The youngest Spanish female chef to be awarded a Michelin star for her restaurant, Arrels, Vicky Sevilla's culinary philosophy focuses on three pillars.
"I base my culinary philosophy on three pillars: memory, product and technique. I work with local products and what's available in the local market. In Sagunt, Valencia, we try and give the guests an experience that makes them feel like they are in Valencia," says the chef.
"At the age of 17, I visited a friend who gave me a job in a kitchen in Formentera. Working in that kitchen sparked something in me and I went on to train at Costa Azahar Hospitality School in Castellón and gained experience under the mentorship of renowned chefs like Susi Díaz, Begoña Rodrigo and Vicente Patiño," explains Sevilla.
At the age of 25, chef Sevilla opened Arrels in Sagunto, a town rich in history and culinary heritage. Housed in the 16th-century former stables of the Palacio de los Duques de Gaeta, Arrels earned a Michelin star in 2022 and a Repsol Sol, Spain's prestigious gastronomic counterpart to the Michelin Guide, in 2020, making it a destination for gourmands.
"I work with a lot of seasonal fish. Most of the menu is seasonal and contains the best during that particular season. Of course, we also have vegetables and whatever else is best at the time. My cooking is Spanish Mediterranean, but with more of a focus on Mediterranean cuisine," adds the chef.
"Normally, when a dish is being developed, the ingredients are already in their prime as they are the best in season. But I tend to use a lot of Japanese and Asian techniques to enhance the taste of the produce.
"For example, we have a traditional dish from Valencia called Coca Valenciana. At Arrels, we use the same technique used to make Coca, which is a flat bread, but we made the dish with tuna. There are two parts to the dish. We ferment and stimulate the bread with a culture that is not yeast and when you eat it, you eat the two parts. One part is the tuna and the other is the technique."
Though the menu at Arrels changes seasonally, not all dishes change at once.
"It often depends on the availability of the product. Normally, we change a few dishes in one season, which is two or three months. In winter, we will normally use truffle or mushrooms, and in the summer we use a lot of fresh fish. In Spain, each season is three months, so we try to elaborate the product and reach the best in the season. The menu may change completely after six months," says the chef.
"Of course, we have two or three dishes that are always on the menu and never change because people like them and want them," she adds.
One of her signature dishes is the combination of tomato and tuna, which is similar to the Coca Valenciana.
"Another traditional dish that I reinterpret is the All i Pebre, an eel stew, since we have very good eel. The dish comes from the Albufera zone in Valencia. We use tarragon, Hollandaise sauce and seasonal fruit like apricots or figs. With the eel bones, we make a sauce called blanquette, with pepper and cinnamon. Traditionally, All i Pebre is made with paprika and potatoes," explains chef Sevilla.
Most of chef Sevilla's dishes come from memory, using recipes of her mother and family: "The tuna recipe comes from my mother. As a child, I never ate fish because I did not like the bones and my mother would buy canned tuna for me to eat because it never had bones. She prepared the tuna with tomato and shallots. This is the memory I have of tuna, which is reinterpreted into my dish.
"Using hyper-seasonal produce doesn't really give us much time for research. For example, we have two weeks when white asparagus is at its best. So a lot of the recipes of such ingredients come from my memory of eating them as a child or later on in life.
"It's easier to create new dishes from traditional ones when you have memories of your grandmother or mother cooking dishes. All the flavours are connected. You only have to take the techniques to make the product shine and be tasty. It's more complicated and difficult to create a new dish than reinterpretate traditional dishes.
"I have a new project coming up, though it is not based entirely on me. I plan to move Arrels to another historical place, despite the process being terribly bureaucratic. In the new place, I plan to have four or five guest rooms where people can stay when they come to Arrels. I want to move because it is a special opportunity and I want to also run a small hotel."
