The chefs Ferran Adrià and Gastón Acurio have created some nougats to turn them into scholarships

Barcelona"The first time I went to Peru I fell in love with Gastón Acurio. Thanks to him, children were dressed as cooks, and not in Messi shirts," says Ferran Adrià, who remembers that cooking is a social weapon and that no one has exemplified it better than the Peruvian chef. "I supported him, and people thought that the Peruvian government was paying me millions. I never charged anything; it was a matter of affection. And today here too, because there is affection with the Velasco family. The father and the son".

We are at the Ateneu Barcelonès. The Catalan chef shares the stage with Àngel Velasco, owner of Torrons Vicens, and Gastón Acurio, the most well-known Peruvian chef in the world. All three have created a box with three nougats called Diálogos, which combines Peruvian and Mediterranean gastronomy. Acurio is aware that the cuisine of his country is valued here. He provides the fact that Barcelona and Catalonia are among the areas of the world with the most Peruvian restaurants. "They even serve ceviche at weddings!", he says. From this understanding between the two cuisines, three nougats are born, which they have created with the goal of financing their foundations' projects. The profits earned from them will go in equal parts to the Pachacútec Foundation and El Bulli Foundation. The Peruvian foundation manages a cooking institute that offers high-level training to people who do not have the resources to pay for their studies in a depressed area of Lima. Acurio explains to ARA that every year they give two full scholarships so that two students can go for one year to learn in a great restaurant abroad. With the money they earn, they will be able to increase this number of students.

For his part, Adrià will use the 50% he receives from these nougats to create knowledge. To provide scholarships for people who can conduct research into many aspects of cooking that have not yet been studied. Such as, for example, how many cooking styles there are in the world or studying the history of culinary processes. Adrià wanted to highlight the boldness of Torrons Vicens in making this sweet suitable for any time of the year. And he had a few words for Àngel Velasco's father and his boldness in approaching nougat in a different way and turning it into a souvenir.

Velasco began collaborating with chefs like Albert Adrià in 2012. And it has been a very successful line. He has been adding names such as those of Jordi Roca, Ángel León, José Andrés, Nandu Jubany, and Quique Dacosta. In fact, it is the Valencian who introduced Acurio and Velasco at the Madrid Fusión congress. The Peruvian is the first foreign chef to collaborate with the nougat makers from Agramunt. "I would love to see my nougats when I go to the airport. I was worried that someone might be offended by the fact that a Peruvian entered the world of nougat," states Acurio. But the Diálogos format "invites to establish a dialogue between two cultures," says Velasco, who does not close the door to incorporating others.

The harmony is such that "no lawyers were needed," says the Peruvian, highlighting the ingredients of the three new nougats. They are made with cocoa from Peru, which he assures is highly valued right now. "Jordi [Roca] uses it here," he says. He describes the nougats as follows: "the sweet one, with quinoa and wafers. You can finish the whole bar. The elegant one, a somewhat extravagant border-crossing combination. A mix of passion fruit and coffee. And the nostalgic one, with mint, chocolate, and citrus. The citrus fruits are very Peruvian; think of the leche de tigre". The ingredients come from Peruvian producers selected by Acurio.

The box, which costs 45 euros, contains the three nougats, a booklet, and a knife designed specifically by Luki Huber. He has made a cutter that doubles as tongs, perfect for portions of nougat. Huber has a long history of collaborating with El Bulli. Without going any further, designing the famous tongs that have become popular all over the world. The creation of the nougat cutter was Adrià's idea. He asked Velasco: "What knife do you use to cut the nougats?". The nougat maker replied that he used whatever he had on hand. The answer did not satisfy Adrià, who replied: "You wouldn't cut ham with a bread knife, would you?". And that is the origin of the knife included in the box.