Creative drought in the kitchen

Many voices in the halls of culinary conferences are commenting on the drought currently affecting the world of cooking and gastronomy in our country. According to analysts, creativity seems to be a more subjective matter than innovation. In my case, I will take advantage of my last class with my MACC students to try to present the pros and cons of this topic. Is there no longer any creativity in the kitchen?

If we start from the purest definition, it is practically impossible to create, as referenced in Genesis 1:1 of the Old Testament: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This concept undoubtedly corresponds to creation from scratch, something perhaps only within the reach of gods or those who have been “touched” by them.

We are talking, then, about cooking in a novel and original way without having a previous reference or, in a lighter way, starting from existing references to create, generating a novel result.

In fact, since the first hominids, we have created precisely to overcome obstacles; in the face of any adversity, we have sought answers, in some cases generating a paradigm shift, as with milestones such as the control of fire, the creation of pottery, the wheel, the steam engine, or electricity.

When we talk about chefs, we usually look for creativity in the final product that reaches the table, the food itself. But if we broaden our perspective, we can find it in all aspects of the culinary experience, in the processes, and even in the resources used.

I mean that we can create within the product itself, through the production of new examples, through dialogue with producers and/or technicians, or by using the product in novel ways, employing parts that haven't been used before, etc. Or by creating culinary tools and/or techniques, drawing inspiration from those used in other disciplines or simply adapting them from their original context. We can also envision a specific result, a particular preparation, a certain texture, and embark on a quest to achieve it through trial and error.

As you can see, this requires, as Albert Adrià said at the last San Sebastián Gastronomika congress, the “Three D’s: money, money, and money.” As the chef himself explained, money for resources, money for the best team, and money for time. But besides money, you must have an idea, a project to build, as the great Alain Ducasse said, “Genius without a product is meaningless. But creativity, without a project, is also pointless.”

And for this, a creative attitude is undoubtedly needed, nurtured by doses of freedom, imagination, intuition, expression, routine, and work discipline, as well as a nonconformist tendency that constantly leads one to question the reasons behind things. The ability to understand what we do and to know how to communicate it is also present in the process, as Andoni Luis Aduritz says, "A good dish must be accompanied by logic. We cannot strip the matter of its narrative."

At this point, as we have said, creating and innovating are not the same thing. Theodore Levitt tells us that “Creativity is thinking of new things. Innovation is doing new things.” In the end, we could simplify things considerably and define innovation as creating and ensuring that what we have conceived is successfully implemented in the market, the restaurant, or society.

Perhaps the most interesting thing would be to measure innovation in the restaurant itself in order to form an opinion. Let's do an exercise and imagine the pyramid of creativity; at the base would be the very act of copying or reproducing, to be more precise, followed by Escoffier, whose style was adapted in the famous "pajama" menu at the 7 Portes restaurant.

At a similar stage would be combinatory interpretations or evolutionary adaptations, such as the creation of a "vanilla coulant with pistachio foam" version of Michel Bras's classic. At the top of the pyramid reside original creations like spherification, or those that, as we've mentioned, generate a paradigm shift or disruptive creation. We're talking about the plating revolution with the legendary "salmon with sorrel" that Nouvelle Cuisine established, or the "textured vegetable stew" that sparked a revolution and marked the beginning of the latest culinary avant-garde in what has been called the Techno-Emotional movement.

Perhaps we were spoiled by the fact that for many years a team of chefs created a business model where they could achieve those three D's and be free, fostering the conditions for a fruitful creativity and innovation that undoubtedly overwhelmed international gastronomy. But time will tell; historical analysis indicates that everything is cyclical and that creativity, as we have said, can materialize in different fields.

Regarding creativity, simply adding the wise words of Jacques Maximin, "to create is not to copy," seems unbelievable, but this statement has caused more than one guru to change their perspective.