This article features Iberian Peninsula regional cuisine available in Barcelona one of the most important of which is Catalan Cuisine. By opening your restaurant Ramon Freixa in Madrid you have become a culinary ambassador for this region, do you think that Catalan cooking is something that can be easily exported to other areas of Spain and abroad?

Of course. It’s basically a school of cooking based on making the most of natural products and in general affordable in economic terms and preparation times. Catalan food is pretty much liked by everybody for its combination of practicality and maybe a pinch of madness.

The Generalitat are in the process of applying for world heritage recognition from the UNESCO for Catalan Cuisine, what do you think are the reasons for such a strong tradition of gastronomy in this region?

The main reason is the overwhelming desire of the Catalans to hold onto their own culture, whether it be their language, gastronomy or any other native peculiarity.

You have talked about rediscovering traditional cuisine and your roots at ‘El Racó d’en Freixa’ are founded on Catalan cuisine, have you consciously set about making this a feature of the Avalon menu (Grand Hotel Central, Barcelona) in what ways does traditional influence your choices there?

It’s the base of our cooking and easily appreciated in any dish and in some cases entirely based on traditional recipes as with the fricandeau and other elements like the spicy sauce, the use of vegetables, the combination of sweet and sour… It could be said that Ávalon lends Catalan cuisine a new energy and that Freixa Tradició, my parent’s restaurant preserves it.

Your training as a chef included experience working at renowned restaurants in Belgium (La Truffe Noir and Comme Chez soi) and France (Michel Brass) in addition to your parents’ restaurant one of the first in Barcelona to receive a Michelin Star back in 1988, what influence does your background play on your interpretation of Catalan Cuisine?

I was influenced by all in one way or another, from Brass I learned how to capture the landscape in a dish, in that case the landscape of Belgium, that a classic approach and the success of a restaurant are not mutually exclusive and from my father, above all else hard work and sacrifice which still keep him young.

Ávalon. Grand Hotel Central Barcelona.

C. Pare Gallifa, 3.T. 93 295 79 05. 

www.grandhotelcentral.com