3 Spanish Chefs Who Are Ambassadors of Olive Oil

An increas­ing num­ber of chefs in Spain are becom­ing ambas­sadors for extra vir­gin olive oil in their own coun­try. They are not just win­ning prizes and recog­ni­tion; they are demon­strat­ing to their own fel­low Spaniards the value of their cul­tural and gas­tro­nom­i­cal her­itage. Olive Oil Times caught up with three award-win­ning Andalusian chefs.

At only 22 years old, Jesús Moral is the youngest chef to win the pres­ti­gious award Premio Cocinero Revelación 2017 at the Madrid Fusion Congress last month.

The young chef grew up in his family´s restau­rant, Taberna Miguel, located in Bailen, Jaén, in the heart of olive oil coun­try. After fin­ish­ing his stud­ies and work­ing along side of Michelin- starred chefs, he returned home. His par­ents rec­og­nized both his pas­sion and his abil­i­ties by giv­ing him his own space in the fam­ily restau­rant where today he cre­ates his mas­ter­ful dishes.

When we asked about his first mem­ory of olive oil he was quiet for a moment. Perhaps it was an obvi­ous ques­tion for him. After a long pause, he said, ​“I was born with olive oil, it is our way of life.”

Moral admit­ted he is right now the chef of the hour. Everyone wants to talk with him and reser­va­tions in the restau­rant have exploded, he said.

He under­stands that this new fame puts him in a very good posi­tion to show locals and inter­na­tional audi­ences how the dishes from his region can be and how these plates can be enriched with high-qual­ity olive oil.

Foreigners, he explained, from North America and Asia are eas­ier to con­vince about the ben­e­fits of qual­ity olive oil. It is more dif­fi­cult to per­suade locals to spend a few more euros on a bot­tle of olive oil that will improve their cui­sine.

Moral is not the only one to express that Spaniards are a bit more unwill­ing to use higher qual­ity olive oils. Chef Daniel García Peinado from Málaga also has expe­ri­enced more reluc­tance from locals to use bet­ter olive oil. He noted that Andalusians grow up around olive oil and often think they know every­thing. Foreigners are more open to learn­ing.

Five years ago, García Peinado first came in con­tact with olive oil thanks to the Spanish doc­tor, José Antonio Amérigo, who was look­ing for chefs to help him cre­ate a new menu of dishes rich in oleo­can­thal for his patients. It was in this moment that the chef real­ized that this prod­uct was not just for cook­ing but an impor­tant role in health.

From this point on he began study­ing the best ways to elab­o­rate plates with olive oil while main­tain­ing its sen­so­r­ial and healthy qual­i­ties. He said he had been able to win prizes by sur­pris­ing inter­na­tional judges by his use of olive oil. He noted that there are not many chefs that know how to use the prod­uct and it gives him an edge.

García Peinado made a very impor­tant point dur­ing his inter­view with us. He explained that it is the chef that trans­lates the ben­e­fits and the com­plex­ity of the prod­uct. Scientists dis­cover new find­ings, tasters are able to deci­pher the nuances and char­ac­ter­ize the oil and, doc­tors can tell you it is good for your heart, but it is the chef that brings these mes­sages home to the con­sumer. Without the chef there is no link, the mes­sage is lost.

This March, he will be open­ing his own restau­rant in Málaga, Oleoteca. The restau­rant will not just serve deli­cious and healthy dishes but it will be a place where peo­ple can come and learn about olive oil and the most sur­pris­ing ways to use it.

José Luis Navas aban­doned his own kitchen to reach out to chefs and pro­vide them with instruc­tion on how to use olive oil. He rec­og­nizes that there is a large mis­in­for­ma­tion on how to imple­ment olive oil in cui­sine. ​“We have some of the best oils in the world but the prob­lem is in trans­mit­ting the mes­sage of good prac­tices to chefs and con­sumers.”

Navas not only instructs chefs, he is also the direc­tor of the National Gastronomic Congress for Extra Virgin Olive Oil held annu­ally in the province of Jaén. Prestigious chefs, som­me­liers, and gas­tro­nomic experts come together dur­ing the event to show inno­v­a­tive ways in which Jaén’s extra vir­gin olive oils can be used in gas­tron­omy.

When asked about the future of olive oil, Navas had a lot to say.

He believes that there is so much more to explore in the world of olive oil espe­cially when it comes to blends. He explained that we have been caught up for some time in mono­va­ri­etals and it is time to take another step. ​“Imagine a blend of extra vir­gin olive oil that can per­fectly bring out the fla­vors of a plate. This is just one of the things we are work­ing on now.”

• Congreso Gastronomico Nacional de Aceite de Olive Virgen Extra


• Madrid Fusion