I never get tired of talking about food, especially when it is with the BCN Foodie Guide.
The full Spanish version is available here, or an English translation below:
- Tell us who you are and what fills your foodie life at the moment?
I sometimes look at myself in the third person and think, how did this wild blonde kid from New Zealand end up in the kitchens of Barcelona. But somehow life worked out that way. After living in a few cities around the world, I finally accepted that Barcelona is my #1 – I run it, ride it, swim it, cook it and eat it every day. And I furniture for the first time in my life so I guess it is home for a while.
I am leading the global charge of EatWith as we aim to make amazing dining experiences available in every city around the world. Having been part of the team from the beginning, I live the project every day – as an EatWith chef and guest (one of the perks of the job).
Outside of EatWith I transform into Papa Serra Jr (a reference to my Catalan great grandfather) and try to make culinary dreams come true. I’m also working on making my own culinary dream come true, Papalosophy…
- How did you get into food and cooking?
I was eight years old and it was the night before the School Fair where every kid arrives with a cake to sell. I left the task with my dear mother. But waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a flat chocolaty disaster on the counter, I calmly pulled out a bowl and made what would be the first of many creations in the kitchen.
Later, while working at KPMG, I realized I needed a creative release and started a supper-club called Global Gobbler, run out of my apartment, where guests would come for free for multi-course tasting menus and in return do things like cut my hair, teach me how to take nice photos, or source me rare black garlic — I wasn’t in it for the money, but more to test my food on a wider audience and also meet some interesting people. I eventually had a national food critic come along for a dinner. She loved it – ‘modern fashionable Spain’ – although she did leave the dinner very tipsy and with a friend’s phone number so that might have had something to do with the gushing compliments.
I then somehow found myself on the first season of Masterchef Australia where I was famous for cutting more fingers than onions in a knife skills challenge. I made it through elimination after elimination but was far too sarcastic for mainstream television.
Then I moved to Spain and food took over my life.
- What is Papalosophy?
PAPALOSOPHY is about being a rock star every day – in and out of the kitchen. It is about making your dreams reality. It’s a way cooking and a way of living.
It’s about catching what you eat. But more than catching what you eat, it’s about catching life and owning it.
It’s also about sharing. Life is zero unless shared with others; because the answer to everything in and out of the kitchen is love.
PAPALOSOPHY is finally about always expecting the unexpected. In the kitchen, the best plates are never planned and nor are the wonderful people and exciting twists of fate that life presents you with.
Papalosophy is the cookbook i’ve dreamt about for a while. A combination of fine-art ‘shock’ photography (shot by Aldo Chacon the other half Papalosophy) with personal stories and recipe created over a lifetime spent seeking out authentic flavors and creative preparations. My Catalan roots, world travels, an obsessive study of the world of gastronomy, and eating anything and everything influence give me something that no chef school could ever teach me.
We are currently choosing a publisher for Papalosophy (my first cookbook) and hope to be on shelves this year.
- Favorite food you remember from your childhood?
Growing up in New Zealand and Australia, food culture not as refined as it is here in Europe… I remember hunting then feasting on native wildlife (not on the endangered list) like kangaroo, wild hare, even a possum once. If you get the chance, kangaroo tataki with rosemary oil and salt – the food every childhood should include.
- What is your most creative plate?
Everyone loves to hate plane food but I fight the system. Returning from Rome I managed to smuggle parma ham and a big ball of burrata onboard. From Tokyo I traveled with maguro sashimi and shiso leaves. And on the way back from from Tel Aviv, my hand luggage contained hummus, a jar of za’atar and 25 ml of arak.
Every flavour combination has been created by a chef somewhere around the world, I prefer to be creative in conceptualising how to extract maximum pleasure out of cooking, eating and sharing food.
- For you, a foodie is…
Like everything good in this world, the term ‘foodie’ has been massacred by hipsters who seem to only eat the burgers that are trending on Instagram (but still strangely remain worryingly thin).
A real foodie wakes up with the goal of enjoying the best three (or 10 depending on if you have adjusted to Spanish lifestyle or not) meals of their life. And they go to bed with a determination that tomorrow they will eat even better.
- Top five tunes when you are cooking and hosting at your supper club?
My apartment and kitchen is filled with electronic music and for guests I usually soften it to electro jazz. Top 5 artists:
RJD2
Max Cooper
Joris Delacroix
Silicone Soul
Oliver Schories
- Anything you would never eat?
When I was once lost for two days in a Swedish forest I preserved (and almost drank) my own urine so nothing is out of bounds when it comes to my palette. In Hong Kong I found myself with a plate of fish eyes (seeking out ‘where the locals eat’ sometimes bites back). I’d prefer to leave that memory in the archives.
- What do you always have in your supermarket trolley?
When I went to Paris to cook for Foodshootr (www.eatupeurope.com) my suitcase was filled with the best of Spain: membrilo, Marcona almonds, vinagre de Jerez, ñora, pimenton and hundreds of tins of Ortiz anchovies. Life’s essentials.
- What is your favorite foodie hotspot in Barcelona?
I live in Borne and have my favourite places to get olives (en Carrer del Commerç al lado de Mercat Born), tomatoes (enter Santa Caterina and turn left to the last stall) or nuts and spices ( Jaime J. Renobell on Passeig Picasso).
I am a vermut addict and apart from my homemade version, Recoleta at the bottom of Enrique Granados is my favorite when ‘vermut hour’ begins.
