Caldos/Broths: El Codigo Del Sabor/The Code of Flavor

A young Valencian chef who initially thought his life’s calling was as a trumpeter, Ricard Camarena oversees a cluster of Michelin-starred restaurants that have generated a great deal of excitement in the Spanish seaside city. A major reason for that excitement is chef’s intensely flavorful broths, which underlie nearly all his dishes and are prepared using innovative methods. Here, in his first cookbook, Camarena lays out his philosophy and techniques for making and using broths, beginning with four cardinal ideas, quoted here verbatim:

If you think you are making a broth, the result will most likely be a broth. If a chef sees a broth as a preliminary ingredient of a dish, the result will likely be very discreet. If it is considered as a complete and finished dish in itself, the result will be another thing altogether

Don’t think you’re making a broth. Imagine that you’re making lunch for your mother. And on top of that, imagine that you aren’t going to give her anything else.

The final result of a broth is the actual broth. You shouldn’t think that it will be used to add to this stew or to make that sauce. The broth itself should be worthy of dipping your bread into.

Mediocrity is an obvious quality of broth. You should never use a poor broth just because you think that the other ingredients will make up for it. In the end, what you cook is a dish in itself, and what you should achieve in finished product.
Beyond this manifesto, Camarena re-approaches techniques for clarification and flavor enhancement, provides examples of broths prepared without additional water, and does away with many traditional methods of thickening broths into sauces. A remarkable departure from the familiar that is sure of be a springboard to much creativity.

In Spanish and English. Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.