Borja Ordoño: "I learned to cook with Karlos Arguiñano, who is a very good guy."

BarcelonaI interviewed Borja Ordoño (Vitoria, 1986) in the newly opened sandwich and preserves restaurant On Balmes Street in Barcelona, ​​​​the Ultrapaninos MarínHe tells me that the large space, with a floor below, will serve as a workshop for the well-known Ultramarinos Marín, a success since it opened in September 2021. Ordoño has a discreet personality, feels comfortable in conversation but prefers to work in the kitchen, where he says he always prefers to prepare all the products offered on the menu, including.

How did you come to want to open a place dedicated to sandwiches?

— First, because the Ultramarinos Marín bakery, where we're working a lot, was too small. And then, because the space became available. Since they're right next to each other, I thought it would be ideal to have space to make our bread and delicatessen. We make five different breads every day: focaccia, country bread, flatbread, sliced bread, and small rolls.

And the sausages.

— I'm passionate about them. They're ancient techniques for preserving meat, and what I'm doing is applying the knowledge of the Italian way of doing things to the meat of Iberian pigs. I think Spanish sausages lack the paprika and garlic mixture, and then, when it comes to curing them, they're cured by saturating them with salt. We're conducting tests and want to know how much salt is needed to achieve the perfect balance. In short, it's a beautiful sudoku. Our premise is not to settle for the most noble parts of the animal, because everything makes sense in a sausage. And in practice, we offer them on both the Ultramarinos and Ultrapaninos menus.

In Italy I saw how the focaccias are maintained as in great phenomenon.

— And that's because sandwiches are largely Mediterranean. Hamburgers had become fashionable, but our sandwiches connect with personal and family traditions. Everyone remembers their favorite sandwich. In Italy, they're proud of their Parma ham, but we have incredible cured meats. For example, no one values bulls and salchichones, and it's a shame. Catalan charcuterie is very broad, and I find there aren't enough books covering it. I also think that in the past, cured meat techniques were more interesting, and now the preparation has become easier. And I also think we're content with buying cured meats at the supermarket and doing the same old thing. And about Italy, let me tell you, it seems like they invented everything; one day they'll say that coffee is also their invention.

Which ones do you like?

— Years ago, I used to buy a black bouillon in Lleida, it was extraordinary. The makers retired, and I asked if they could teach me how to make it, as it pained me to see their knowledge lost. They said no, and they closed.

I focus on the Ultrapaninos. small sandwich and the Frankfurter. I really liked them. I had lunch for about eleven euros.

— He small sandwich It is a sandwich made with country bread and ham, which we smoke, and we add lettuce and a tartar sauce that we prepare daily. Everything is made by us, except for the lettuce. And what I like the most is the hot dog, which we prepare with a frankfurter we make ourselves, and therefore I can explain how we make it, which parts of the pork I used, and that I added whey, which acts as a thickener, because it's the quality of milk protein. The pork we use is Ral de Avinyó, and I mix it with Iberian pork fat, which is healthy. So it doesn't have bread molds or any other strange ingredients. For me, morally, it's very important that the cured meats and frankfurters we make follow the same quality criteria we have for preparing other dishes. What's more, the charcuterie helps us close the loop on the ingredients we use, because that way we don't waste any of the meat we cook.

Are the pigs owned?

— I'm a professional chef; I'm not a livestock farmer, but I know exactly which brands I choose and who I buy them from. For Iberian pork, I buy from Maldonado, in Extremadura, where they are committed to the biodiversity of the pastureland where the Iberian pigs live, because they now also have cows and goats. I've visited them, I know them well, and I assure you that you understand the quality of that meat when you put it in your mouth. I believe in my suppliers.

Will Ultrapaninos always be about sandwiches?

— No, I don't want to limit myself to sandwiches. We'll also make recapte cakes, with tomatoes, escalivadas, and belly. Right now, we're working on puff pastry, and we have an exciting idea: offering blood sausage wrapped in puff pastry. At Ultrapaninos, we also make yogurts, desserts, and garum.

Garum, the desired sauce.

— Well, a lot of work needs to be done to spread the word about how to use it. It's the mother of all sauces, and I'd say there's nothing more Mediterranean than garum, which can be used for everything. A lot.

Do you expect Ultrapaninos to be a resounding success, as Ultramarinos Marín has been since its inception?

— I like to take it slow. And yet, you can't make much money with sandwiches. At ten euros per ten euros, which is what sandwiches cost, we'd have to sell a lot of them to make it a business. Also, keep in mind that everything we sell is made by hand, everything is handmade, we start from scratch, so we need a skilled workforce.

Speaking of workers, at Ultramarinos Marín I thought I saw more waiters and cooks than before.

— There are eighteen of us, yes, and more and more people are working on it. At Ultramarinos, the premise is also that everything is handmade and the working conditions are good.

He has explained more than once that he buys the fish he cooks from Vilanova's box.

— Yes, I really like the port of Vilanova. When we started, we went to more than one, and we chose Vilanova because of the way it handled the red shrimp. We go shopping on Mondays, and I go whenever I can. In addition to grilling the fish and shrimp, my idea was also to make stews, but, except for the head and leg, which they do order, people ask us for grilled fish and shellfish. I understand, because one day you go to Ultramarinos Marín, you're dedicated to a festival, while stews can be eaten in other restaurants, but I wanted to do it.

With fish, you find that people prefer one over the other, right?

— Yes. Today we had snapper and sea bream, and people ordered the sea bream. Not the snapper. If we have turbot and spider crab, we get the turbot. As for meats, we have the chop, and I'm about to take it off the menu, because I'm not excited about cooking it anymore. I find grilled rabbit or lamb chop more fun; it's more Mediterranean than eating txuleton. I don't understand why people want it instead of the other meats I just told you about. Besides, you don't have to spend so much money on a txuleton, and we can choose a cheaper meat. So if the average bill at Ultramarinos Marín is expensive, it's because of the choice they make, because there are other dishes with different prices. In fact, we have customers who get a salad, chicken, and dessert, and they get a good price. In a restaurant, you have to study the menu carefully and understand it.

Ultramarinos Marín is only four years old, and it has become a classic Barcelona spot.

— You all tell us this, and this is a great responsibility for us. I am also happy that the word groceries I would like it, because we wanted to refer to the grocery store, to the idea that everything that is sold is made by us.

Does Ultramarinos Marín belong to the Confiteria group?

— No. They helped me at first. Enric Rebordosa from Confiteria helped me when I told him I wanted to stay in Barcelona, ​​and he has a stake, but the restaurant doesn't belong to the group, which has now grown very large. They're doing very important social work in Barcelona because they're restoring the city's essential establishments. They're doing very well.

Borja, why did you choose the profession of cook?

— Because at home, we ate very well. When I was 15, I went to the US to study, and then I realized what a great treasure we had in the Basque Country. I don't mean to say that the US doesn't have a culinary culture; no, that's not it. What happens to them is that cooking is fuel, which is why they eat anywhere without scruples. For us, cooking is a liturgy, which includes family and friends. We take it for granted, but when you go and compare, that's when you realize. When I returned home to the Basque Country, my sister suggested I enroll at Karlos Arguiñano's cooking school, located in Zarautz, and I realized that Arguiñano worked hard. He's also a very good person. I was there for two years, mornings and afternoons, and I have very good memories.

And where did he go from Arguiñano's school?

— In Martín Berasategui's kitchen, and then I understood what a three-Michelin-star restaurant means. I had just been in a restaurant at Arguiñano's, where there were six of us chefs, and I'm moving to a kitchen with one hundred and sixty. Then I decided to travel around the world to learn about other cuisines, like Nordic and Asian. I went there and did a season. I also settled in Valencia to learn how to make rice dishes.

What happened that made you want to stay in Barcelona?

— There came a time when I was tired of not having a fixed place. I thought I should stop; I'd already traveled halfway around the world. I'd been on the verge of staying in Hawaii, but I preferred the Mediterranean. And of the Mediterranean, the best city, Barcelona. For its quality of life, its culture, its easy language skills, and above all, its extensive culinary culture. From what I'd researched, I knew that what happened in Barcelona was then exported to the world. In London, this phenomenon occurs with design, but in Barcelona, ​​it occurs with gastronomy. That's why there are chefs in Barcelona. like those of Disfrutar, Albert Adrià and Jordi VilàSo I thought Barcelona was an attractive and at the same time difficult city, that it would be a challenge to open a restaurant because of the high level of cuisine.

I have seen Jordi Vilà and Albert Adrià eating at the Ultramarinos one day.

— Yes, they come. I'm very grateful for that. But I'm also grateful to the other customers who come, who have a very high culinary level. People know a lot. And I must say, I've been to restaurants around the world where the dishes were visually beautiful, but they were made with frozen ingredients. Here in Barcelona, ​​people have a palate and know how to distinguish what's fresh and what's not.

Finally, what future projects do you plan to pursue?

— My dream is to always do what I love. I know there's a tendency to live the sunrise every day and relax, but I do what I love. I work at what I love, and I think that's a blessing. It makes me feel good.