents forgotten techniques and recipes, showcasing the authentic flavours of the Mediterranean in tapas. Preservation methods such as curing, fermentation, and pickling play a key role in the menu, as these were essential before the widespread use of refrigeration. The restaurant also champions the use of garum, a historic condiment made from fermented anchovies that was highly prized in the Roman empire, especially in southern Hispania.
The ambiance, the wine and the menu à la carte
The restaurant evokes a casual ambiance in a contemporary interior design. The elongated floor plan accommodates both tables and two bars that flank the open kitchen. The shorter one, in a Japanese style, follows the interior design of Dos Palillos, whereas the second is a more common taller bar that require stools rather chairs. For any food geek like us, the optimal choice is to observe the kitchen action from the shorter bar, sitting on a more comfortable chair.
The menu has a strong elBulli influence. In a table, dishes are listed as elaborations (in elBulli terms, elaborations to taste) from which to choose à la carte or as a compendium of these in a tasting menu. For each elaboration a detailed explanation of the historical origin of the techniques employed for their preparation is given, as well as an enumeration of its ingredients (intermediate elaborations).
Analogously, the wine list follows is presented as a chart compiling each wine’s body, name, producer, vintage, appellation, country, varietal, viticulture method, vinification and type of ageing. If you follow this blog, you can imagine how much we loved this. However, we can see how some customers could feel overwhelmed or stressed by this much information.
The selection of wine is heavily focused on Catalan wines (Cava, Priorat, Empordà) but it also includes a fair amount of trendy offerings such as wines from the Canary Islands, Juras from Ganevat or Aviet, Champagne from Selosse, Château Musar, Nicolas Joly or Alain Graillot. The markups hover around a reasonable 1.5. The have a nice selection by the glass of six different sherries, so we indulged in Amontillados from Navazos and Olorosos from Bodegas Tradición.
The tasting menu
We opted for the tasting menu, which began with a fig doughnut. This rendition employed whole figs at their peak ripeness, evoking a soft honey-like consistency. Encased within a fish batter-like crisp shell, the figs’ sweetness was accentuated. The touch of fennel flower was almost imperceptible, more of a garnish.
Proceeding to the marine foie toast with fennel, we encountered a delightful contrast between richness and freshness. Resting on a base of toasted coca, a bread native to Catalonia, was a generous layer of smoked monkfish liver parfait. The smoke undertones were discreet, enabling the indulgent nuances of the monkfish liver to be shine.
This rich element was balanced with a lively brunoise of fennel, onions, chives, and raspberries. The finely diced vegetables provided a satisfying crunch, with the raspberries injecting a welcome burst of sweetness. A splash of mint oil concluded this creation, enhancing the array of flavours and contributing a touch of freshness to the dish. Simply excellent.
Their iconic ‘matrimonio’ certainly set an elevated tone for the evening. Drawing inspiration from the traditional Murcian matrimonio, this dish fuses acidity and intensity in a remarkable fashion. The marriage of an exquisitely tender anchovy and a boquerón (white anchovy) marinated in rice vinegar brings a harmonious blend of bold and subtle flavours to the palate. Their robust flavours are gently mellowed by a fine shaving of ice – an ingenious twist that freshens and lightens each mouthful, evoking the crisp coolness of a fishmonger’s display. This sensation is enriched by the addition of olive oil, which luxuriously drapes each component in a silky sheen. Scattered amidst this maritime landscape are pieces of wakame, offering an umami note and additional texture, while the rice vinegar jelly amplifies the dish’s acidity. Garnishes of fennel and wild garlic flowers provide a visually appeal as well as a subtle hint of herbaceousness.
Next came a pipirrana with homemade fatty tuna. Demonstrating an artful tribute to the humble tomato, a staple of Spanish gastronomy, it served as a kind of fond farewell to the summer of 2022. The tomatoes were at their zenith of ripeness, exhibiting a buttery texture that dissolved on the tongue in a sweet, sun-kissed burst. Their combination with compressed cucumbers (done to enhance their crunch) and sweet onions, with all elements united by the richness of olive oil, called to mind a sort of unblended gazpacho1. The egg whites provided a different texture, while the yolk, combined with garum, presented itself as an umami-laden bomb, ready to explode in your mouth with a rich, salty intensity. In parallel, the pieces of ventresca – the fatty tuna belly, had a similar role, with a rich delicate texture and complex tuna flavours.
The pipirrana was followed by a plate of stracciatella and girolle gnocchis. These potato gnocchi reminded us more of George Blanc’s crèpes than to gnocchi: creamy and very potato-forward. Their extraordinary side came from their lightness, almost ethereal, they disappear as cotton candy in your mouth. The caramelisation of their exterior is a smart and necessary touch to give some contrast in texture. They are always accompanied by a seasonal mushroom, in these case sautéed girolles; stracciatella, for a temperature and tangy contrast and a jus from sautéing the mushrooms that lubricates it all.
We continued with a razor clam ajoblanco, an ancient but still popular recipe in the south of Spain. Here it is reconstructed into an ice cream of almonds surrounded by a small moat of garlic oil, just enough so that each spoonful of ice cream gets the scent of garlic. On top, a reduction of razor clams and raw batons of razor clam give a deep complex flavour and that delightful chewiness that we only know from razor clams in this state. As a garnish on top, batons of samphire, dices of lime for a acidity, and blanched almonds for crunch and a more layered almond flavour2.
Over the raw sliced heads of squid sprinkled with sweet pimentón, hot sizzling oil is poured to achieve a rederivation of pulpo a feira, squid a feira. The idea really works. As the pimentón infuses into the oil without burning, the thin cuts of squid cook to perfection. Soft, tender (but with a nice bite), they acquire a similar texture to that of the original pulpo a la gallega.
The main course took us on a gastronomic journey to the Middle East with the team’s interpretation of a shish kebab. They transformed the traditional skewered meat into a popsicle of succulent lamb, bursting with spices and a touch of smoke that lent an evocative, primal appeal to the dish. It rested on a soft lavash, inviting diners to use it as a sandwich. According to Raurich, this combination could date back to 1500BC in Ancient Persia, making it possibly the oldest sandwich in history.
Accompanying it were slices of the wonderful tomatoes that we had encountered earlier, now cut into a julienne, and some smoked aubergine, its natural sweetness coaxed out by slow, careful cooking. The ensemble was completed by a dollop of cucumber and garlic yoghurt, a refreshingly cool and creamy variant of tzatziki.
Lastly, we were presented with Iberian pork orza style, a skillful reimagining of a dish from La Mancha. The centrepiece of the plate was a perfectly seared loin of Iberian pork, its tender, juicy flesh accented by smoky nuances. These notes were further amplified by the scent of the roasted piquillo peppers and the fragrant waft of smouldering rosemary. A finishing oil, laced with paprika, garlic, and dried herbs, bestowed an additional layer of complexity to the dish. Complementing the pork were fluffy grilled mantou buns, to be filled for a roujiaomo-style treat, or to mop up the plate’s delectable remnants, both nod to the Italian tradition of ‘scarpetta‘ and to Dos Palillos.
For dessert, a liquid strawberry with carob, which Raurich described as “an example of what would happen if we didn’t travel to America”, was the first one to come. The dessert was composed, as simple as it sounds, of a concentrated fresh strawberry juice and a carob sorbet. While the texture of the ice cream left room for improvement, the flavours played so well together that one could focus only on how delicious this dessert was. The concentrated fresh strawberry juice provided an intense burst of natural sweetness, with a refreshing tartness that awakened the taste buds. On the other hand, the carob sorbet, with its strong resemblance to chocolate, brought a subtle earthiness and a hint of bitterness that perfectly balanced the sweetness of the strawberries. The combination was nothing short of the black forest cake, but made in a deconstructed manner.
To finish the meal, we were served the last dessert – a red pepper flan. The flan itself had a wobbly and silky texture, with no signs of being overcooked. Unlike the traditional flan, this one lacked its characteristic caramelisation on the top. Instead, it was drizzled with a rose syrup that gave it a glossy and gel-like appearance. The flavour of red pepper was not very noticeable, although that didn’t bother us too much.