14 years ago, with ‘El Bulli’ considered the best restaurant in the world on five occasions, Ferran Adrià (L´Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1962) decided to change the kitchen for the dissemination of cuisine, a passion only comparable to the one he feels for Barça.— It must not have been easy to decide between football and cooking. Because you… were a soccer player.—You played for Santa Eulàlia. He worked as a dishwasher. One day, I had to choose between work or football. I asked the coach and he told me that as a footballer I wasn’t going to go far. That day I learned something that will last a lifetime: that you are not what you think you are, but rather what others say you are.—Well, we have some cases in football that point to the opposite.—One day Xavi came with Messi , I told him about it and he told me that, if it is true, one can work to change one’s mind. —Tell me, do cooking and football have a lot in common?—It depends. The best footballers earn much more than the best chefs and you work 10 hours on your feet. Day and night. 100,000 people go to a football field and 50 to a good restaurant. Of course, if you want to achieve excellence, you need something common: passion, even obsession, effort, talent. Standard Related News Si Labi Champion: «If I talk about the things that I have covered up from some footballers, they put me in jail» María José Hostalrich standard Yes Fútbol Inocencio Arias: «The Virgin of Almudena appears to him often to Madrid» María José Hostalrich—Is that the key to Barcelona’s success, in addition to taking the offside line well?—Be careful with that, what matters are the titles. This interview would not be the same if the team loses two games. We have started well, but we have to go with humility, because this is long. It is very interesting that there are so many players from the quarry. Like in the Guardiola era. But we will see if Lamine is Messi, if Casadó is Xavi and if Pedri is Iniesta.—Flick has convinced them that they are.—I like Flick because he is serious and doesn’t put on shows. But football is all emotion and emotions are treacherous. You go from being a god to the opposite. As a culé I am happy, although I have learned to be patient. We are starting a cycle. —Who do you stay with from this BarçaTeen?—What Lamine is doing was not done at his age nor was Messi, who for me is the greatest. We have to wait, but being named the best young man at the Ballon d’Or gala and the eighth best player in the world, at 17 years old, is crazy — Speaking of the Ballon d’Or, what did you think of Rodri winning it? — Fantastic . He deserved it. And for Spanish football it is tremendous. In my opinion, it has been given little importance. Having the Spanish women’s and men’s Ballon d’Or is brutal. — Vinicius is not so enthusiastic. — This is like the Michelin guide or the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. If you have three stars, the guide is fantastic. If you don’t have any, it’s worthless. And what cannot be is that your opinion changes if they give it to you or not. But why did Vinicius have to win? That is voted on.—I deduce that he did not understand Madrid’s anger.—I found it a bit absurd. Madrid is a team with lordship. —What kind of culé fan would you say you are?—I love it when Barça wins, but if they lose I sleep. You can live without football. It’s a hobby, although I always want Madrid to lose. This wonderful rivalry is fortunate. Without Madrid and Barça, football would not be the same. —The rivalry is very nice, but you refused to open a restaurant at the Bernabéu.—There was a part that, being a culé, was not easy for me. Nothing would have happened at City, but at the Bernabéu… It is also true that I was already retiring. —Is that why the Madrid players didn’t go to ‘El Bulli’? Because of an eye for an eye?—Someone came and we treated him well. But if you didn’t reserve in advance you could call yourself whatever your name was. There was a demand of 2 million people.—The same as for those from Barcelona and they did visit him.—The only one who always had a table for sure was Cruyff. I admired him a lot. He is the Steve Jobs of football. The only one who has been great playing and training. And football changed. —I would never have said that a player likes a creative dish more than a steak.—Now they go to creative restaurants more than 30 years ago. Before, they always went to the steakhouse. Now, they are divided up — Who would you say is the one who showed the most interest in your gastronomic proposal? — ‘El Bulli’ was not a celebrity restaurant. Celebrities don’t book a year in advance. But of those who came, for example, Pep Guardiola really likes to eat. Xavi, Txiki Beguiristain. Johan began to like gastronomy at the end. And Messi also likes to eat – If you can tell me, what did you use to feed the Argentine star? – One day we cooked a Neapolitan scallop, which is the dish he liked the most, with tomato and cheese. We had a great time and it was very nice. I admire him as a footballer and as a person. It has a huge intellectual structure. Pep defined it very well: the difference between Messi and the rest of the world is that he already sees what is going to happen before the ball reaches him. — You are worth a damn, haven’t they offered you to be part of a board or to Would you propose it?—You had a very good relationship with Laporta, Guardiola and Txiki. I could help them, but you have to know your limits. Outside of gastronomy I can’t contribute much. I carry the flag of Barcelona fans around the world and that’s how I contribute, in another way. I have my ego covered. I don’t need to be a manager. I have a lot of respect for what I don’t know how to do. — Well, you even teach financial education classes. Maybe they were doing well.—I don’t know how Barça is doing in that regard, but I would also like to know how Madrid is doing, since little is said about Madrid on a financial level, but I have read that it is not that wonderful either. In the end, it’s not what you earn, but what you owe. Barça’s debt is enormous. Most clubs are bad. Investment groups don’t buy them for what they earn. They buy them so they can revalue them. —In short, you like football, but not trouble.—I like Barça. I also see City, now, because Pep is there. But I don’t see other teams. Rarely. To the selection, if anything. — Closing in a big way, the best game you have seen in your life?—The final of the World Cup in Qatar. There were six goals plus penalties. There is nothing better than a World Cup final and, what’s more, it is a highly contested France-Argentina.
#Ferran #Adrià #Madrid #lose
