The China Mail - El Nino rewrites the menu in the world's top restaurants

Ants are disappearing from the table in Brazil, one Danish chef is opting for cocoa-free chocolate and Japan is serving up warm-water fish, culinary stars disclosed at the Apapaxoa gastronomic festival on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

United Nations experts have predicted an exceptionally strong cycle of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which causes global changes in winds and rainfall as well as erratic weather conditions.

The cream of the culinary crop, looking ahead to unpredictable ingredient availability, quality and prices, are rearranging their shelves accordingly.

But for these acclaimed chefs, extreme weather events and their habit of turning the kitchen upside down are nothing new.

"In the last three years, I've been creating an annual menu that I end up adjusting many times, almost weekly, because certain products aren't available," Brazilian chef Alex Atala told AFP.

"Ants, for example, this year are only available for customers who specifically ask to try them," said Atala, whose Sao Paulo restaurant D.O.M. plucks ingredients from the Amazonian wilderness to reinterpret Indigenous traditions.

El Nino can also massively disrupt transportation, said Atala.

Flooded roads or wildfires "delay a product that should be fresh, and by the time it arrives, it's no longer in good condition," he said.

- 'People just don't come anymore' -

The renowned Brazilian chef also emphasized the "cultural loss" provoked by El Nino, referring to the disappearance of tradition along with the unavailable ingredient.

The climate crisis has wreaked havoc on the Mediterranean, says Spain's Quique Dacosta, whose restaurant in the port city of Denia sits near Valencia, which was pummelled by torrential rain in 2024.

Almost 250 people died, while vineyards, orange groves and plots used to grow Albufera rice, an essential paella ingredient, were decimated.

An event of such intensity "directly attacks the raw materials that are the natural foundation on which we build our cuisine," Dacosta told AFP.

Footfall also takes a hit, he said, noting that a stormy season has once again descended and fearful customers are canceling their reservations.

"It's going to rain a lot and people just don't come anymore -- imagine how vulnerable our businesses are," he said.

- 'First year without hurricanes' -

While El Nino ramps up weather conditions in some parts, it produces a vacuum in others.

"This is the first year without hurricanes" in the Mexican Caribbean, said chef Roberto Solis.

While Hurricane Polo hurtles around the Pacific, there isn't a trace of the usual cyclones off Mexico's opposite coast, near Solis's native Yucatan.

"Hurricanes carry moisture and move ocean currents and plankton," he said, noting the consequences for seafood dishes at his restaurant Huniik, where he reimagines Mayan specialties.

Danish chef Rasmus Munk has a reputation for inventiveness and is calling on his peers to think about future food resilience.

His Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist is experimenting with chocolate alternatives because "the chocolate market is also under pressure," he said.

"The non-chocolate we're making now, we make it from BSG, which is the brewer's spent grains," he added.

The fibrous leftover from beer production also serves as a "local alternative," Munk said.

- Rationing water -

Japanese cooks are working with a brand-new selection of seafood, since El Nino has altered ocean migratory routes.

"In Japan it's not a problem, there's always product available," said Yusuke Takada, who combines Japanese ingredients with French cooking techniques in La Cime, Osaka.

But concern is the prevailing mood among the culinary greats gathered in Mexico.

El Nino "is changing everything," warned Dominique Crenn, a French-born chef in San Francisco, where Atelier Crenn uses its menu to stress the gravity of the situation to customers.

The weather pattern "hits Colombia very hard," echoed Alvaro Clavijo.

At Clavijo's Bogota-based El Chato, ingredients like cacao pulp and Andean tubers are already running low.

But the chef is most worried about water shortages, recalling a severe drought in 2024.

"Two years ago rationing already started to be felt, and that in a restaurant is super complicated," he said.

K.Lam--ThChM