Alberto Herraíz

By setting up the Fogón in Paris, Alberto chose to put a certain geographical distance between himself and his native Spain. As a descendant of four generations of chefs and having always lived in Cuenca, the town where he was born, Alberto felt the need to strike out from the more traditional ways of classic culinary methods and practices. So why shouldn’t he go and see what was cooking in foreign fields? In 1996, he embarked on a kind of rite-of-passage journey to France, spending all his savings in three star restaurants in the process. At the end of a month, he decided not to return to Spain, but to settle down in Paris. This geographical distance now means that he can produce Spanish dishes far from their country of origin, which paradoxically results in a ‘purer’, more authentic cuisine that has been liberated from the need to be « exotic ». He has created a whole new approach to tapas, with a menu that combines, in a very personal manner, Spain’s age-old culinary traditions and the very latest cooking techniques, finally released from the chains imposed on them by traditional training methods.

Arrocería

The Fogón works along the lines of an arroceria, the name given to Spanish restaurants specializing in paella-cooked rice or rice cooked in a cooking pot. Often to be found on the coast, arrocerias generally also serve fish. Alternatively, as at the Fogón, a selection of tapas and rice may be eaten.
I chose this kind of establishment because I wanted my restaurant to be highly specialized, allowing me to offer the very best rice dishes, working exclusively with fresh produce. Furthermore, specialization leads to the exploration and creation of new ways of doing things and to highly original textures, blends and seasonings.

Arroz en paella
Paella-cooked rice. Before becoming a recipe, it was a cooking technique. In fact, there is no standard recipe that sets the ingredients of ‘real paella’ in stone and which would thus prevent the ingredients in a paella from being the subject of free experimentation and interpretation. There is, however, one cooking principle to be observed: that of using the paella to create a kind of osmosis between 3 or 4 different groups of ingredients and condiments and the Bomba rice and stock. The end goal is to be able to identify the flavour of each ingredient in every spoonful tasted and also to taste the additional flavour created from the blend of all the various tastes. José Luis Borges put it like this: "In a skilfully prepared paella, each grain of rice retains its individual character."
I also work on the texture of each recipe:
- Recipes containing ingredients in small chunks or pieces are chopped very finely, with crunchy, caramelized edges that give a real intensity to the various flavours. In the centre of the pan, because the paella is concave, the dish is thicker and smoother in texture. As a result, in these kinds of recipes there are two levels of intensity to the flavours and two different textures to try out; for this reason we stress that you should eat this dish directly out of the paella pan.
- Recipes with chunkier ingredients (rabbit, hare, chicken, tuna...), or rice in cuttlefish ink, need to be cooked in thicker layers. This produces a dish of uniform texture. There is, however, the variation called el socarret in which the chef deliberately makes the rice stick to the bottom of the paella in order to create a thin, crunchy layer under the medium-cooked layer.

Banda "sin banda"

This is a play on words for a recipe that I created from classic a banda rice: rice cooked in a rockfish-flavoured stock.
Normally, the fish, after having been used to prepare the stock, is served first, a banda, i.e, on the side. Whilst the customers are wrestling with the bones, the chef cooks the rice in the stock. We only have one dinner sitting: I keep the fish with the bones in the kitchen and I replace them with baby squid and sautéed cuttlefish, added to the rice at the start of cooking.

Bomba

This round Spanish rice is the perfect rice for paella cooking. Its grains swell as they absorb large amounts of stock and with it, large amounts of flavour too. It holds its shape very well and is also suitable for socarret cooking.

Cuenca

This is my home town, in the Castilla - La Mancha region. It’s where my parents discovered a restaurant serving traditional Spanish dishes, the Mesòn Nelia, back in 1967. I ran this restaurant for several years, before opening a Spanish nouvelle cuisine restaurant, the Neli, which I managed for 3 years before moving to Paris.

F is for effe'gnié

This, the Fogón’s symbol, is a letter that I created myself and which I also use as a unit of measurement in my cookery. An ‘Effe'gnié’ is the equivalent of a mouthful.

Gazpacho

This Andalusian recipe is undoubtedly the most popular of all Spanish dishes. Every chef has his or her own recipe. However, I am proud to say that at the Fogón, I have elevated Gazpacho-making to the rank of a real culinary technique, with endless variations possible – enough to fill a book, in fact, enough to fill two:
"Le Gaspacho, dix façons de le préparer" (10 ways of making Gazpacho), Editions de l'Epure
et
"Toute l'année gaspacho" (Gazpacho all year round), Editions Alain Ducasse.

Jabugo

Village in Huelva province, renowned the world over for its hams. However, not all Jabugo hams are necessarily jamón ibérico de bellota.
The official Iberian ham protected designations of origin are currently: Guijuelo, Dehesa de Extremadura, Huelva and Los Pedroches.

Bellota Jamon ibérico

Ham from acorn-fed Iberian pigs.
This top of the range Iberian ham owes its amazing flavour and melt-in-the-mouth texture to a combination of three things: the Black Iberian pig (a local race), free-range farming and a diet that includes a large proportion of acorns, plus a long cellar curing process. Only a small proportion of the hams produced may boast the quality label "de bellota”; the rest being known as jamon ibérico recebo. The difference in flavour and texture is more than worth the difference in price.

Manzanilla

This is a delicious fino sherry, iodized and very dry, produced by the coast in the village of Sanlùcar de Barrameda. Although normally drunk while relatively young, aged manzanilla (pasada) also exists, boasting an array of stunning, complex aromas. As long as the manzanilla remains in the cask, it is protected by the flor, the film of yeast that is specific to solera-ageing. However, as soon as it is bottled, it deteriorates rapidly. Ideally, to experience the whole range of flavours to the full, it should therefore be drunk within a few months of bottling. It’s for this reason that each year we have four bottling sessions (saca) carried out exclusively for the Fogón. Almost immediately after drawing off, without filtering or cold stabilization (we say: en rama), the manzanilla is delivered to us in batches numbered from the first to the fourth saca, as fresh and aromatic as when tasted in the cellar.

Menu Arroz (Rice menu)

We begin by serving you a few tapas - these always reflect what’s available on the marketplace and therefore are always changing. While you’re enjoying your tapas, we cook your rice in the paella (30 minutes, which may seem slow or fast, it all depends on how quickly you eat).

Tapas menu

Here we have about fifteen recipes, both savoury and sweet, prepared in small portions and served in a rhythmic organized chaos. (See Tapas.) The tapas menu is always prepared for all the occupants of the table, in the same way as a tasting menu in a French restaurant may be prepared.

Paella

The paella is a traditional two-handled iron casserole. By extension, it’s also the name of the rice dish prepared in this casserole (see Paella-cooked rice).
I’ve tried out all kinds of paellas: stainless steel, enamelled metal, anti-stick metal... none give as good results as the cheapest of the lot, the good old basic model in very thin iron. Very responsive to changes in cooking heat, it can be used on a large gas cooker that is able to heat the entire bottom of the paella.

Pan con tomate (Bread with tomato)

Pan con tomate or sucar is so closely identified with Catalans that they even have a term to describe the action of rubbing the tomato against the bread: sucar. I am slightly disloyal to this tradition, since I grate the tomatoes before spreading them onto the bread and seasoning them with olive oil, garlic and fleur de sel (hand-harvested sea salt). But it’s all in a good cause: it results in more tomato flesh and fewer tomato seeds on the bread!

Pata Negra

PTo produce Iberian hams, the pig’s entire leg is left untouched, (i.e the hoof is not removed), so that the thigh does not draw back during the drying process. As Iberian pigs (or Iberian / white-skinned pig crosses) have black hooves, these types of hams are commonly known as pata negra (black foot). However, this expression is not an official indicator of quality.

The Fogón Literary Prize

I created the RFI - Fogón literary prize in 2002, along the lines of the "Juan Rulfo” short Spanish language novel award. The Fogón prize, judged by an international jury of writers, literary critics and chefs, is awarded to a Spanish language culinary text. The best works are published in the Cuadernos del Fogón collection.

Saca

Manzanilla bottling.
This is a delicious fino sherry, iodized and very dry, produced by the coast in the village of Sanlùcar de Barrameda. Although normally drunk while relatively young, aged manzanilla (pasada) also exists, boasting an array of stunning, complex aromas. As long as the manzanilla remains in the cask, it is protected by the flor, the film of yeast that is specific to solera-ageing. However, as soon as it is bottled, it deteriorates rapidly. Ideally, to experience the whole range of flavours to the full, it should therefore be drunk within a few months of bottling. It’s for this reason that each year we have four bottling sessions (saca) carried out exclusively for the Fogón. Almost immediately after drawing off, without filtering or cold stabilization (we say: en rama), the manzanilla is delivered to us in batches numbered from the first to the fourth saca, as fresh and aromatic as when tasted in the cellar.

Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre

From one Saint to another...
After coming here from Cuenca, the patron saint of which is San Julián el Tranquilo, I opened the first Fogón in rue Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre in Paris. Naturally, I called it "Fogón Saint-Julien" in order to obtain both success and protection.

Sweet Tapas

In the early days of the Fogón, I served a dessert composed of an assortment of delicacies, inspired by the plates of sweetmeats and pastries served during parties. With this as her starting point, Vanina devised the concept of sweet tapas. As with savoury tapas, it wasn’t merely a question of producing miniature versions of classic recipes, but of actually creating completely new small format desserts featuring such a concentration of texture and flavour as to completely satisfy one’s taste buds in just one or two mouthfuls.
Sweet tapas shake up the borders between sweet and savoury to create a small plate of four or five gastronomic ‘feelings’ that go together like rhymes and that are to be savoured in any order.

Templador de jamón (Temperature-controlled cabinet for hams)

In order for Iberian Ham to develop its taste to the full, it must have an internal temperature of 25° C. This poses no problem in Andalusia, where the outside temperature is sufficient for the hams to reach the right temperature, but is more difficult in an air-conditioned Parisian restaurant. We therefore have a temperature controlled glass cabinet that exactly reproduces the ambient temperature of a Seville tapas bar. The ham will rotate here over several days, performing slow pirouettes on the tip of its hoof before moving to the kitchen where it will be sliced when needed.
We are very proud of our ‘templador’, the only one of its kind, designed by Alberto.

Vanina Herraíz

Love at first sight – the Argentinian way. When Alberto saw this marvel arrive – on a work experience placement in the Fogón restaurant, he knew instantly that he wouldn’t let her leave again. Vanina, daughter and granddaughter of Argentinian pastry chefs, had come to France to complete her training as an executive chef at the Paul Bocuse culinary school. The placement at the Fogón wasn’t part of the course; it was the icing on the cake, the chance to spend a little time in Paris before returning home... Et voilà!
Now, Vanina and Alberto make for a delicious marriage of the savoury and the sweet, a couple whose creative, complementary energy has created the Fogón restaurant, down to the very last detail. Vanina created the concept of sweet tapas for this menu, a menu that has been inspired by her talent and vision.
Her gentle attentiveness envelops the entire room, and it is with a supreme calm that she manages the Fogón’s catering service.