It was in 1987 when Benjamin Urdiain (in the photo, with a hat, next to the chef Jose Luis Martinez, de Taberna & Media) achieved what no one in Spain had ever achieved before: three Michelin stars. But before, long before, that shy and small Navarrese cook (Ziordia, 1939) had already begun to build a legend that today, August 14, 2023, becomes a myth beyond its sauces and wide-brimmed hats.
Die, how communicates Acyrein Madrid at the age of 84, in that Madrid that crowned him as one of the great names of Spanish cuisineand that closes with his death one of the most golden pages of national gastronomy, who was also honorary president of the Association of Cooks and Pastry Chefs of the Community of Madrid.
Classically trained, Urdiain would take his first culinary steps in the French Basque Country: Bayonne, Biarritz and, later, Paris. Several years of ‘military’ in France served for that boy, barely a teenager, to harden himself and take up the ‘salsa’ wickers that always accompanied him.
After Paris, the return to Spain stopping at the Artagan in Bilbao, at that time the gastronomic summit of the botxo. The capital’s siren songs would not be lacking, but for that it is necessary to introduce another couple of key names in Madrid haute cuisine: those of the marriage of Jesus Maria Oyarbide and his wife Consuelo ‘Chelo’ Apalategui.
It was the early years of the 1970s and the couple was already running Príncipe de Viana, but they had a bigger project on their hands: Zalacaín. In it Madrid from Jockey, from Horcher, from Reno, from Wellington and the Príncipe de Viana would soon start operating what would be the great restaurant in Madrid.
He ended up there in 1973 to launch the restaurant that 14 years later would be awarded three Michelin stars. Almost offhand, any Spanish gourmet knows the trident that he made possible —together with a motley team— the three stars. Urdiain in the kitchen; Custodian Zamarra in the sommelier and Jose Jimenez Blas in command of the room.
It was 1987 and in Spain there were no three Michelin stars. In Europe, 27. And, in between, the rumor that those Michelins in Spain were given with a dropper and that in Europe the pocket was more generous. They were the first, not the only ones.
Three Star Pioneer
In 1989 they gave the three stars to Juan Mari Arzak, in 1994 it was Santi Santamaría’s turn at El Racó de Can Fabes and in 1997 those of El Bulli, with Ferran Adrià. Until the 21st century, we would have to wait to see more tri-stars in Spain. One of them, Dabiz Muñoz, was precisely the one who received the award for Best Chef in Madrid in 2022 from Urdiain.
He spent 29 years at the helm of Zalacaín, including the dispossession of the third star —in 1996— and would hang up the apron in 2002, after the change of ownership of the restaurant. Meanwhile, he did not stop receiving praise and being glorified in life —fortunately—, although his name has been overshadowed while the haute cuisine of the great Madrid stopped receiving spotlights.
Michein Guide Spain Portugal 2023 (60004): Spain Portugal selection 2023 (Michelin Red Guide)
Today one of the biggest shines of the History of Spanish gastronomythat skinny boy from Ziordia who had to be Benjamín (the tenth of ten brothers) who would go down in history for dishes such as Don Pío búcaro, Tellagorri cod, tripe or soufflé potatoes from which 50 kilos a week came out .
Image | Thanks to Taberna & Media, in the photo, Benjamin Urdiain with José Luis Martínez, chef of Taberna & Media.