Great Escapes: Chef David Reartes Shares His Favorite Ibizan Ingredients - Barron's

David Reartes, executive chef at Cas Gasi, a sustainably-focused boutique hotel in Ibiza, Spain.

Courtesy David Reartes

“Love is the main ingredient,” says David Reartes of the dishes he creates as executive chef at Cas Gasi, a sustainably-focused boutique hotel in Ibiza, Spain.

Reartes, 52, and the owners of the family-run property, shared the same culinary vision from the get-go: to prepare delicious food that honors the place, producers, and the island’s history while improving the planet. According to the acclaimed chef, “quality is more important than quantity.”

In Cas Gasi’s kitchen, Reartes tackles traditional preparations of Ibizan cuisine but with a twist. He recovers ancient but actual dishes from the Phoenicians, who inhabited the island some 2,700 years ago. “It’s an obsession with searching and documenting old techniques and products, both plant- and animal-based, that have been lost from our elders,” he says. 

While Reartes is an advocate of the organic movement, he takes it one step further, adhering to the “zero kilometer” philosophy, in which ingredients come from within a kilometer of where they’re eaten. Pioneered in Italy, the initiative champions sustainability while ensuring the freshest food available graces every plate.

“The first thing I consider is that all products are autochthonous–it is our philosophy to be self-sufficient using our garden produce,” he notes. “We go back to traditional fermentation as a way to keep our vegetables always alive and fresh.”

Reartes explains that he and his team don’t source their meats industrially but rather from people who work the land and raise the livestock. “Being a small island, the producers are small too, and it is a guarantee that the product is cared for with love.”

"The first thing I consider is that all products are autochthonous-it is our philosophy to be self-sufficient using our garden produce," Reartes says.

Courtesy David Reartes

His foray into the culinary world began in Barcelona more than 30 years ago at Txindoki, a family eatery specializing in Basque cuisine. The self-taught chef went on to cook in various kitchens in France and Spain, and in his own restaurants, including the seasonally-focused Pomona and the tapas tavern Re. Art. Both are also located in Ibiza, his home for several decades.

The island’s cuisine is undoubtedly Mediterranean-influenced, with ingredients ranging from organic, locally-grown produce, meat, free-range chicken, and wild seafood, to eggs, goat and sheep’s milk cheese, herbs, sprouts, and micro-greens. Here’s a selection of Reartes’ top picks cultivated on the island.

Servia. “It is an oily fish for both local fishing and consumption that we use, especially during autumn, the season when it reaches our shores and is at its best. A fish with white and sweet meat, practically without bones. It can be cooked raw or marinated with a soft touch of charcoal in the oven. As in our ‘tiradito en aguachile de kombucha.’ It has multiple nutritional properties such as Omega-3 fatty acids, minerals such as iron, calcium, zinc, sodium, and a variety of vitamins.”

Santañi tomato. “This is a [zero-kilometer] product, grown in the organic gardens of Cas Gasi and essential in our kitchen. It is present all year round and is characterized by its balance in acidity and sweetness. In summer, we use it fresh in elaborations such as tomato and fig tartare. And the rest of the year, it is preserved in Cas Gasi’s own organic extra-virgin olive oil or fermented, thus managing the surpluses of the garden.”

Garum. “Our cuisine is based on the origin of Punic cuisine. It was the Phoenicians who founded a colony and inhabited our island 2,700 years ago, leaving a rich gastronomic heritage of which we have taken the baton. Garúm is the base of the flavor of many of our elaborations. It is obtained from the fermentation of small fish on its way through the Mediterranean, introduced in containers with wild herbs and salt, allowing the yeasts to do their work. The resulting sauce they called ‘liquamen’ is the dressing of our aubergine [eggplant] cooked over the flame with garlic chips and spiced yogurt.”

Salicornia. “It is a halophyte plant that grows in the area of ​​the salt lakes ( Salinas ) of Ibiza. It stands out for its nutritional qualities and the contribution of iodine in the preparation of vegetable dishes, achieving the appreciated umami, as it happens with the homemade chlorophyll rice with stracciatella, where we process a cold juice to extract all the nutrients.”

Black pig. “It is an autochthonous Balearic breed introduced by the Phoenicians. I have been personally involved in the recovery of this peculiar breed for more than ten years, together with farmers and the genetics department of the University of Granada. It has clear differentiating features compared to the Iberian pig, being raised in the open air with certified organic flour and grains. Its fatty meat is rich in trace elements, with which we make a Pastrami, [served] with a soft relish of homemade pickles.”

This article has been edited for length and clarity.

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Great Escapes: Chef David Reartes Shares His Favorite Ibizan Ingredients - Barron's
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