Known as the 'chef of the sea', Ángel León has elevated the concept of a marine pantry to new heights. However, he wants to achieve even more, so he has embarked on a mission to transform the dining experience at Aponiente***, his flagship restaurant in Puerto de Santa María, by reclaiming the 20 hectares of marshland that surround it. 'We have had the concession for seven months, and we are finally going to be able to develop projects such as seaweed and sea soybeans.' He also aims to halt the decline of the marshes: 'Of the 235 marshes that existed in Cádiz, only two remain, and one of them is about to close'.

The project of the 'head of the marsh', as he refers to himself in front of his children, involves the construction of 'a 3.0 estuary never seen before, with 5-metre-deep channels' to create more currents and encourage the proliferation of species. ‘At last, we will be able to verify what was previously only an intuition,’ he said, evoking ancestors such as the Piscinis family, who were the first Romans to exploit a salt marsh and even adorned moray eels with gold earrings. ‘A salt marsh is a spa for fish,’ he explained. ‘It is a beautiful form of aquaculture that does not use antibiotics, and the fish are not stressed or stunned. As they are allowed to run around, they develop wonderful muscles and biomass.’ Restaurant customers will be able to experience this first-hand, listening to Paco de Lucía with a glass of manzanilla in their hand and watching produce come out of the water.

'Live produce, direct preparation and minimalism'

From now on, this is how the chef will describe his cuisine: 'It's a little wilder, but I hope it won't cost us our Michelin stars,' he joked. He was recalling his friend Juan, who lives in the El Boli estuary in Puerto Real. There, he has been learning ancient fish-salting techniques for three years. For example, he places salt in the gills a few minutes before roasting the fish 'à la Sapina' on halophytic plants. He will soon be able to bring the produce from his new garden to Aponiente. “This project will create 16 new jobs, bringing the total number of employees at Aponiente to 98,” he revealed. There are three weeks of work left, and he intends to run things smoothly from October to February so that everything is in full swing by March.

To give an idea of the work he is doing in the kitchen, he mentioned three dishes currently in the design process: prawns breaded with plankton and fried in sunflower oil and chilli, which he says will beat any prawn omelette; steamed fish, all of which are subjected to the Ike Jime technique out of respect for the fish's death; and fish that has been rested in sourdough for three days, which gives it a very crispy coating. He said goodbye by opening a surprising cuttlefish roe cheese with an interior similar to plasticine, giving it a texture similar to Camembert.