Carlos Navarro, the Costa computer scientist turned renowned specialist in Japanese cuisine

Carlos Navarro from Malaga has returned from London as runner-up in the European final of the Japanese Culinary Arts Awards, held at West London University. Organised by the Japanese ministry of agriculture, only five chefs had the privilege of taking part in the test that gave them a passport to the world final in Tokyo next year.

Navarro was the only Andalusian to reach the final and he says it has given him “more possibilities for improvement to expand” and to embark on paths that he is keen to follow. “It was a personal question, a way of pushing my limits, of measuring my capabilities in Japanese cuisine”, acknowledges the Malaga-born chef after months of research into Japanese culture.

Mastery of the technique

Because this time it was not a sushi championship, but a Japanese cuisine championship. A much bigger challenge for which he had to prepare thoroughly. The entrants had to defend their mastery of technique before a jury made up of the prestigious chefs Daisuke Hayash and Yuichiro Akiyoshi, and the popular influencer Aiste Miseviciute, better known on social networks as @luxeat. They scored everything from knowledge of ingredients to hygiene, presentation, balance and fitting in with the theme. In this case, autumn.

Navarro had to demonstrate his ability to create five dishes using five different techniques: Yaku, everything that involves direct exposure to fire; Kiru, knife cuts; Ageru, frying and tempura; Musu, steaming; and Niru, stews. Based on these, Carlos Navarro designed a very elaborate menu that evoked autumnal traditions, beliefs and landscapes.

His menu consisted of A5+ Wagyu Beef Miyazaki grilled and cooked in miso sauce on magnolia leaf, recalling Kotatsubikari (the opening of the brazier); thin cuts of snapper cured in the Kobujime style, inspired by the offerings of snapper that traders made to Ebisu in October; a stir-fry evoking the Wabi-Sabi atmosphere of fallen leaves; mochi with striped patterns and sesame in honour of the first wild boar in Japan this month as a symbol of fertility and abundant harvest; and stewed turnip with sweet miso sauce and walnuts.

Navarro had to make all the dishes from scratch and in 100 minutes. There was “a lot of tension”, recalls the sushiman about that short time which, in the end, he made good use of and which allowed him to “fulfil a dream”.

He used to be a computer scientist and says of the change, “I have never regretted the change, on the contrary. They are two different worlds, but each one represents a passion. At the time, I was passionate about IT, and now I’m passionate about Japanese cuisine. The key is to be passionate about what you do at all times”.

Now in his early 50s, Navarro started his first computer company at the age of 21. He even designed a cardiology programme for two hundred hospitals and the second Internet server in Malaga. At the same time, his interest in Japanese culture was growing. He was interested in teh culture even as a child and in the 1990s he took the plunge and started practising with rice. As his skills improved his friends encouraged him to cook at home. And he did it for the first time in the home of Japanese people, no less.

Once he had passed the test, he was hooked and he began to train and become more professional. Eleven years later, Carlos Navarro does not want to stop learning and evolving. Proof of this are his national and international successes, such as the latest one in London and fifth place in the World Sushi Championship in 2016.

On a day-to-day basis, he is considered one of the most renowned sushi chefs in Spain and is now very involved in training and consultancy. He is responsible for the sushi menu at Nosso Marbella, Amare Marbella, Amare Ibiza, Banús Beach and 1970 Yacth Club (the latter two are now closed for the season).

But he hopes to open a restaurant of his own. “I still don’t know where or when, but I do know that it won’t be long. I feel the call to have something of my own, with my own imprint,” admits Navarro, who is already training and preparing for it.

“Getting into an adventure like this is a risk, but if I get into it, I get into it one hundred percent,” he says about this idea that has been “maturing for a long time”. However, before that he has other commitments, such as the Cudeca charity dinner on 8 November and, from 12 to 15 December, the Cáritas bazaar in Marbella where he and his team will make an 18-metre sushi roll on Friday 13.

This post was originally published on here