"I believe that molecular cuisine is essential for today's gastronomy"

Reinaldo Enrique Ybarras Gilmod, Executive Chef Hotel Baywatch located in Tucacas, Falcón State, Venezuela, where he also consults to improve his menu and all the operations of the food department. He is 49 years old and 24 years ago he began to develop in the field of gastronomy.

Photo: Il Chef News

Mariano Pisani: Being an Executive Chef, are there more difficulties in the kitchen than being a cook? Because?

Reinaldo Ybarras: Yes, there are some differences, but rather than calling them difficulties, I would call them responsibilities. It is to ensure that all processes are fulfilled. It is planning and organizing to be effective at the time of service. It is that each brigade carry out everything expeditiously. I think that's where the difference is.

MP: Among those responsibilities is the purchase of food for the store. How difficult is it to choose the best food for the restaurant?

RY: Yes, it's important and it's usually a bit difficult. The selection of food, even when we have a purchasing department, the Chef verifies the quality standards of each product or each food. Having good suppliers means better results in both preparation and presentation, the colors, flavors and textures that will allow the restaurant to position itself among the best.

MP: When choosing the products, what do you prefer: color, flavor, aroma or all three? Because?

RY: The smell and the taste are what can motivate me when it comes to eating. Colors influence appetite. The way in which I can perceive the colors will tell if they are fresh or not and will motivate the desire to consume each preparation. I cannot leave aside the issue of textures, which are also important. Actually, I prefer all four: color, flavor, aroma and textures.

MP: So, can it be said that a perfect dish is a combination of those 4 parts?

RY: And we can't leave out the presentation. Plating also plays an important role for food consumption, we would be talking about plating, aromas, colors, textures and flavors.

One of the many plates of Renaildo. Photo: Il Chef News

MP: Speaking of the plating, do you agree with the idea that "you eat first with your eyes"?

RY: Yes, totally agree. Faced with a good employee, no one could resist trying.

MP: What do you think about molecular cuisine and its presentation?

RY: I love to innovate, I like new gastronomy trends. It is evolving every day and proof of this is molecular cuisine. It came to revolutionize because it is able to wrap the diner in a great experience. Presentations are something that can often blow the top off your head. However, I appreciate and defend the old school.

MP: Is it essential for today's gastronomy?

RY: I think so, the changes and the different aspects that lead to new styles are essential. I think that everything in the world evolves and gastronomy goes hand in hand, changes and new trends bring proposals for all palates to the market.

MP: Can you innovate with old trends together with new trends?

RY: Gastronomic trends are straight out of the old school and taken to another level. I think, from my opinion, that the steps to follow in terms of novelties will depend on the products and the creativity of each chef. The gastronomy shudders with the purpose of designing offers that had not been seen until now. I believe that everything can be possible in gastronomy. For me, classic cuisine and new cuisine are feasible. For me gastronomy is infinite.

Photo: Il Chef News

MP: Is that reflected in the kitchen of the hotel where you work?

RY: Yes, there has been a change in techniques and methodology, but I think that the conditions are not yet right at the Hotel to jump into that avant-garde kitchen. I think there are limitations that do not allow it. But they are under attack.

MP: What could be the help to take that leap?

RY: Provision of new equipment that allows the development of new techniques. I think I told you lines back, it's about growing hand in hand with technology and new trends in the gastronomic market.

MP: Do you think that this can lead to winning cooking prizes?

RY: Yes, obviously. If you have the staff and equipment to deliver an excellent service, of course, you could win a prize.

MP: Now, being the executive chef of a hotel and having a great experience, do you aspire to have an award?

RY: I think that this interview is an award, it is a recognition and I sincerely thank Chef Marcelo for this space for these lines. The interview they did to me for the newspaper El Popular by Marcela Korzeniewski and others for digital media are a distinction that I am very humbled to appreciate. Another prize that I can have is the recognition of all the people to whom I have had the joy of presenting my gastronomic proposal.