Are we the ones who eat? Throughout the first thematic block of El Ser Creativo, the experts tried to answer this question, each one from their own particular vision of gastronomy and food. In order toJose Carlos Capel, president of Madrid fusion and gastronomic critic, “food is a cultural act“. Capel spoke of the paradoxes of food in a world in which there are the same number of obese as there are people who go hungry, of the industrialization of our pantries, of the loss of the temporality and personality of what we eat.” In the West we have lost the face of food “, expressed this critic who declares himself a” food romantic. “This is not the case ofJose Miguel Mulet, doctor in biochemistry and molecular biology, who in his presentation dismantled one by one all the myths about the so-called natural diet. “All the matter in the Universe has the same origin. All we eat are atoms and molecules. Everything is natural,” he stated flatly. In his presentation he explained thatall cultivated plants come from 5 zones, all of them located around the tropics, from which man imported them to other areas and was modifying them in different ways. “There is more technology in a tomato than in an iPhone5,” explained Mulet.
Elena Adell, oenologist, offered the attendees a complete scientific wine tasting, explaining how different scientific studies support the benefits of a moderate consumption of this drink. The beneficial effects are due to phenolic compounds, especially resveratrol, present in grapes. These substances are produced in response to stress, so if the vines are artificially stressed through leaf removal or the addition of hormones, it is possible to increase the concentration of phenolic compounds in the grapes.
The icing on the ‘gastronomic cake’ was putFerran Adrià, considered the best chef in the world. His next challenge is called ‘Bullipedia’ and he aims to organize all the world’s gastronomic knowledge to serve as a tool for professionals in the field.
Food is a topic that leaves no one indifferent. We all eat, and we all have opinions about it. If something became clear after the first thematic block of El Ser Creativo 2012, it is that, indeed, we are what we eat.
