In the year or so that he has been here, Jose Luis Ruiz Comino has picked up a few phrases in Bulgarian, and mixes them at whim with English and his native madrileno Spanish, much in the way he chops and mixes and blends ingredients in the kitchen.

A chef by profession, a cook by passion, Ruiz Comino came to Bulgaria to work at a certain Sofia restaurant, which he left four months later. Since then, he has been making guest appearances at various establishments and festivals around the country, bringing to the people something a step above chicken with rice.

From October 1 to 7, he was at Vratata, a Lozenets restaurant that has been treating guests to a selection of world-class guest chefs under the creative direction of owner Vessela Balabanova since it opened in 2006. Why? A week of Spanish cuisine, in connection to Spain’s national day, October 12.

Both Spain and Bulgaria have Mediterranean influences – with Spain being able to claim a bit more proprietorship on the concept – that can be seen in each country’s cooking. Tomatoes, sweet peppers, beans, olive oil.... But there is absolutely no connection between Spanish and Bulgarian cooking, Ruiz Comino says. And not only in the ingredients, but also in the philosophy of food and eating.

Spanish people eat three large cooked meals a day, he says, whereas Bulgarians eat one large cooked meal, usually dinner, and snack throughout the rest of the day. In addition, the whole way of looking at food is different. In the country from which he comes, food and its consumption could be considered something of a ritual, respected and honoured. In this country, it could be said that food is a necessary part of daily life, but not one to be placed on a pedestal.

What unites the two is that meal time is an opportunity to share with friends and family, a social affair that would not be as delicious without the company.

In his past in Spain, Ruiz Comino cooked for names like King Juan Carlos, the soprano Maria de Montserrat Viviana Concepcion Caballe i Folc, Pedro Almodovar, Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez and the Real Madrid football team. He won a Mediterranean cooking competition in Paris, presented his original recipes in visually creative ways and was, as a whole, loved by critic and clients alike. At the age of 24, he became head chef of the five-star restaurant at Villa Real Hotel in Madrid, the youngest to ever hold such a position. When Prince Rainier celebrated his 75th birthday, he invited Ruiz Comino to prepare the festive meal in the Palace of Monaco.

And all that was before he opened his own restaurant, Los Girasoles, described by one guest as “a magical place for dinner”. When he came to Bulgaria in mid-2007, he closed the Madrid establishment.

Here, he has made it his goal to introduce the appreciation of good food.

“Personally, I’m well accepted here,” he says over an espresso at Vratata. “Professionally, I’m trying to introduce Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine. It’s easier for people who have been outside Bulgaria to understand what I am trying to do. It requires a bit more of my effort for people who have never left Bulgaria to appreciate the food. But it’s coming, little by little.”

During his time in the country, Ruiz Comino has taken part in various culinary weeks at different restaurants. In September, through his participation as a foreign guest chef at the Sharena Trapeza culinary festival in the village of Banya, he brought Spanish cuisine to the attention – and tastebuds – of the general public.

Apart from hesitant diners, Ruiz Comino cites the lack of quality products as another challenge to cooking here. “Meats and fish above all, this is an area in which I see the greatest lack,” he says, while adding that Bulgaria does have excellent fruits and vegetables.

 “What is needed here is a culture of gastronomy. Bulgarians do not have this, and you cannot talk about the haute cuisine of Spain, or Italy, or France, because there is none here.”

He says that such a culture is needed here, but as to why it is a necessity, the only explanation Ruiz Comino gives is that it is interesting for him to make haute cuisine important in Bulgaria, particularly for the younger generation to be introduced to it. From another perspective, one not broached by Ruiz Comino, it would be quite a loss if traditional Bulgarian food – a cuisine loved by most exactly because it is comforting, tasty and approachable, in other words, not haute cuisine – were mixed with Franco-Spanish gastro-influences to become nearly indistinguishable from other fusion cuisines around the world.

Yet perhaps it is nothing other than a personal mission, as he somewhat described it in between telephone calls and questions on this and that reservation.

To this effect, he is in the process of creating a catering firm, providing Spanish delights, of course, under the name Josito’s Catering.

Each day of the week of Spanish cooking at Vratata focused on a different region of Spain. Extremadura started off the event, with dishes like moje de pimientos rojos (salad of red peppers, eggs and asparagus, seasoned with balsamic vinegar and cumin), conejo al salmorejo exstremeno (rabbit with vegetables, almonds and brandy – the favourite dish of Dolce and Gabana when they would eat at Los Girasoles) and bizcochito de higos con cacao y crema de almendras tostadas (chocolate cake with almonds and dried figs).

Extremadura is an area of Spain between Caceres and Badajoz, rich in wildlife and agriculture.

Next was Ruiz Comino’s native Madrid, the capital of Spain, with ensalada de mousse de garbanzos, lomito de cochinillo con patatas a la madrilena (piglet shoulder braised in white wine and saffron) and torrijas a la miel (a honey-cinnamon sweet, something like French toast).

El Pais Vasco, Euskal Herrira, the Basque Country was featured on October 4, with tarrina de foie fresco (fois gras with cognac and white pepper, a dish that Comino prepared for Prince Rainier’s birthday), chipirones en su tinta a arroz pilif (baby calamari wtih white wine and vegetables) and pastel vasco con frutas del bosque (torte with blackberries, raspberries and cinnamon).

Balabanova describes the time spent in the kitchen with Comino as a mix of pantomime and tripartite pidgin Spanish, Bulgarian and English. And a jolly good time, at that.

What comes through when talking with Ruiz Comino is his enjoyment of what he does, the pleasure radiating from his face. And by continuing to blend his Spanish culinary past with the current wariness of Bulgarian diners, Ruiz Comino will pursue the higher education of Bulgarian tastebuds joyfully.