The chef Karlos Arguiñano, about to turn 75 years old, signs his latest recipe book, Easy and rich cookinga new candidate to become a bestseller gastronomic next Christmas. “Don’t miss this book, because it will make you happy, for sure. You are going to cook in 30 or 45 minutes and I assure you that you are going to eat like God”. The chef with the most media coverage, National Television Award 2021, is convinced that the more than 600 recipes “to succeed” that this issue includes are a guarantee of success: “If they don’t turn out well, I’ll pay for the round,” he assures a troop of journalists during the presentation, this Thursday in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa), of the book published by Planeta.
Arguiñano proudly comments that he has already presented some 7,000 television programs, in which he has prepared 11,000 recipes that have “never” been repeated. A selection of these television preparations are grouped in the volume titled Easy and rich cookingthe ninth in an uninterrupted series of recipe books that the Gipuzkoan chef has published since 2014. “I can say with satisfaction that I have already sold a million copies,” he comments at a meeting held at the hotel restaurant that bears his name in Zarautz and they run four of their seven children.
If he had to choose five essential ingredients in a kitchen, the cook is very clear about it: legumes, rice, potatoes, oil and eggs. He recommends “eating a variety”, combining pasta, salads, soups, creams, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish, stews, desserts, fruit… without forgetting dairy products: “The more variety we eat, the stronger we will be.”
In his latest editorial, he offers an assortment of recipes ranging from crispy prawns with spicy mayonnaise to an entrecote with roast legs and shallot and mustard sauce, including black rice with hake and alioli, a warm leek salad or mushroom stuffed with beans. For dessert? Some caramelized apples with ice cream or a mocha cake with red berries. In the fun and humorous tone that characterizes him, he affirms that the new title, already on sale in bookstores, “weighs two and a half kilos, almost like a newborn.” “I think that in this book I give a lot of opportunities to be able to cook excellent dishes in less than 45 minutes. Since we are not running out of time, it seems to me that it is not bad, ”he says.
Arguiñano, who has directed the program since 2010 Open kitchen by Karlos Arguiñano, on Antena 3, he has already completed 54 years as a cook. He has lost count of the books published. The secret to not being devoured by television fame is to “be authentic” and to be surrounded by “a great team made up of 22 people” and his large family. He insists on the importance of “walking two hours every day and eating healthy”. This is his magic recipe: “If you follow this advice there will be no asterisks in the analyses.” He recommends “looking at the price of food” and “choosing seasonal products”; He is also a supporter of “not shopping with an appetite.”
“I am not fashionable; I am a classic ”, she assures in a relaxed conversation in her home from Zarautz. To the lazy people who refuse to get into the kitchen at home, the cook encourages them to “take the upper hand and enjoy cooking.” You have to flee from pre-cooked dishes, home orders, avoid eating anything outside the home…. The chef on TV proposes, instead, turning on the stove: “I don’t want food wrapped in plastic,” he says .
