Jordi Roca, pastry chef at El Celler de Can Roca, was voted the best in the world in his category. Photo: EFE
Maybe for many Jordi Roca Be a real stranger. In the world of haute cuisine, that’s not the case even if you tried. He is supported not only by his decades-long career, but also by the numerous awards and recognitions he has collected over the course of his productive professional career. The last one: the prestigious one “The World’s 50 Best Award” for the best pastry chef in the world, which was awarded on November 21 in Yucatán, Mexico. This privileged creative spirit moved there and embodied Luis de Góngora’s sonnet better than anyone: “Once upon a time there was a man who was stuck to a nose, there was a nose of superlatives.”
His distinctive nose is his trademark his unique way of conceiving pastries. Jordi Roca not only makes cakes or sweets that will delight even the sweetest palates, but he has also managed to elevate this ancient craft to the category of culinary art. Your creations can be tasted with us El Celler de Can Roca, the family restaurant that was repeatedly recognized as the best in the world (and with three Michelin stars), until its overwhelming superiority over its “competitors” forced those responsible for granting this consideration to stop granting it. For the benefit of the other restaurants, because their fame and good work will be preserved. El Celler de Can Roca It is the mecca of innovative haute cuisine And no one in their right mind would dare deny this obviousness.
Jordi Roca completed his training at the Hotel Management School of Girona (Catalonia, Spain), but in the kitchen, far from the strict academic training, where he acquired his skills in preparation and preparation until he became the baking prodigy that he is today. Not without complications, as he himself recalled in a chapter of Netflix documentary series “Chef’s Table”. He found it difficult to find his way and concentrate as he was always in the shadow of his brothers Josep and Joan, who were already in charge of El Celler de Can Roca. But it comes from the breed to the greyhound, they say. It was a matter of time before he would face his calling, which was soon waiting for him. His parents also ran their small business, Can Roca, which they founded in 1967 and just over five decades later, is still operating at full capacity and offering one of these the best (if not the best) menu items of the day that you can taste in the area, at a price more than reasonable in Spain (16 euros or, what is the same, 300,000 pesos).
Continue reading the story
The three Roca brothers, from left to right: Jordi Roca, Joan Roca and Josep Roca, owners of El Celler Can Roca. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for 50 Best) (Dave Benett via Getty Images)
From the hand of one of the best, Damian AllsopHead pastry chef at El Celler, the very young Jordi learned everything he needed to learn about the sweet industry of gastronomy. The dolphin replaced the teacher in 1997 and since then its rise has been unstoppable. It’s not the first time that little Roca has won the coveted “The World’s 50 Best Award” in its category. It was already awarded in 2014. Two years later another big prize followed: the “Prix au Chef Pâtissier” from the International Academy of Gastronomy. In 2019, the three brothers were made honorary academics of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (RAED) for “their contribution to culture, innovation and innovation”. Few accolades can resist him as his “business portfolio” grows. You can taste his creativity not only in the restaurant to which he (and that him) owes his well-deserved fame in the world of pastry. In Rocambolesc, the pastry shop and ice cream parlor he founded with his wife Alejandra RivaIn Girona, located at street level, the gourmet can delight in the most personal and bizarre proposals (hence the name) from the confectionery master. Or “last one,” as he calls himself. Right next door, the couple has just opened a “sandwich shop” that is an ode to the taste between breads. Nothing so simple has ever tasted so delicious.
READ MORE:
Jordi Roca’s life took a 180 degree turn in May 2016 when he lost his voice. Speaking became a constant whisper and it was a very complicated task to make oneself understood, always at a minimum volume. He was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease called dystonia, which affected the tone of the muscles in the neck area. Thanks to doctors and rehabilitation, he was able to regain his speech almost overnight. seven years later, in March 2023. His daughter, born in 2019, was able to hear her father’s voice for the first time at the age of four. Today the master confectioner is a full-fledged man who, as he himself explained, tries not to think about the fear of losing his language again.
