Chef Victor Arguinzoniz – Known For the Exceptional Taste and Quality of His Grilled Cuisine

Do you like this post?

Located at the heart of the Basque Country is a small house that, at first glance, looks perfectly normal. Inside, however, you will find the most sumptuous grilled food cooked by none other than the master of the hearth himself, Victor Arguinzoniz. The head chef of the Asador Etxebarri, which was voted as the 44th best restaurant of the world, Chef Arguinzoniz is known throughout the world for the exceptional taste and quality of his grilled cuisine.

He grew up in a farmhouse located in the Basque Hills, an area not really that far from the restaurant he currently owns. Since the households in his community often had no electricity, building a fire on a daily basis and using only the hearth for cooking became ingrained into his very being. As such, he grew up with the aroma of wood smoke. Little did he know, however, that this upbringing would build the foundation for a stellar career in gastronomy.

Before becoming a world-renowned chef, Chef Arguinzoniz actually followed quite a few career paths. He finished high school and did his military service, and afterwards became a forester. Sometimes, he would go to the local plaza in the town of Axpe and hang out with a few of his friends and grill some steaks. This, no doubt, had quite a bit on influence on his next move, which was to buy a 200-year old stone building which was practically a half-ruined restaurant. That was in the year 1989. He bought it on a whim, claiming that he simply “liked grilling”. He also wanted to keep the Basque village restaurant alive because it was a “crucial community center.”

At first, Chef Arguinzoniz tried to serve the more traditional grill-house dishes, but with his talent, he managed to make them very deliciously different though. However, Chef Arguinzoniz wanted something more. He started craving for the more sophisticated dishes in the high-class restaurants, dreaming of making them on the grill. Of course, a lot of dishes were practically impossible to cook using a grill or a hearth at that point, but “impossible” was not a word that this top chef acknowledged, and instead of taking things lying down, he created several innovations for the grill himself, inventing gadgets out of scratch.

What was great about Arguinzoniz was that he actually thought about how he could achieve his ideas. For example, Angulas. Normally, chefs would think that it is impossible to grill them because they are simply so fragile. However, Arguinzoniz managed to do so, but not before creating a stainless steel mesh saucepan which could be placed high above the fire so as to not overcook the Angulas.

Soon enough, he managed to create his own personal grills, with grates that can be moved higher or lower through a pulley system, making their distance to the fire adjustable, and he also has various special baskets wherein he can cook his food. These innovations allowed him to create dishes which have a subtle taste of smoke and yet are still tender enough to be truly savored.

Sure enough, the unique grilled dishes received much acclaim for food critics, and several people travel to the Baques each year just to sample Chef Arguinzoniz’ exquisite cooking.

Credit Image: foodandwine.com

Popularity: 1% [?]

Currently 0 comment - But what do you think?