Cocinar Felicidad/Cooking Happiness

Called an “approachable and fun” perfectionist by Michelin, which has awarded two stars to his eponymous Madrid restaurant, Ramón Freixa is not afraid of work.

His gracefully, sometimes whimsically, plated food is technically demanding. A dish called “Iberian suckling pig confit, seasonal fruit salad and borage,” requires the marination of two suckling pigs, which are then cooked with herbs and 800 grams of duck fat, boned while keeping the skin as intact as possible, weighted and chilled, then portioned for being crisped just before serving with separately prepared pork stock and a fried pig’s ear. The fruit salad and borage are prepared separately, of course, and the diner receives something crisp, delicate, and colorful.

You are perfectly free to pick and choose elements of Freixa’s creations, whether it’s the broccoli tartlet with its bean crust or his pointillist ratatouille tapestry upon which he serves a dish of rabbit ribs, snails, and frog legs.

This is not a book for those who are uninterested in the transformation of ingredients.