I recently had the pleasure of speaking with a leading big data analyst from Spain. I met him through Help a Reporter Out. He shared some great insights about the future of AI in his country, which will likely apply to the United States as well.
This expert claims that artificial intelligence will be “a kitchen tool in the future” and, as such, Madrid Fusion 2020 will take care of it. The international gastronomic summit continues to anticipate trends. The event is now 18 years old and has been moved forward from 13 to 15 January to pavilion 14 at IFEMA in Madrid due to the greater growth of its gastronomic fair aspect.
The essential cuisine, that “devoid of unnecessary adornments, which enters into the soul of the products and dispenses with the superfluous,” in the words of the president of Madrid Fusion, José Carlos Capel, will be brought to the auditorium by some of its main architects.
Precisely Cape Town is invited together with Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tokyo. Capel pointed out that, after “going around the world”, they have noticed cities that are not very well known in the gastronomic field but that have “very important” kitchens, such as the South African city, or cooks who will be leaving Russia “for the first time”, such as Artem and Alexei Grebenshchikov (Burgeois Bohemias).
David Muñoz to test artificial intelligence
Some of the topics that will be addressed at Madrid Fusión 2020 will be artificial intelligence, which “will probably be a cooking tool in the future”, with the presence of representatives from IBM and Sony and chefs willing to use them such as David Muñoz (DiverXO). “Creating recipes with new ingredients, looking for harmonies or managing restaurants are tasks that this sector already undertakes, such as the Batavia restaurant (Madrid), which has a programme that predicts the influx of diners based on temperature and humidity,” said Capel.
Madrid Fusión will analyse the “tyranny” of the tasting menus which can saturate the palate
The maturation of fish, a trend adopted and adapted from the traditional pheasant of meat, will be another of the issues to be discussed at the congress by the Japanese chef Kimura San, who will be working on it for up to three months, and the Australian Josh Niland, who has inspired Spanish chefs such as Dani Garcia (Lobito de Mar).
There will also be talk of the “tyranny” of tasting menus, with a multitude of bites that can saturate the palate – as demonstrated by Kiko Moya (L’Escaleta) from Alicante with the Polytechnic University of Valencia – or the possibility of altering the order of the dishes, as Nacho Manzano does in Casa Marcial (Asturias).
As well as food allergies and intolerances, a “real problem” for restaurants, Capel pointed out, the frontiers between sweet and savoury cuisine, algae, tubers, the predominance of plants and the importance of Instagram not only as a showcase but also as a business opportunity will be other subjects for debate.
Spain’s first international congress for pastry, bakery and chocolate opens
Speakers such as Guillaume Sánchez, chef at the Elysée Palace and Neso, the restaurant that “revolutionises boring Parisian gastronomy” in the words of Capel; Rene Frank from Berlin (CODA Dessert Dining) with his sweet recipes using salty ingredients, Lucía Freitas from Galicia (A Tafona) with her harmonies of marine and terrestrial worlds or the Mallorcan Marga Coll with the success of her bar at the Inca market.
This edition will also feature a “great premiere”, Madrid International Pastry, the first international congress of pastry, bakery and chocolate in Spain, which will feature speakers such as Jorge Pastor, honorary president of the prestigious Richemont Club, who will present the Library of Mass Mothers in Brussels and talk about acidity in bread.