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Random El Bulli Dish Generator Generates El Bulli Dishes, Randomly

Galletas de arroz y parmesano: a real dish from El Bulli.
Galletas de arroz y parmesano: a real dish from El Bulli. Photo: Charles Haynes/Flickr

This is neat: Slate’s Jeremy Singer-Vine read through all 1,200 dishes that are listed on El Bulli’s 1983–2005 catalogue, “studying their rhythms, syntax, and vocabulary for patterns.” And now he has an algorithm that randomly generates El Bulli dish names like “pea shoot bellini in a mushroom crackling” and “aerated courgette bonbon with prosecco butter” (both fake). The dish generator presents two fake names, and one real name — you’ve got to guess the real one. It’s really quite difficult! But it gave us an idea: While Grant Achatz mulls the idea of doing an all–El Bulli menu at Next, what if he also did a menu comprised of real versions of fake dishes from this generator? If people are willing to eat mango-puzzle with frozen elder flower clusters (real), surely they’d also be willing to try mozzarella air in rhubarb bundle (not a real dish … yet). [Slate via Eater]

Random El Bulli Dish Generator Generates El Bulli Dishes, Randomly