César Rodríguez Blanco, head chef of Catering Alfonso in Jerez, champions quality in banquet organization.
What is your current project and what are your future projects?
I'm currently fully dedicated to Alfonso Catering. My father, Alfonso, and my uncle Antonio instilled in me a love for the profession, and I consider myself fundamentally a catering chef. My current, past, and future project is to improve this cuisine, to bring it up to the level it deserves, so that when a client is at a catered event, they feel like they're in a restaurant, without noticing any difference.
How did you become the head chef of Alfonso Catering?
I started at the El Bosque restaurant. After several years managing everything at the restaurant, I moved into catering, doing banquets, looking for new ways of working, basically, getting the hang of managing and understanding the keys to this business.
How have you expanded your education? Have you traveled a lot?
Yes, I've traveled a lot, and I've been perfecting my cooking, which is always based on traditional Andalusian cuisine. I'm a big advocate for Andalusian cuisine, and I think we should all defend it more.
What surprised you most on those trips? Any role models?
More than any specific role model, it's been the places I've visited, or reading… I've observed many restaurants, and I've learned more from them than from specific people. I've really been very self-taught.
In a catering business, everything has to be very organized, right?
Absolutely. It's very much about working in the moment. You ask yourself: Why can't a fish dish you serve to a table of 20 serve to 2000? If we serve the same restaurant menu to all those people, and it goes well, it's incredibly satisfying. It's a fascinating world. But we have to do a lot of testing to ensure good quality. I usually spend about two months a year researching dishes and techniques to introduce to catering. You have to experiment a lot to make sure everything goes well; every banquet is different.
Do you have your own machinery or technology?
Yes, we have our own stoves designed by us; we need a specific power, a specific generator.
The richness of the culinary world lies in its diversity; there have been many advances in presentation and the application of cutting-edge technologies, but little progress has been made in the cooking itself. What are your thoughts on this?
I agree. There's a tendency to think that creative chefs work for small groups and can't properly feed more than 60 diners, but I've catered for 2000 perfectly, very organized, using specific techniques, and the result is the same or better than if I'd cooked for 60.
You're truly a kitchen engineer. There are restaurants and kitchens, like ours, where we serve 120 people à la carte, and we do it all to order.
That's exactly why I disagree, and I'm very proud to be a catering chef. I can provide both modern and traditional cuisine without any problem. There are clients for all tastes.
What do you think of the education received in schools?
The problem with culinary schools is that they teach you more about plating than about the basic ingredients you'd use in Basque, Spanish, or Andalusian cuisine. There's also a lack of specialization in catering; now schools provide the necessary theory and training, general knowledge, and techniques, but perhaps the practical component is lacking. There isn't just one type of cuisine; there are many different kinds.
And the truth is that catering should be a specialty.