The Importance of Chocolate Ice Cream

Yesterday at the end of Family Meal we put out some chocolate ice cream. You know how it is - it´s just past its prime for service but damn good for family. There was just a big ¨tooper¨ of it - as in Tupper as in Tupperware. It´s one of those funny things where I wonder if the Tupperware people know about their significance in the El Bulli lexicon. We use Tupperware-ish containers for everything - and there of course are never enough of them for service so we stash them. At Ducasse we used ¨plaques japonais¨ or ¨bacs japonais¨ - sturdy little stainless steel trays or rectangular containers. Anyway so there was maybe like a liter of chocolate ice cream on the bar - there´s a little bar in the kitchen which is very occasionally used by clients for a drink - but mostly it´s where we swarm for our post family meal espresso. And family meal itself yesterday - good per usual but like a bunch of college boys planning your meal - which is basically what it is. Yesterday we had tortellini in a tomato meat sauce with shredded emmental - with a side plate of sausages - salchichas which are like long skinny breakfast sausages - which was also piled high with potato chips - and a ripe tomato half in a nod to the food pyramid. After nearly everybody rushed out for The Smoke - the chocolate ice cream was put out. I stopped mid tortellini forkful and got mine. Right in front of Ferran. Who was coming in fast right after me. You just got to love that guy.