By Jon Clarke and Alessio Ghirlanda
AS anyone in the restaurant trade knows, the world’s leading chefs lead the charge at home over Christmas.
It’s just a whole lot simpler – and quicker – and the end result is usually far better!
It’s little different in Spain, where most restaurants are shut on Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) and Navidad itself.
But it doesn’t mean it will be an easy ride: as we all know those closest to us are the fiercest critics.
As Elena Arzak, from three Michelin star Arzak restaurant in San Sebastian, told El Pais this week: “In my family, they are very demanding, and the expectation is to the max.”
Here, Elena and five other top chefs from around the county reveal what happens at Christmas – almost always for the main meal on Christmas Eve – with their families.
Elena Arzak
She explains that the day is more about the quality of the ingredients than the culinary skills.
“We seek lightness, less fat, and short cooking times that respect the product.”
She continues: “It’s a menu of absolute proximity (to where we live), deeply linked to the season and our own tradition.”
Perhaps no surprise then that at the home of one of the temples of Basque cuisine they start with oysters and spider crab.
However they also have a decent plate of the best acorn-fed Iberian ham.
It then continues with the unusual vegetable (typical at Christmas) the cardoon, along with artichokes and accompanied by sliced almonds and a few slices of ham.
Then Elena prepares a capon stewed with orange and covered with slices of black truffle, a ‘tribute’ to her grandmother who was a big fan of French cuisine.
Finally it’s ‘Christmas compote’, made with Errezil apple, prunes, dried apricots, and cinnamon, served alongside a selection of Spain’s famous artisan turrones (nougat)
Ramon Freixa
Double-Michelin star chef Ramon Freixa from Catalunya insists he is looking forward to cooking alongside his father, a retired chef, Josep.
The festive meal kicks off with the classic starters, including Jamon, salmon and foie gras.
Then it’s the famous Catalan dish, a corn soup called escudella i carn d’olla, before they wade into fried eggs with truffle and then, like Elena Arzak, a capon cooked with prunes and raisins.
“We are very into Christmas and really go for it the Catalan way,” he reveals.
For pudding they head further south for Alicante turrones and then a chocolate panettone from the Alicante pastry chef Paco Torreblanca.
Joan Roca
You’d think the Roca brothers would welcome a day out of the restaurant at Christmas.
And so they do, by heading up the road to their parents’ restaurant Can Roca, which is just around the corner from their famous three Michelin star joint, El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona.
This is, after all, where Joan, Jordi and Josep grew up, steeped in all things to do with cooking.
As always, Joan is in charge of the meal although he has help from son, Marc, and nephew, Martí.
“We improvise a bit and cook fish and shellfish as the main course, which our usual suppliers bring us.”
It could be baked or grilled fish and ‘depends on what we fancy on Christmas Day morning.’
Meanwhile he adds they are having
‘pulardas’ (or fattened hens) with black truffle slipped in between the skin and the meat. He has also pre-prepared a foie gras terrine and a cod brandada as appetizers.
Luckily for Joan his pastry chef brother Jordi takes care of the postres – a mix of turrones, panettones and ice cream.
Third brother Josep is in charge of the wines.
Begoña Rodrigo
It’s almost open-house on Christmas Day at the home of leading Valencia chef Begoña Rodrigo, from Michelin-starred La Salita.
As she has foreign friends without family, some of her chefs with nowhere to go and others closer to her in ‘social isolation’, it makes perfect sense and is the true meaning of Christmas, after all.
“I have invited everyone who wants to come to my house for dinner, and each one will bring something typical of what they eat at home,” she explains.
This includes her son, who will prepare a pasta carbonara, and she will be in charge of a lobster salad.
“We won’t eat pork because there are Muslims,” she explains.
The family will then celebrate Christmas Day at her mother’s house, together with her siblings. “She cooks as if we were 100, and there are seven of us.”
Juan Viu
The Cadiz chef who garnered his first Michelin star last month at Mare hooks up for a traditionally fishy meal at the family home in Barbate.
“We are traditional and have good seafood, good cured meats, and salted fish from Barbate. We don’t take risks.”
This includes an age-old tuna empanada taught to him by his grandmother Trini, who used to make it every year.
The meal also includes a tribute to his grandmother Pepa’s turkey stew with almonds.
Diego Guerrero
Leading Madrid chef at DSTAgE Diego Guerrero heads north to Vitoria in the Basque Country for Christmas.
And his favourite dish for Christmas Eve is baked fish, normally a sea bream (besuga) from a childhood friend at the town’s main market.
He will also prepare grilled crab (nécora a la plancha), mollusks, and cardoons with raisins and almonds.
For dessert, his mother cooks cheesecake.
The next day, they have roasted lamb with salad, his father’s favourite dish.
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