Alexandru Burcă: “Micii poate nu erau ca cei din Obor, dar islandezii au fost entuziasmati. La fel si de cozonac”

More than ten years ago, when you only saw a handful of chefs on TV, I realized that there are thousands in the country and that some of them are very good but have no promotion. I looked them up and wrote about them. With many I remained friends, with some even at the buckle. Now, through this initiative supported by The Bogdan domain and National Federation of Certified Tasters, I somehow go back to the beginning and try to promote a new generation of chefs with potential or who are already performing. They are chefs today, but many of them will be the great chefs of tomorrow. Today, Alexandru Burcă, whom I know personally: I took him food during the pandemic because he wanted to help me, I kept seeing him at Adi Hădean, then at Casa del Pan, then we hung out at the small and beer in Obor and I'm sure I'll see him more and more often.

Cwhen and how did you start, where did you work?

I started somewhere around 2012, when I was away in Greece, in Rhodes, with Work and Travel and I was simply hooked. Here I kind of went through all the stations, as a chef's helper. There I saw what adrenaline and intensity in the kitchen mean, plus the taste of beer after a day's work.

After I came back from Greece, I got my chef diploma and went to Iceland (also with work and travel). Here I stayed for 3 years at a lovely farm to table, where I learned a lot and had the opportunity to become more independent in the kitchen. I learned the basics of cooking from Head Chef & Owner Solvi Arnarsson, as we served both a la carte and large groups. Even now, there is still a burger created by me on the restaurant's menu.

In 2018, I returned to the country and started working with Adi Hadean at MEATic, at Apus de Soare, the Adi Hadean Association and at the events organized by him (such as the one at Ferma Dacilor). I consider him my mentor, he taught me a lot, from how to make food as simple and tasty as possible, to being more organized in the kitchen and how to work efficiently in a team (but especially how not to boil the peas or other vegetables until they turn brown). I am very grateful to him and Sonia for this whole experience.

After 3 years, I wanted to see what other kitchens are like, such as Tuya, Kaiamo and Fork.

I learned a lot from books, series (Bourdain remains my favorite), from Adi Hadean, Solvi Arnarsson, Daniel Ion from Casa del Pan, from my colleagues from #teamhadean: Denis Jardan, Alex Giurcan, Sezer Bicak and from Alex Antal from Fork. I always had the curiosity to ask, and if I saw something interesting in a mood, I wrote to them, I asked. It seems to me that being curious as a chef is very important.

What level are you at now? What did you specialize in?

I cannot say that I am specialized in something, I have learned and am still learning from everything. Over time, I've worked on practically all the stations and I've gone through all the positions in a kitchen, except the Executive Chef.

Theory will never teach you as much as practice

How to advance in the kitchen, about how long it takes you to go from one level to another.

You advance through work, but the speed depends from person to person on how willing they are to learn and accumulate.

How much school/how much practice. What you will never learn in school/courses. What does school help you with?

Theory will never teach you as much as practice. At school you will not learn to be as organized as you will have to be during a service. School teaches you some useful basics, but you need to see how it is applied in real time.

Where you work or what you do now + future plans?

I am a Miele brand ambassador, a freelancer at events with other fellow chefs, I make a lot of food and experiments at home and I work at Glovo as an Executive Chef, I develop recipes to be franchised for Romania.

You returned to Romania... why?

I was away most of the time in Iceland, but I came back because I could do at home what I was doing there, even at a better level. I know it sounds like a cliché, but nowhere is like home.

Less fuss with potatoes and more attention to details and ingredients.

What did your colleagues from abroad know about Romania? What did they know about Romanians? What did they know about Romanian gastronomy?

The Icelanders are at the other end of Europe, closer to the North Pole than to Europe, so they didn't really know. But in general, almost all Eastern Europeans knew about Romania, some only about Dracula or Hagi, but most of whom I spoke to knew that we have a beautiful country. From a gastronomic point of view, at least with the Balkans and Eastern Europeans, we had quite a lot in common: almost all of us have a version of sarmal or small, cozonac and most of us eat well-done meat.

Have you cooked Romanian food outside the country? In what context and what feedback did you have (including for the staff table)?

Yes, I made small, cozonac, sarmals and they liked them. The little ones may not have been like those from Obor, but the Icelanders were excited. As well as the cake that I used to make every time at staff parties.

What do you think the Romanian gastronomic identity should look like??

Less fuss with potatoes and more attention to details and ingredients. Unfortunately, certain "traditional" restaurants that sell our gastronomic identity to tourists are just bad and have no relation to what they should be. Let's give the tourist a decent meal, because it doesn't cost you anything to make a properly cooked string bean without tasting canned or a properly made belly soup. We have good food, very good, maybe historically it's not ours, but that's what we grew up with.

Have you surpassed your teachers?

Not yet, but that's what I'm working for. Maybe when they reach their age we will have almost the same questionnaire. ????

What do you prefer: old Romanian kitchen/grandmother's or modernized?

All in all, food with taste and I think that this mix of new/grandma/old is also interesting, I like the diversity.

What would your restaurant look like?

Madam, I think I would like a small, simple restaurant with a seasonal menu. I would work as much as possible with local ingredients and recipes I would see then. But I would still give an eggplant salad, good beef, today maybe I'll give a baked marrow with good bread and pickled leurda flowers, tomorrow maybe some cheeks with greens sauce and baked carrots or a slow-cooked neck with parsnip puree and oil of sesame. We'll see the rest when I get to that point, I have enough books and inspiration.

What accounts do you follow (all social media); what books do you recommend; what hashtags do you use?

I follow many chefs from Romania, to name a few: Adi Hadean, Daniel Ion and Casa del Pan, Silviu Chelaru, Andrei Chelaru, Mihai Toader, Plai Sibiu, Madalina Roman, etc.

I would recommend Faviken, The Flavor Bible, Curatorul de zacusca, Classical cooking the modern way 3rd edition, Ierburi uitate, Institut Paul Bocuse Gastronomique, almost everything by Anthony Bourdain, Momofuku and Ia o pisica and that sarmale book that I am still waiting for by Cosmin Dragomir (I think I have to have a beer)