The rice bombita by Edu Torres-Molino Roca, excites great chefs, Rodrigo de la Calle, Dani García, Ángel León, Jordi Cruz and Alberto Ferruz, among others. Despite the fact that his rice dishes are highly appreciated in the Spanish hospitality industry, his work irritates and raises controversies in his own land, especially in the area of the Arròs de València designation of origin , to which he refuses to belong with strong arguments. . Torres is part of the fourth generation of a family dedicated to the cultivation and marketing of rice, under the Molino Roca brand , a company founded by his great-great-grandfather José Roca in 1903 in Valencia.
Four days before the state of alarm was declared , we had an appointment. First he showed me his mill in Segorbe and then we shared a paella in the Albufera in the municipality of El Romaní , which was prepared outdoors by chef Abraham Bárdez . From that moment on and during the months of confinement I have enjoyed cooking dry and soupy rice dishes at home with the varieties of this house - J. Sendra, bomba, bombita and carnaroli -, fresh or aged (refined) for months, signature rice dishes. as you like to call them. My experiences have been so compelling that I have become addicted to their cause.
Success or conflict? “ The problem started with the seed of the bombita . We spent three years until we found what we wanted in an important Italian hotbed, we invested time and money. Possibly it is the rice that has penetrated the most in Spanish haute cuisine. Glutinous in the mouth, loose, with grains that are not hard and are impregnated with the flavor of the broth. I have distanced myself from the DO, but I flee from the controversies. I consider it unacceptable that I am constantly harassed and coerced by my clients, urging them to stop consuming my rice in favor of other brands that benefit from this organization. From an ethical point of view the subject is serious. I have witnesses and documents . I'm happy that they do their job, but that they let me do mine. I comply with legality in all terms. I have nothing to hide, on the contrary. The doors of my mill are open to anyone who wishes to visit it. I defend my right to do things differently.
Bombita, is it a variety or a brand?
Nothing variety, a brand ( Bombita by Torca ) that I have registered. I refuse to discover the seed because the moment it is harvested on a large scale it will degenerate into something else. Why don't I reveal it? Because I don't feel like it , when Coca-Cola spreads the formula I will tell where the bombita comes from . We remunerate our farmers well 30% above the usual wages, guarantee fair trade and sell the most expensive rice in Spain. We do direct sales, by phone or online ( Producers Market ), but we are not in supermarkets, not even in gourmet stores. I am in charge of 24 people and I travel 150,000 kilometers each year to visit my clients. We do not compete on price. In one of my hashtags I make it clear: #sibuscasprecionosomostumolino.
Why the mill in Segorbe?
“ The designation of origin requires that the rice mills are close to the Albufera . As the humidity percentages in its environment are high, we decided to move to Segorbe , with a dry and cold climate, where cured meats and hams are cured 450 meters away. Our rices do not ferment and are dry, part of our success. To get premium qualities you have to get them away from the Albufera ”.
At what point do you do the polishing?
" Throughout the year . From September they arrive at the warehouse from El Romaní and from the left bank of the Ebro Delta . We let them rest for no less than three months and prepare them on request. We adapt to our customers and supply them freshly polished. If they are protected by their skin they are like almonds, they do not alter. Our rice does not need treatment. We do not add gas, standard practice to kill the bug. We maintain the commitment to send fresh rice, with all its sensory virtues intact. ”
What does your training work consist of?
“The first person who trusted us years ago was Enrique Meliá, who began shopping for his entire hotel chain. Now I leave my life visiting restaurants. I show each chef what the impurity rates consist of, the peculiarities of each variety and the virtues of clean rice without broken grains. I explain the tricks with which you get low prices and the polishing done by industrialists to unify appearances. I show them numerous packages that contain broken grains, pieces with bites, apart from the rice powder, which also weighs. In cheap packages impurities fluctuate between 30% and 35% ”.
During my stay at the Segorbe mill, the dialogue had taken place with the participation of the production manager, the Argentine of German origin, Erich Hagel , who has been in Spain for years. “We are artisans and we take care of the details. A large industry polishes 150,000 kilos of rice an hour, we only 600 kilos in that same time. We do special polishing and remove impurities with rates of 50%. We get rice without starch and with the original conformation intact. For every 1,000 kilos of paddy rice we get only 450 kilos. Industrial processes are devastating ” , Edu Torres had told me .
During the tour I contemplated the operation of traditional machines installed by the great-grandfather José Roca, in parallel to other high-tech ones. Between the two they instructed me in the classification processes and in the relationship between the flavor and the shades of the grains. A gourmet world that was completely unknown.
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