Bases, products, techniques and creations. As ancestral as contemporary. As sparkling as delicate. Dishes and cocktails. A three-concept cooking with a premise that make this restaurant to go down of the History of gastronomy because of being the first Mexican restaurant in Europe to be awarded 1 Michelin star. All of these define the universe of Punto MX. Everything projected in black on white in the restaurant’s first book.
448 pages, 125 creations (that include 41 bases and 20 cocktails) with 342 elaborations, 79 processes with their step-by-step pictures, and 800 photos… Those data are just a short numeric summary of MX (Montagud Editores), the first book of Roberto Ruiz, Martin Eccius and María Fernández (Punto MX, Madrid, one Michelin star). Those are frenzy numbers, and are loyal to the project they came from... The three restaurateurs, with Roberto Ruiz leading the kitchen, has gone down of the History of gastronomy in a few years. Not only because of the creation of unique and genuine concepts Mezcal Lab and Salón Cascabel belong to the fleet on which Punto MX is the flagship-, but also for winning the first Michelin star for a Mexican restaurant located in Europe. Punto MX has a meteoric career, completely supported by the critics: 'The best Mexican restaurant out of Mexico (and comparable to any of the best restaurants of Spain); those are words from Carlos Maribona, Gastronomy responsible of ABC for more than 25 years. 'If Roberto had his own restaurant in Mexico City, his name would appear next to the greatest professionals in the modern Mexican cuisine, such as Enrique Olvera, Jorge Vallejo and Edgar Núñez, affirms José Carlos Capel, gastronomic critic from El País.
Throughout more than 42.000 words, Roberto Ruiz reveals in MX the keys of a unique culinary project using bases, techniques and products. Solid and liquid cuisine go together to demonstrate how a true and ancient Mexico, far away from all topics, becomes to an absolutely contemporary proposal. All with European processes, Spanish ingredients with a high quality, and even 'hybrids'. Ruiz, who cooks with a vegetal raw material completely ecological, has his own supplier organic farm, located in Navas de Oro (province of Segovia). There they can be found chillies -some of them endangered in Mexico- and beautiful specimens of hoja santa, among other things. Also corn, with many different varieties that even are unknown in Spain. That it is one of the most emblematic products that Roberto Ruiz has: for many years, the tortillas from the universe of MX are the only hand-made cooked tortillas using nixtamalised corn in Europe. One of the 79 stepby-step processes shows this millenary technique (nixtamalisation), as well as the remaining steps to follow to obtain the tortillas.
The work of Roberto Ruiz, Martin Eccius and María Fernández leading the universe of Punto MX is huge and useful. 'It has been a privilege to have the opportunity to publish the first book in the world about a Mexican restaurant awarded a Michelin star', Jãvi Antoja de la Rosa, director of Montagud Editores and of this book, assesses.
The labour of the restaurateurs' trio is also incredibly complicated. 'There are times when all of this reminds me of the tangram', the chef explains, in relation to his project. 'You have to create one shape, and then another, and another using a limited number of pieces.' MX, the book, solves the puzzle for everyone who wants to dive in the real and contemporary Mexican cuisine. By far…
Mexican cuisine in more than 100 terms.
