He has sold more than half a million recipe books. Karlos Arguiñano (Beasain, Gipuzkoa, 1948) publishes his tenth recipe book, Kitchen of 10 with Karlos Arguiñano (Planeta), in which he compiles 598 dishes cooked before the viewers of his daily program, open kitchen, which has been broadcasting on Antena 3 since 1991. He only cooks on the small screen. Years ago he left the management and kitchen of the restaurant that he set up in Zarautz in 1985, with which he obtained a Michelin star, to four of his seven children. The place has become a place where his admirers come en masse, and a restaurant that receives almost a hundred customers every day.
Ask. Another book of yours for Christmas recipes.
Answer. Another book. This is luck. I don’t know anyone who has sold so many recipe books. It helps to have a daily program on television, which has been the audience leader for the last six or seven months. I have been on television for 35 years. An atrocity.
Q. Can’t the audience get tired of Arguiñano?
R. That’s what I thought years ago. That’s why my wife and I went to Argentina, where we stayed for five years. But people never get tired of good things.
Q. Why do you think you are successful?
R. Because I communicate and connect with people. I started on television when I was 40, no one has taught me. I speak naturally, I talk about my wife, Luisi, my children, my team, and people become familiar with my story. There are many older people alone and I make them smile. I am very lucky because the children and grandparents love me.
Q. Are you as nice as you are on TV?
R. I was always the funny one in the group. It costs me little to play Arguiñano. I’ve always been like this.
Q. Do you keep track of the recipes you have made?
R. I will have made more than 10,000 different recipes on television. I spend all day thinking about decent menus that every housewife can make with local products. If I had dedicated myself to the restaurant alone, I would have made about 500 recipes in all these years.
Q. But many dishes are similar.
R. Yes, many of them look alike, but what they all have is that we have made them and tested them on television. They are tested, made by me, with controlled quantities and temperatures and they come out well. They don’t fail. What all the recipes have is that they are affordable, there may be some that are a little more expensive, but it is not usual. We take into account that people spend 35% of their salary on food.
Q. You don’t put caviar and truffle on your dishes.
R. That proliferates a lot now, but I don’t do haute cuisine. I stopped making it and being in the kitchen. I’m happy. The future is complicated. Most restaurants are reinventing themselves. With menus at 250 or 300 euros, which I am not saying is not worth it, it is difficult to survive. I think more about domestic food, and about people who live alone, to whom I recommend that they cook without fear, and then freeze it.
Everyone thinks about my retirement, except me. I am alive and well, I am a leader in what I do. I don’t want my life to be taking walks and seeing works.
Karlos Arguiñano
Q. Any favorite recipe?
R. I don’t have any favorites. This is like children, you love them all equally. I like them depending on the season. Now it’s time to eat legumes, soups, stews and game.
Q. In a few days the Michelin stars will be awarded. He knows well what it is to win and lose it.
R. The stars are very good, but there is a lot of pressure and it is very difficult to bear it. The best has been Ferran Adrià, which closed 11 years ago. He pays more attention to the inspector’s visit than to the client’s. The Michelin inspector can eat a lot, but he still doesn’t know about cooking. And he comes to eat one day and he gives you a note. Normally he would come at least once a month. I don’t like being given grades. For me the client is the star.
Q. Did it hurt you to have it taken away?
R. I had a bad time, I wondered why they took it away from me. I think the food in my restaurant is better now, that my children run it, than when it had a star and I ran it. Now we eat more variety. Every day we feed about a hundred people. It’s a great success, they come to eat for 50 euros. I tell my children to live in the clouds, not to think about the stars. I’d rather be a television star than have a Michelin star.
Q. Does it give you more satisfaction?
R. Yes, people trust me and my recommendations. It’s nice that people believe in me. Because I don’t lie. And among my union I feel loved and respected. Arzak, Subijana and Berasategui are true friends.
Q. Are you close to retirement?
R. Everyone thinks about my retirement, except me. I am alive and well, I am a leader in what I do. I don’t want my life to be taking walks and seeing works. In addition, I have renewed on television for two more years. Every day we receive at the restaurant between 20 or 25 buses of Imserso retirees who come to see me. It is a pilgrimage.
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