Sergio Torres. Barcelona, spain. «The after-meal talk with friends is what I like most about Habanos»
Acclaimed cook and chef, he’s currently running with his brother – Javier Torres – the Dos Cielos Restaurant at the ME Barcelona Hotel, that grabbed a Michelin star in 2010, and the Eñe of Sao Paolo in Brazil.
His career has taken him to the cuisines of the large South American nation and basically different regions across Spain. Modernity, innovating techniques and creativity are the tokens in each and every one of the dishes he creates. For this 14th Habano Festival, Torres is chipping in with a recipe stemming from the cultural exchange between the Old and the New worlds, rubbing elbows with Meliá Cohiba Hotel executive chef Gerardo Watanabe and Cuban chef Vladimir Gonzalez. The dinner slated for the night of Feb. 29, celebrating the 520th anniversary of the Europeans’ discovery of tobacco in Cuba – a development construed as the onset of a long process of exchanges marked by cultural, racial and culinary crossings – is precisely the main course of this function. As to his attending the 14th Habano Festival, this is what Sergio Torres had to say in this interview. What do you like the most about the Habano world? The after-meal talk with friends, lighting a good Habano and have a few drinks on the table is what I like the most about Habanos. This year the Habano Festival is paying special tribute to the Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta brands. Are they among your favorite ones? Yes, both Cohiba and Romeo y Julieta are great references that rank high among my favorites. I’d like to learn more about Habanos because I enjoy the liturgy and the ritual of puffing on the cigar without inhaling the smoke. One of the reasons for this trip to Cuba during the Habano Festival is to learn to further appreciate the world of the Habano. I’ve smoked Habanos sometimes, but I think I need more information and probably go deeper into it for better appraisal. You have designed a recipe of one of the main courses for this gala, dedicated to the cultural and gastronomical fusion that celebrates the 520th anniversary of tobacco in Cuba. What inspired you to come up with this proposal? We have found inspiration in two cultures that share the same language. It’s a dish that blends ingredients from Spain and from Cuba. There are several interchanged and globalized ingredients from the five continents, in the wake of the Spanish colonization of the New World. Beans came to the Old World through the Americas and they are ingredients that we’re using as the main recipe. Other proposals are mushrooms and truffles out of Europe. We believe the global exchange of products was positive to enrich today’s cuisine. Each year the Festival’s activities include pairings of Habanos and products that boast denominations of origin. This time around, there’ll an alliance with Oporto wines. What do you make of that alliance? What pairing would you do? I think Oporto wines provide an excellent match. There’s a great variety of Oporto wines with different intensities, and so happens with Habanos. Based on my experience in the realm of restaurants, I can see that the great Habano sages usually drink a good Armagnac or aged cognac while puffing on their cigars. In Brazil, where we own restaurants (www.enerestaurante.com.br), I’ve seen people drink cachaza (kind of rum) while they smoke. That’s the traditional drink of Brazil and is distilled from sugarcane. There’s a tremendous variety and they’re pretty good in terms of quality. As far as the vitolas are concerned, I prefer midsize-to-shorter Habanos. Out of all the activities scheduled for this year’s festival, which one wouldn’t you miss? I won’t like to miss the humidor auction. Cuando diseña sus platos, ¿consideraría el maridaje con Habanos de la misma manera que lo consideraría con el vino? At the Dos Cielos Restaurants we make some dishes in which cigar smoke is the ingredients, or just an infusion made of cigar leaves, like muses, broths, desserts and the like. I think that even though they complement one another, pairings in this case are quite different. After winning our first Michelin star and all the worldwide fanfare that comes with it, patrons and gastronomes from around the globe visit the restaurant. It’s important to pay heed to all the details, the ambience, the appetizers, the drinks suggested by the sommelier, the food, the dessert. Glass, coffee, cigar, as we say in Spain. Are Habanos something your customers request on a regular basis after finishing their excellent meals? There’s a terrace and a cigar menu we offer our customers after they finish their lunches or dinners. It’s something our customers seek after very much, either those coming from Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paolo.
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