In the lexicon of culinary luxury, a few key words have elder statesman status. There is the foie gras. The Michelin, too. Mercedes (for the purposes of this piece, at least) also warrants a mention.
Now add to that cotton candy. These are the words and deeds that David Puig Zaragoza can claim. The Barcelona-trained, celebrated Young Catalan Chef (he has an award by that name), is currently top dog in Hong Kong. There, he is head pastry chef with Maximal Concepts the group behind some of the city’s most loved restaurants one of which is named Mercedes Me.
David is soon to give New Zealand a taste of what he is all about. Next month, he will showcase his spectacular tapas talents at the New Zealand School of Food and Wine’s Wine and Food Celebration. It was his foie gras cotton candy dish that first caught founder Celia Hay’s eye. “David is coming out of the classical traditions of Spain,” she says. In his current role, he’s also part of the food movement that is groovily fusing Spanish and Asian flavours.
Certainly, he has the credits on his CV: he took the Hong Kong spot after racking up a swag of three-star Michelin work experience in restaurants in his country of birth. Next, he studied at Valrhona’s Ecole du Grand Chocolat in Paris. But, as he explains himself, his inspiration goes back before then.
“My love and journey of food began when I was a child at my grandmother’s home, as she was always preparing difficult but delicious meals,” he says from Hong Kong.
Those early family feasts also provided his first introduction to a form of fusion. His grandmother is from the south of Spain, his grandfather from Barcelona in the north. “So when she came to Barcelona, she brought many different types of recipes from the south that she combined with the more local and casual food from Barcelona.”
David's passion for food increased when he got older and started travelling around Spain, he says. "I was able to see different cultures from different parts of Spain and the use of different products in each specific area of the country."
This visit will be his first to New Zealand. He is really excited about exploring the local cuisine culture, and, hopefully, cooking with some products he has never heard of or tasted before. "I would also like to try some of the most famous and popular casual restaurants during my visit," he adds. (He will be well catered for: in addition to giving him a look at new products that might be useful for him to use in Hong Kong, Celia Hay is hoping to get him to Waiheke.)
The visit will provide a sort of homecoming. Accompanying David will be Shiz Scott, DNA director at Maximal Concepts. She has a Kiwi father and Japanese mother, and spent 10 years living in Auckland and Christchurch while establishing herself in the hospitality industry.
Hong Kong might now be home for David, but he still misses his birthplace. He says that when off duty he likes cooking with his wife ("she helps me, and at the same time she is more funny"). Sundays are the day for a taste of Spain
"We miss the Spanish food, we try on Sunday to cook some paella rice at home, or cod or gazpacho."
And if he gets really homesick, there’s always good old gran. She is his true food hero, he says. “At more than 75 years, she is still able to cook really delicious meals for the whole family that we used to enjoy all gathered together on a Sunday for lunch.”
