He was the first Spanish chef to get the coveted three Michelin stars. The Navarrese chef Benjamín Urdiain has died this Monday at the age of 84, as reported by the Association of Chefs and Confectioners of the Community of Madrid, of which he was still honorary president.
"The first three Michelin stars in Madrid and Spain, but above all he leaves us a great person. Humble, kind and a great professional," the institution paid tribute in an emotional tweet.
In 1987, he became the first Spanish chef to obtain the highest gastronomic distinction: the three Michelin stars, when he directed the kitchens of Zalacaín, where he had arrived in 1973 as head chef with Jesús María Oyarbide and his wife, Consuelo Apalategui.
De Urdiain are also some of the historical dishes of the Madrid restaurant, which reaches half a century this year. The star is the Tellagorri cod, a variation of the classic ajorriero cod that owes its name to one of the characters in the novel Zalacaín El Aventurero, since the founder of the restaurant is a great admirer of the work of Pío Baroja.
Urdiain retired from the kitchen more than a decade ago, but until the end he has remained linked to the world of gastronomy. He received the National Gastronomy Award in 1981 and in 2002 he was awarded the Grand Prize for Memory and Gratitude by the International Academy of Gastronomy.