Words: Maria Martinho
Alexandre Silva is an inescapable name on the Portuguese gastronomic scene, and has made fire his most faithful companion in the kitchen. From his recollections of his grandmothers’ kitchens to his desire to share his knowledge, here he talks about the past, present, and future.
Q: How important was fire in your childhood? Do you remember when you first came into contact with it?
A: I’ve always been around fire. In the kitchens of both my maternal and paternal grandmothers, there were two very large fireplaces in which the flames burned very slowly 24 hours a day. I remember that the soup for the evening meal was made at 7 am, which gave it a unique flavour that was very difficult to achieve. As a child, I would spend hours there, watching the small sticks burn, the fire grow and listening to the sound of the wood crackling.
Q: In what way was this kind of discovery transformative or new?
A: I have many memories of fire and cooking, but fire was never new to me. I was born with it in my eyes, it lived with me, it was like an element of the family, but it was always something I wanted, something that was there, and I couldn’t touch because I was a child. What I wanted most was to cook with my grandmothers, but that never happened. I feel so sad that they never let me do it. Now my daughters cook with us; they handle the fire, the knives, the pots, everything.
Q: When did you realise that your career and life path would involve cooking?
A: It was during my first apprenticeship with Chef Manuel Dias at the Hotel Lisboa Plaza that I realised I could make cooking my career. That’s when I really discovered the professional world and fell in love with the world of gastronomy.
Q: Is what excited you at the start of your career the same as what motivates you today, or not necessarily?
A: Yes, it’s the same, but now I have different responsibilities. I remember one day, when I was still studying, I said to my mother: ‘What I want most is to have a say in Portuguese cuisine and to be able to do something good’. Deep down, I just wanted to make her proud, but what motivated me the most, and still does, is the desire to learn more and to be able to share that knowledge with others.
Q: You were involved in different projects and areas before you opened FOGO in 2019, a restaurant that is also an old dream. Why was that?
A: FOGO was my need to be close to my loved ones and to work with the ingredient of my childhood, and it was also a clear and committed attempt not to let Portuguese cuisine lose its identity. I believe Portuguese cuisine is about recipes and technique, and the technique of fire cannot and should not die. Of course, not everyone can have a wood-fired oven at home, but you can eat something cooked in a wood-fired oven in your street and notice the difference in the taste of the bread or the rice.
Q: Fire has a very primitive side that takes us back to the history, origin and tradition of man and his roots. Is this the side you seek in your creations?
A: Fire is one of the most important elements in our lives: I think we will always be fascinated when we look at it. It’s like living by the sea for 40 years. I think we will be fascinated and enchanted whenever we open the window and see and feel the power of the sea. I will always want to bring you closer to fire: it is unpredictable, mysterious and will always behave differently. There are no limits to what you can create with fire, and I love that.
Q: You also explore the sustainability inherent in the use of fire. In what way?
A: It’s a very sensitive subject because most people don’t know how it works. They think we’re destroying forests so we can have restaurants. That’s not the case. At FOGO, for example, we use firewood that comes from wood clearance, and we can go months without getting it because olive and fruit trees are pruned once a year. We had to change 90% of FOGO’s kitchen in order to be more profitable with firewood, and we currently spend one-fifth of what we did when we first opened in 2019.
Q: To what extent are your creative process, the techniques you use and the products you choose limited by fire?
A: I don’t think they are. At first, we avoided frying because it could be dangerous to use hot oils over direct heat, but with the investments we’ve made, I don’t feel there are any limitations today. FOGO is much more versatile than restaurants that use an induction hob or a gas cooker. An open flame is a better and more versatile tool because it can do more things at the same time.
Q: Is it more difficult to reinvent and evolve gastronomically using only fire?
A: I think it’s more challenging because it requires a much more refined control of the technique. Since nothing is electronic or automatic, we control it all ourselves, from the time to the temperatures. You have to feel, be active and adapt everything to improve each step of the technical process. Sometimes a simple iron tool of a specific size can save a dish.
Q: What excites you most about this type of cooking?
A: The challenge of the process and the taste of the result.
Q: You said in an interview that no two days are the same when you work with fire. Is working under constant risk and being out of your comfort zone something that only fire brings?
A: I don’t really like being in my comfort zone: it’s one of my characteristics. Working both with and for people is hard enough, but when you add fire to the mix, everything becomes more difficult and unpredictable. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not; but it’s always worth the difficulties and challenges we face.
Q: You think of smoke as an ingredient. Can you say what makes it so special and essential in your kitchen?
A: Smoke is the only ingredient that nobody talks about in recipes. It appears as a technique and not as an ingredient. You can’t weigh it, and it doesn’t appear on recipe cards, but it’s there, and it makes a dish very different, for better or worse.
Of course, I’m not talking about smoke (like an ashtray flavour), but about something that is very complex and at the same time both subtle and delicate. Do we sense the smoke in a loaf of bread that is cooked over wood, or in a green broth that is made in an iron pot? Maybe not, but we do notice that it’s different, that it has a distinct flavour and aroma. The most important thing is to experience something good and complex in a dish that you can’t explain. We often hear people say things like: “I’ve never had soup like my grandmother used to make, and I use the same ingredients”. This is because our grandmothers cooked over an open fire and we cook on a gas hob. The smoky touch, like fire, is part of our DNA as cooks, and to reject it is to miss an opportunity for flavour and intensity.
Q: Is winning a Michelin star a goal for this project?
A: We’re already recommended by the Michelin Guide, which is very good, but getting a star for FOGO has never been a goal. If it happens it will be very welcome, but I promise everything will stay the same. I believe restaurants don’t have to change when they get a star: on the contrary, they should stay true to the values that created them.
Q: Why must fire, smoke and wood remain part of the national menu?
A: Because that’s how it was born. I’m no radical, but it’s important that these flavours and aromas don’t disappear; otherwise, part of our identity and history will disappear.
Q: You recently launched “Escola de Fogo: Cozinha Viva”. Can you tell us a little about the importance of this project? What are you trying to achieve?
A: What I’m trying to do with this project is to pass on knowledge, to make people want to cook on an open fire, to make them curious, to show them that it’s not a big deal to learn how to feel the flame. We’ve achieved this; we’ve already delivered four courses, and it’s good to know that there’s interest out there.
Q: Is it important for new generations to be aware that resources such as wood are under threat today? Can a more creative and sensory gastronomy that is based on open fire also play an educational role in this respect?
A: I think this is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of our time. It’s essential that young people put down their mobile phones and social networks, get off the sofa and fight for their future, follow good examples and really make a difference. The day I feel I cannot control the environmental sustainability of my restaurants, that is the day I will quit my job and do something else.
It’s very important to raise awareness and give children the tools they need to grow up thinking critically about things, to evaluate, to question and challenge the things they take for granted. We can start by talking about food in schools, about the origin of the products that are sold. We need to talk more about our food more and be more aware of what we are eating today and what we may or may not be able to eat in the future.
Q: Name three dishes that we should not miss on our next trip to FOGO?
A: Roast duck with baked rice, Alentejo pork chops and bread baked in a wood-fired oven.
