Fully Tuned

Somehow, a friend of mine got his hands on a Lada and decided to make it the best Lada ever. Leather seats, alu rims, surround sound, engine tune-up: everything that could be improved, was. The only problem? In the end, it still looked, felt and handled like a Lada.

And that's sort of how I feel about all those top chefs and their current infatuation with traditional dishes. Go to Carles Gaig's Fonda Gaig or Fermí Puig's Petit Comité and have cannelloni like your mum made them, just better - and definitely pricier. But to me, it's still meat in pasta with cheese.

Then there's Martín Berasategui, who figured that, coming from a three Michelin star chef or not, homely dishes are best at home, and so gave us his frozen Mis platos de casa dishes: cannelloni like Findus makes them, just better and pricier. To me: meat in pasta with cheese. Nuked.

Still, hats off to Vila Vinoteca's new La cocina de las estrellas take-away range with cannelloni and other classics from the likes of Carles Abellán (Comerç 24) and Xavier Pellicer (Abac). Finally, what you always wanted: homely dishes prepared by restaurants to be eaten at home at restaurant prices. Or meat in pasta with cheese.

La cocina de las estrellas - Main courses EUR 11-18
Vila Vinateca, Agullers 7, Born - 93 777 7017
Martín Berasategui Mis platos de casa - EUR 4.95-7.95

By MF