The daring cuisine of Óscar Roca, the Young Menorcan Chef

Miriam Triay/Ferreries - Óscar Roca (Ferreries, 1999), has become, since last February, the representative of Menorcan cuisine this year. Having won the Jove Chef Menorquí 2024 competition, this November, from 27 to 30, he will travel to Sicily to show our cuisine to the rest of Europe, in the European Young Chef Award 2024 competition.

But who is this young Menorcan, a lover of the culinary arts? Roca is a cook who has been slowly developing and developing. Without rushing, and always looking for the best version of himself, and of the dish he prepares. This is how the young chef presents himself.

A CHEF IS BORN

At the age of 16, he began a new life alone, becoming independent from home and forced to work to survive. That is how he first encountered cooking, which motivated and hooked him. "It was a job that I liked, with which I learned things, and it aroused a lot of curiosity in me." Navigating through different kitchens, from that moment on, is how Roca began to discover the wide range of possibilities that were opening up before him. Learning from different professionals, and realizing what was right, and also what was not, for him.

At that time, the passion for the culinary world had perhaps already been born, but Roca had not perceived it that way yet. For that reason, and with the opportunity in front of him, he decided to take charge of the Dylan Pub, in Ferreries, together with his best friend.

There, and after a year and a half, was when the chef began to awaken, definitively. “When you are feeling bad, that is when you realise what path you would like to follow, and working at night, surrounded by drunk people, was when I saw that I longed for the kitchen.” With his path clear, Roca then decided to leave the pub and go to study in Barcelona, ????at the renowned Hofmann cooking school.

“Thanks to working at the Dylan Pub, I realised what I really wanted to do, and I was also able to take that path. I could afford it financially. I mean, really, at no time have I regretted having made the decision to take over the business. The opportunity arose and I took advantage of it.”

A YOUNG MENORCAN CHEF

The chef begins to make his name by trying out and getting to know different restaurants on the island, especially in Ferreries. But it is not until, thanks to an acquaintance of his, he learns of the existence of the Young Menorcan Chef competition, that Roca decides to go further, put himself to the test, and discover if he is really doing what he should. His beginning of the year changes completely, then, when he must prepare for the competition. From 10-11 hours a day dedicated to school, now we must add the time also devoted to the preparation of the two dishes, traditional and innovative, of the competition, adding up to a total of 14-15 hours a day, of cooking and stoves.

“I am a person who, if I commit to doing something, I go all out. Presenting myself half-heartedly is not my thing. That is why I have worked so hard, and have spent so many hours. And, although it has had its hard and uncertain moments, it has been a very nice and rewarding experience, because I have been able to see how work and effort have paid off.”

He confesses to the new Young Menorcan Chef, without forgetting, at any time, the people who have accompanied him and made it possible. Like a cook friend who sent him a dozen Menorcan recipe books, to learn and understand; or an artisan from the island who designed the dishes he has used. As well as, and above all, his sister, who has gone to buy and look for everything he needed. “I couldn't do much from Barcelona, ??and I didn't have much time to spend buying glasses, for example. So my sister was key in the process of preparing everything.”

FROM LAMB STEW (PANADERA DE BE) TO THE LAND OF MENORCA

With lamb stew as the true star of the event, last February the different contestants and aspiring Young Chefs had to prepare two dishes: the traditional one and the innovative one. For the first, they had to stick to the ingredients given, without adding or removing any. On the other hand, for the second, they could add whatever they wanted.

For the innovative, deconstruction dish, Roca opted to serve it in three places. In this sense, not only the ingredients contained in the recipe and their shape were important. “The three dishes were served in: a glass that I got from Mestral; a flat plate in the shape of Menorca and of a whitish colour; and an irregular, deep and darker bowl.”

The glass contained a leftover broth, made with potato skins, onions, garlic... with what is usually thrown away. "I wanted to show the importance and ease of giving a second life to things, both for the glass, which was second-hand, and for the broth."

As for the flat plate and the bowl, they intended to play with a meaning that goes beyond food. "The flat plate, shaped like Menorca, for me symbolized the sand of the beaches of southern Menorca, white and fine; and the irregular bowl, the sand of the north, red, uneven, with more unevenness. They are the two versions of the beaches of Menorca that we all know."

If we focus on what each one contained, in the final presentation of the dish, the glass presented, as we have said, a broth of use. The flat plate, "a millefeuille, that is, a tub of potato, on which I put the boneless lamb. Using the same parts of the animal as in the traditional recipe, but without the bone." And in the uneven bowl “first I put lamb sauce on the whole bottom, so that it had its own flavour. I did this on purpose, since in the traditional dish, everything has this unique flavour. Then I also added broad beans and blanched snow peas. And I made the artichoke confit. Finally, as for the egg, which in the traditional recipe is boiled, I cooked it twice, mollet -4-5 minutes, with the white cooked and the yolk raw-, and fried with panko, so that it was crispy, giving it the visual touch I was looking for”.

This dish is the one that Óscar Roca will present in Sicily next week, where he hopes to obtain the award won two years ago by Pau Sintes, as Best Young Chef in Europe.

A CHEF OF THE WORLD

After this presentation that has meant becoming the young chef who will represent Menorcan cuisine, this November, Roca will begin one of his dreams: to travel and discover. Although, as he himself says, it will not be until he finishes his studies at Hofmann, next December, that he will finally be able to enjoy this passion. “As soon as I can, my idea is to be able to go out and travel to different places in the world. Getting to know and appreciate the different culinary cultures around the planet. In addition to, of course, defending and showing our cuisine, that of home.”

With the desire to transmit to the outside, and to learn inward, Roca is aware that he still has a long way to go and to learn. But he is already very clear about what kind of chef he wants to become, and what kind of cuisine he wants to offer to his public. “I still don’t have a set cooking style, but I am clear about what cuisine I like and what I want to achieve in the future: a daring cuisine, with which I can never get bored, and loving. I think that the way you express yourself also defines you as a person. And I always try to dare with everything, and put a lot of dedication and love into it.”

A daring and a love that, if everything goes as he wants and hopes, will be seen tomorrow on the menus of his own restaurant in Menorca. Where he knows and is clear that he wants to return. Having already fed on all the knowledge from outside possible, thus achieving entertaining cuisine that always keeps him awake.

Roca has already begun to prepare his professional and life path. First he must face the nearest challenges, such as the European competition this coming week, or his graduation, but something innovative and tasty enough is already slowly cooking.