Hardcore foodies and chefs around the country are buzzing about the imminent release of El Bulli: 1998-2002 (Ecco, $350) from the world's No. 1 superchef, Ferran Adrià, whose renowned temple of gastronomic innovation, the three-Michelin-star El Bulli, sits on Spain's Costa Brava. (Read about my visit here.) But people are confused. Is the book new? Or is it merely an English translation of an old volume? Here's the lowdown.
Adrià published a trilogy that chronicled the creation of all the dishes served at El Bulli from 1983 to 2002. The books were available in descending order, starting in 2002 with Volume 3, El Bulli 1998-2002; then Volume 2, El Bulli 1994-1997 in 2003; and lastly Volume 1, El Bulli 1983-1993 in 2004. He released the Catalan edition first, followed a few months later by versions in Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian.
The book is essentially a photo documentation of the restaurant's dishes, presented year by year, with notes on the concepts' themes and evolution. El Bulli 1998-2002 comes with a 22-page accordion-style booklet. On one side is the "Guide to This Book," explaining how everything is organized. Flip it over, and "Auxiliary Tools" has a glossary and symbol key, necessary to understand the special vocabulary Adrià created while documenting his work. The actual recipes (close to 800) are on a CD-ROM, including his groundbreaking consommé tagliatelli à la carbonara. Given that El Bulli has only 8,000 available reservations a season, and it receives more than 250,000 requests, this may be your best shot at tasting the zeitgeist.
Originally published on Epicurious.com.