José Andrés Eats His Last Meal

At 18, managing a kitchen, José Andrés accidentally dropped a large tray of hot canalones into a live seafood tank due to rushing and refusing help. This chaotic incident, where fish were seen eating pasta, taught him the critical lesson of humility and the importance of accepting assistance, realizing that collaboration often leads to greater achievement.

He recounts dropping a 'very long big tray' of canalones into an aquarium with 'linenas, the stripe bus, the lobsters' and fish 'jumping in the air, the canalon coming out of the mouth of this strip bus' because he tried to handle it alone. He states, 'sometimes if somebody offers you help uh be humble and say yes because probably it'll be easier because with help maybe sometimes you will achieve more things.'

As he ages and experiences loss, Andrés has shifted his perspective on death from mourning to celebrating the life and legacy of the departed. He recalls his grandmother's passing as a 'celebration' where family gathered to remember good moments, finding solace and goodness in the impact a person leaves behind.

Andrés notes that as he gets older, he thinks about death more, especially after losing family members. He describes his grandmother's passing as a 'good thing in the sense of the celebration that happened celebrating my grandma' and 'all the good things of her life,' which he finds 'better than just feeling terribly bad because the person passed away but it's kind of feeling good because all the legacy the person is living.'

Andrés believes that the quality and purity of an ingredient often surpass the complexity of a prepared dish. He travels for ingredients rather than just dishes, citing experiences like eating fresh Hokkaido sea urchin directly from the boat as life-changing, emphasizing the raw, unadulterated flavor.

He states, 'I travel less every day for the dish... than I travel for the ingredient.' He references Anthony Bourdain's quote, 'I have never tasted a dish better than an ingredient,' and describes eating 'Hokkaido sein Hokkaidoni eaten in the same boats where you grab in the base where you grab the sea urchin... when the sea urchin still has the seaweed... It's just life changing.'

Andrés argues that the 'imperfect bite'—a dish that has sat, cooled, or even become soggy—can sometimes be more beautiful and deeply satisfying than its freshly made, perfect counterpart. He illustrates this with pan con tomate, suggesting the day-after, cold, soggy version can be superior.

Discussing pan con tomate, he asks, 'what is better? The perfect toasted bread with the tomato right in the moment you made it fresh or the after when the bread is soggy... Everything is already like ah looks ugly. But then you go, you close your eyes and you eat it. And that imperfect bite the day after cold. Is almost better than the actual thing when was freshly made.'

The idea for World Central Kitchen was born during a vacation in Grand Cayman with Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. Witnessing the horrific images of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on a bar TV, Andrés felt an immediate calling to help, setting in motion the creation of his now global humanitarian organization.

He recalls being at 'this bar with the TVs outside' watching NFL, but instead 'we were watching horrific images of of the earthquake.' He confirms, 'So yeah, that was the beginning' of the organization, which is 'about to become 10 year anniversary of Maria where kind of grew up.'

Andrés posits that knowing how to eat well is as fundamental as knowing how to cook. He believes that if one cannot enjoy meals, the very purpose of life is diminished, emphasizing the finite nature of meals and the importance of making each one count.

He states, 'It's important to know how to cook. But it's important to know how to eat too. And if you don't know how to eat, you cannot enjoy meals. And if you cannot enjoy meals, what is the purpose of life itself?' He adds, 'If you are going to be doing this make sure you well but even better make sure that you eat well so your is worth something.'