Joan Pera: "In the Palacios winery there is a bottle with my name on it"

Joan Pera (Mataró, 1948) has one of the most recognizable and beloved voices in Catalonia. Sixty years on stage and a long history of memorable characters and voice acting do not prevent him from assuring, with laughter, that he is not "a very good actor." A defender of authenticity, in conversation, on stage, and at the table, the actor sees in wine a magic similar to that which he sees in theater.Where is this magic found?

— At a meal, a good glass of wine is like a jewel, like contemplating a work of art. You can spend hours looking at a painting or a movie you like; the same happens with wine. There is so much technique and so much nature that you never get tired of savoring it, of tasting it.

Does it have that total work of art thing, where all senses come in?

— The sensation when a good wine enters you is special. There is the aroma, there is the color, there is the touch of the glass... That nature can become a sensual and artistic pleasure like wine is a marvel. It is one of those things that make you wonder: where did the men and women who were able to create something like this come from?

And you, have you ever done it?

— For five or six years, at Christmas, we made the "Pera wine": the whole family trod the grapes, we bottled it every year with a different bottle, we put a label... It was a lot of work, but it was very nice because, in the end, everyone looked forward to our wine. The amount of intelligence that is deployed in great wines is admirable, but I have a very fond memory of homemade wine, rough, full-bodied, that made your tongue crackle, with that "catacrec", with [makes chewing sounds].

It is curious that a sound explains a taste so well.

— Like all things of art: there is a certain point that is magical and special and that is inexplicable. Sometimes you taste good wines, very good ones, but there is one that is special and makes you say: "It is this one". And the following vintage is no longer the same.

Are there also no two functions alike?

— I, normally, when I'm on stage, because I'm very happy, people are happy. But it's true that there's that day that is special. The previous performance may have been good, but you say: "Today there was a special magic". 

Has always been happy on stage? Have you ever had to play a character that didn't suit you?

— Sometimes, throughout life, but it hasn't been the majority. It's very noticeable that I'm not... [laughs] that I'm not a very good actor.

But what does it say?

— In the sense of interpreting. It's curious, because people think actors are people who can do anything. But I like it not to be noticed that I'm acting, that everything flows from the truth of the characters, that it's not fake. That it's something authentic, without pretensions.

Does this also apply to your cooking? I've seen on your social media that you really like to cook.

— I like to cook, but I don't know much about it. If I ever had a restaurant, I would tell people: "Come and eat. I won't tell you what there will be, but it will be good, because the secret is time, the quality of the product, and the diners". Nowadays it's hard to find an excellent product, something out of the ordinary. If the material is good, you've already won a lot. Fish, for example, has to be freshly caught; if it's just okay, I don't want it.

And do you have any signature dishes?

— Over the years, noodles with pork ribs. Since I have many children, I started making them because they were cheap and good. I put a little bit of everything in them, but not much, as Josep Pla's mother used to say, who was a great cook.

Speaking of cooking: he has a kind of crusade against refrigerators.

— I hate the fridge. And I hate it because I'm a person who works with their voice. I'm thirsty, I grab a beer, wine, cold water from the fridge and... I get tonsillitis. How annoying! Besides, it's never at the exact right temperature. You go to get cured meat from the fridge? It's worthless. Melon? It hurts your teeth...

And the wine? Do you keep it in the fridge?

— So that the temperature drops a little. But ideally, you should keep it in the cellar, in the coolest place in the house, so that it maintains that nice cool, refreshing point, without being icy, which is also no good. And if you have to add ice, you might as well give up.

Before, the touch of glass was mentioned...

— When I got married, fifty years ago, the first thing we looked for were some glasses that were very beautiful. There are still some left, although there are fewer and fewer: think that I had six children...

Some surviving cups!

— Survivors of six creatures. That art of glass... I went once to Venice, to Murano, and what a marvel. And I have two or three glasses from my mother, from the thirties, forties, chiseled in the style of the last century.

Part of his family was from Alfaro.

— And I am a bit of a friend, a bit of a relative of [Álvaro] Palacios. In fact, in his winery at home, in La Rioja, I have a bottle with my name on it, kept for many years. It really makes me laugh to say it: in Palacios' winery there is a bottle with the name of Joan Pera.