Josep Roca: "This hyper-accelerated society needs more kindness"

The holidays are the ideal time to rescue that book that we have wanted to start for a long time, cook that recipe that we never found time for or recover that podcast that we longed to listen to.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
24 August 2023 Thursday 10:30
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Josep Roca: "This hyper-accelerated society needs more kindness"

The holidays are the ideal time to rescue that book that we have wanted to start for a long time, cook that recipe that we never found time for or recover that podcast that we longed to listen to. From Comer La Vanguardia we bring you some episodes of the Stay to eat podcast so you can enjoy them calmly this summer.

The middle of the Celler de Can Roca brothers stars in this chapter of the podcast Stay to eat. Josep Roca, who in the summer of 2022 was named the best sommelier in the world by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, reflects on a society that runs too fast and in which we do not give ourselves time to listen to each other. The wine waiter, as he likes to define himself, claims a revolution that must be for the sensitive. “In this hyper-accelerated, hyper-communicated society, but also clothed in so many links that have to do with greed, more kindness, more time and more recognition of the intimate being is needed. From that search for fullness that allows us to recognize ourselves in silence.

Roca questions the impact of climate change on food and points out the urgency of defending the dignity of those who work the land. The sommelier explains the evolution of the culture of his taste: “First you want harmony and little by little you are looking for hedonism in the most angular, disturbing parts that challenge you. I like the more liberated and direct part of the wines that is not blocked by fear or speculation”.

Roca talks about creativity at El Celler de Can Roca, about the future of the emblematic restaurant, with a greater presence of Jordi Roca in the salty kitchen, and about emotions and pairing: “Behind each pairing there is a reason. But a dish with a wine is not a harmony because the most important thing is missing, which is who is going to drink that wine. And if we know who will do the tasting, we will be able to influence from an emotional perspective”.

Regarding the work of waiters and waitresses, he considers that it is a profession that requires a certain maturity and learning, especially in life, something that is not available at a very young age. He also believes that we have the best-trained generation of professionals, but that family reconciliation is essential, as is asking what you can do to make a worker feel better at home. "Beyond offering schedules and economic conditions, we will have to make them leave our homes better."

The chapter can also be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcast and Google Podcast.