Alex Atala: The kitchen is like the pitch

Stereotyped by the famous black bean stew dish feijoada and barbecued churrasco beef, there was a time when Brazilian cuisine was regarded as a mere curiosity. The respect that Brazil has now gained in the world of haute cuisine is mostly down to one enterprising chef, Alex Atala, the man behind the Sao Paulo restaurants Dalva e Dito and D.O.M., currently ranked fourth on the esteemed World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. A craftsman in the kitchen, Atala is also wholeheartedly committed to using locally sourced produce and harnessing the amazing variety Brazil has to offer, introducing the rest of the world to the country’s hidden delights and even showing his compatriots a new trick or two. As a leading exponent of Brazil’s distinctive culture, Atala has been invited to attend the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 draw in Sao Paulo on 1 December. In conversation with FIFA.com, he discusses the ties that bind football and cooking, which are more numerous than you might imagine. FIFA.com: Alex, how did you take the news you’d been invited to assist with the draw for the FIFA Confederations Cup? Alex Atala: First I got scared and then I started to let it go to my head a bit (laughs). When they told me I said to them, ‘Cooks don’t usually do this kind of stuff.’ Later, I began to feel a bit pleased with myself when they told me David Beckham had done this role for South Africa [2009] (laughs). With the FIFA Confederations Cup ever closer and the FIFA World Cup™ to follow that, have you noticed any change in people’s perceptions of Brazil? When I’m outside Brazil, there isn’t a single time when I meet with another chef that they don’t ask me about it, that the subject doesn’t come up. It’s clear that a World Cup has a huge impact on tourism and, as a result, on the restaurant industry too – in a unique way. In every conversation I have with international chefs, the World Cup in Brazil comes up. And everybody wants to come over, to open a pop-up restaurant over here. It’s incredible how fascinated people are by our country. The hosting of the FIFA Confederations Cup and the FIFA World Cup in Brazil includes a series of parallel projects designed to promote and encourage Brazilian culture – including its cuisine. How big an impact can these events have in that field? It’s a sensational opportunity to carry out all kinds of initiatives and, above all, use them to generate value. Value does not equal money, it’s about raising awareness of the chain of production. It would be incredible if, in the run-up to the World Cup, we could show people outside Brazil what farofa (toasted manioc flour), couve (cauliflower) and cupuaçu (an Amazonian fruit) is. It would be great if we could get them to try those things and bring them into their lives, and ensure that change in attitude has beneficial effects for producers too. It’s about making people around the world aware of these great products and who produces them. Putting a name on those flavours is fundamental. It’s not just the product that’s important, it’s the person behind it too, and they need to be given their due. Who knows, perhaps via the Confederations Cup and World Cup we can use cooking to promote social and even environmental change? From : Fifa