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The world of publishing and audiovisuals
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El Bulli, el sabor del Mediterráneo (El Bulli, the Flavour of the Mediterranean) was released in 1993. This was elBulli’s first book and its purpose was to share a cuisine that had already developed its own personality. Since then, 35 books have been published about elBulli in a variety of languages and in different parts of the world.
Not only has this immense collection provided us with plentiful content for analysing all of elBullirestaurante’s work, but, in particular, it allows us to understand the interdisciplinary dialogue that made it possible. The continuous exchange with top-level professionals from the worlds of publishing, writing, food photography and graphic design, has enriched every creative process.
Many of elBulli publishing projects were created with contents developed in-house. They were published either by elBulliBooks (a publishing company created by Juli Soler and Ferran and Albert Adrià) or in collaboration with others.
Other projects have been carried out by people not involved with the restaurant. These are also considered valuable as they provide comprehensive and objective views of elBullirestaurante expressed by experts in many different fields.
Nonetheless, if there is one project that stands out as being crucial for studying elBulli’s work, it is the General Catalogue, available in both book and audiovisual formats.
Not only has this immense collection provided us with plentiful content for analysing all of elBullirestaurante’s work, but, in particular, it allows us to understand the interdisciplinary dialogue that made it possible. The continuous exchange with top-level professionals from the worlds of publishing, writing, food photography and graphic design, has enriched every creative process.
Many of elBulli publishing projects were created with contents developed in-house. They were published either by elBulliBooks (a publishing company created by Juli Soler and Ferran and Albert Adrià) or in collaboration with others.
Other projects have been carried out by people not involved with the restaurant. These are also considered valuable as they provide comprehensive and objective views of elBullirestaurante expressed by experts in many different fields.
Nonetheless, if there is one project that stands out as being crucial for studying elBulli’s work, it is the General Catalogue, available in both book and audiovisual formats.
elBulli General Catalogue
Two years after starting the work of cataloguing and analysing the cuisine developed since Ferran Adrià took over responsibility for elBulli’s creative direction, the General Catalogue made its first appearance in 2002.
The 2002 season was chosen for publishing the one volume of what was to be a trilogy of books. The idea was to produce a retrospective spanning 20 years (1983–2002), after which it was deemed necessary to conduct an evolutionary analysis.
The first book produced but the third volume in the trilogy, entitled elBulli1998–2002, covers the latter period and tests the analysis method developed.
Subsequent years saw the publication of the second volume (elBulli1994–1997) and, finally, the first (elBulli1983–1993), to complete the trilogy.
Confident that the method had already proved its worth, although there is always room to tweak for improvement, the team continued to record and analyse their creations, thereby continuing the project until the publication of the 2005 catalogue.
Each General Catalogue book comprises two parts: a catalogue with the final elaborations, photographed and classified, and an evolutionary analysis highlighted with an evolutionary map to study the contributions from each year.
The photographs are by Francesc Guillamet, who had been the official photographer for elBulli’s production since 1992.
After the closure of elBulli as a restaurant, the elBulli 2005–2011 General Catalogue, a comprehensive project undertaken together with the publishing house Phaidon, was published in three languages: English (2014), Chinese (2015) and Spanish (2016).
The 2002 season was chosen for publishing the one volume of what was to be a trilogy of books. The idea was to produce a retrospective spanning 20 years (1983–2002), after which it was deemed necessary to conduct an evolutionary analysis.
The first book produced but the third volume in the trilogy, entitled elBulli1998–2002, covers the latter period and tests the analysis method developed.
Subsequent years saw the publication of the second volume (elBulli1994–1997) and, finally, the first (elBulli1983–1993), to complete the trilogy.
Confident that the method had already proved its worth, although there is always room to tweak for improvement, the team continued to record and analyse their creations, thereby continuing the project until the publication of the 2005 catalogue.
Each General Catalogue book comprises two parts: a catalogue with the final elaborations, photographed and classified, and an evolutionary analysis highlighted with an evolutionary map to study the contributions from each year.
The photographs are by Francesc Guillamet, who had been the official photographer for elBulli’s production since 1992.
After the closure of elBulli as a restaurant, the elBulli 2005–2011 General Catalogue, a comprehensive project undertaken together with the publishing house Phaidon, was published in three languages: English (2014), Chinese (2015) and Spanish (2016).
Available from our shop and at www.elbullistore.com
El Bulli: The Story of a Dream
In July 2018, the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform premiered El Bulli: The Story of a Dream, the most comprehensive documentary series ever made about an organisation or author, in more than 150 countries.
The 15-episode series, which was directed by David Pujol and produced for elBullifoundation by Visual 13, began production in 2009 as an authentic visual catalogue that painstakingly covers the 60 years of elBullirestaurante’s history and evolution. It involved more than 3,000 hours of filming and interviews with more than 200 people.
The first 12 episodes contain the most important facts about the restaurant, from its creation in 1961 by the Schillings until its closure in 2011. The last three episodes tell how and why elBullirestaurante has been transformed into elBullifoundation.
The 15-episode series, which was directed by David Pujol and produced for elBullifoundation by Visual 13, began production in 2009 as an authentic visual catalogue that painstakingly covers the 60 years of elBullirestaurante’s history and evolution. It involved more than 3,000 hours of filming and interviews with more than 200 people.
The first 12 episodes contain the most important facts about the restaurant, from its creation in 1961 by the Schillings until its closure in 2011. The last three episodes tell how and why elBullirestaurante has been transformed into elBullifoundation.
