ANTÓNIO LOUREIRO: MOTHER NATURE’S BEST
Guimarães is a city in northern Portugal, known for its well-preserved medieval buildings. It is also home to a relatively new concept restaurant called A Cozinha (The Kitchen) by Michelin star chef, António Loureiro, where sophistication and creativity intertwine, in harmony with nature and to the swaying rhythm of the seasons
What roles do experience and context play in your culinary creations?
The concept of A Cozinha was built on tradition and innovation. Tradition is a part of our heritage, as well as my memories, in terms of gastronomic values. Though I travel a lot to learn new techniques and develop more culinary skills, my own identity comes from my memories. In my family, gastronomic values were always very important, since everything was centered on the food made with love by our elders. It is a well-balanced formula which I emulate, using the best products in the region, sourced from the best suppliers, which I then prepare by means of creative cooking techniques to bring out all the flavors nature has to offer.
What difficulties have you had to overcome during your career?
Even though Portugal is a small country, we have a rich and very diverse gastronomic identity. Wining the Contest of the Best Cuisenaire of Portugal in 2014 gave me the visibility that I needed to show the world my own identity and being in Guimarães, a small city classified as a UNESCO World heritage site, allows me to do just that. You could say that it is a winwin relation.
What or whom do you regard as your greatest influences and what are the biggest challenges when it comes to translating your ideas into reality?
My memories and the love I have for cooking are my greatest influencers, especially when it comes to using what Mother Nature has to offer with the coming of each season. Some 30 years ago, in my region, each family had a garden, where all sorts of animals were raised. They fed on lush, green grass and drank natural water. It is a place where food was never wasted, because we learned to use the entirety of every product. This has been a long-held tradition that we still practice, to ensure the purity of the elements we use to create our ever-changing menus, which I redesign twice a year. In so doing, I maximize the potential of each product, and also include what I call ‘Essays from a Cozinha’. Each essay tells a story created in collaboration with our clients over a two-week period, as I strongly believe that cooking is also about storytelling.