With his close-cropped hair and youthful demeanor, Santi Zabaleta looks like he could be your kid brother, or maybe a candidate for a college wrestling team. But if that’s what you’ve guessed, you missed the mark. Instead, Zabaleta is the executive chef of the elegant and highly respected Spanish restaurant, Taberna del Alabardero, located in downtown DC.
Considering his youth—Zabaleta is only 29 years old—it’s safe to say he has reached several career milestones at a very early age: He is a graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America; he has cooked at several Michelin starred restaurants in London and Barcelona; and he moved to the United States after checking out culinary opportunities in Switzerland, France, and Spain. When he arrived in DC, he became the chef de cuisine at Taberna del Alabardero, before ascending to his present position. And last year, Zabaleta was nominated as a finalist for “Rising Culinary Star of the Year” for the Washington, DC 2006 RAMMY Restaurant Awards Gala.
With roots from Bilbao in the Spanish Basque country, Zabaleta comes to the food world naturally. “My family,” he says, “My great-grandfather and my grandfather were bakers, and had a bakery. Traditionally, the bakery passes on to the eldest son, but it went to my uncle.” Even as a young boy, however, he says that having a career in the food world would be inevitable.
Of course, cooking for a Spanish restaurant fits perfectly with his background. As he says, “It’s a pleasure to cater to people with traditional Spanish cooking. The food is authentic, and are dishes my abuelita (grandmother) still makes today.” That’s at lunchtime, he adds, when such typical dishes as paella and other classic Spanish fare—these are Spanish soul food, hesays—are the most popular.
But in the evening, Zabaleta’s cooking becomes more daring, less customary. “I still respect the traditional, but I take some components of Spanish cooking and ingredients and serve them in a contemporary presentation.” But that does not mean that Zabaleta’s heart is not pure Spanish: It is. And perhaps one day, he muses, he may end up back in Spain. After all, he returns twice yearly to visit his family.
In Santi’s own words
What is your favorite dish?
Bacalao. I eat lots of bacalao (salted dried cod), and I go crazy over it. My fondest childhood memory is of eating bacalao. My grandfather was from a small fishing village, and when I was 8 years old [on a visit], my grandmother asked if I was hungry. She cut off a piece of the cod for me that she had hanging from the rafters. You chew it like beef jerky. Now I even have it for breakfast: bacalao with 2 fried eggs and a glass of wine.
What is your cooking philosophy?
Keep things simple. Flavors must not be masked. And you should use as much seasonal ingredients as possible. You don’t need to mask their flavors. For instance, oranges are in season and sweetest in winter, and need no sugar.
Which are your must-have ingredients?
Garlic, parsley, Spanish olive oil, and Spanish sweet paprika. It gives a certain character to anything; it’s very versatile.
What are your favorite kitchen tools?
A cazuela de barro [ceramic pot) and a wooden spoon. With these, you can do a lot.
What’s in your fridge right now?
Wild venison from when I went hunting, milk, squid ink pasta.
Which is your favorite cuisine?
Spanish, and Basque in particular. Then Italian and French.
What is your luckiest moment?
Having the family—the parents and siblings—I have. They have been the most supportive. My two older brothers are in a different industry and know nothing about food. But we often vacation together. We like to ski a lot.
Flan
Serves 10
Caramel Ingredients
» 3/4 cup sugar
» 1/2 cup water
Caramel Directions
Place sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Once mixture has reached a dark blond color and has caramelized, coat a thin layer on the bottom of a flan mold or 3-quart baking dish.
Flan Ingredients
» 1 quart whole milk
» Zest from 1/2 lemon
» Zest from 1/2 orange
» 1/2 cinnamon stick
» 1 vanilla bean
» 6 eggs
» 6 ounces sugar (about 1 cup)
» Zest from 1/2 lemon
» Zest from 1/2 orange
» 1/2 cinnamon stick
Flan Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bring the milk, cinnamon stick, vanilla, orange zest, lemon zest, and vanilla bean to a boil in a saucepan. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar. Slowly incorporate the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture. Strain through a chinoise. Pour the mixture into the flan mold or baking dish over the caramelized sugar. Put the flan mold or baking dish into a larger pan half-filled with water.
Bake the flan in a water bath at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes, or until firm. When done, remove from the flan mold and place on a decorative dish. Enjoy!
