In the opinion of the three Michelin-starred chef Pedro Subijana, "technique and technology have arrived to add to the experience in the kitchen, but not to replace either the individual or craftsmanship". This was stated by the chef of the Akelarre restaurant during a colloquium open to the public at the University of Navarra.

In his lecture - part of the subject of Culinary Technology, given for the Degree of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and the double Degree with Pharmacy - Subijana explained that "one thing are the inventions developed in the kitchens that are applied in the industry, and vice versa, and quite another thing is to do something completely new or to do it in a way unknown until then in any field".

In any case, the chef, Adjunct Professor of the School, recalled that the new techniques applied in the kitchen "are usually the result of the work creation of a certain sector of cooks -sometimes in collusion with scientists-, or due to tenacity and nonconformism, added to experience, to give rise to innovations that eventually become available to everyone".

A generation of "revolutionary" chefs

Pedro Subijana stressed to the audience that during his degree program he has always started from the respect and mastery of traditional cuisine "to then work without conditions, adding to the tradition other formulas, techniques and recipes that only time will tell if they last or not". However, he stressed that his generation "will never stand out for having tiptoed through the profession without contributing anything", quite the contrary.

At the end of his lecture, the famous chef opened a discussion with the audience and fifty students of the School Pharmacy and Nutrition, whose subject aims to show the scientific foundations of culinary techniques applicable to different food groups, the chemical, nutritional or sensory modifications that occur in them, as well as the vision of the most appropriate techniques to treat certain pathologies, such as cancer.