Potato Chips, Olives, and Mussels

"It's a dish that looks elegant, has a lot of flavor, and is based on the simplest of concepts." The mussels are marinated using the traditional recipe (or a good quality canned version is used instead) and they are served on a base of green olive juice. A few drops of the emulsified marinade transform this very popular appetizer into a sophisticated tapas dish.

The multi-faceted Paco Roncero is Executive Chef at the La Terraza del Casino restaurant in Madrid (with 2 Michelin stars), and he also has restaurants in Bogotá, Cartagena, and Ibiza. He has also become a great champion of tapas, giving them a new lease on life by updating traditional recipes in his Estado Puro gastrobars in Madrid and Shanghai. Roncero is reinventing Spanish cuisine's most traditional tapas, refreshing old dishes with surprising, original touches that play with flavors and textures. The result opens up a new culinary dimension and shows that simple dishes made with quality ingredients, creativity, and imagination can become haute cuisine.