Ferran Adrià

"Chupa Chups Julio Verne" or "Jules Verne Lollipops" is what Ferran Adrià calls these fun and easy meringue-coated fruit skewers, presumably because they resemble something from an old-fashioned science fiction movie.

Ferran Adrià; credits the idea for this dish to one of his acolytes, Moreno Cedroni, a hyper-creative Italian chef. The method is very similar to risotto, but spaghetti fills in for the arborio rice: Adrià; toasts it in a pan with a little oil, then adds hot clam juice until the pasta is fully cooked and loaded with briny flavor.

A long-simmered stew made with dried fruit and nuts is typically Catalan. Ferran Adrià's version starts with a store-bought rotisserie chicken—the ones in Spain are superdelicious—finished with a quick fruit-and-nut sauce that uses the flavorful poultry drippings.

Something as conventional as rack of lamb would never, ever have found its way into Ferran Adrià's ultra-experimental kitchen at El Bulli. But here, he converts it into an unexpected, wonderful dish that anyone can make. Who else would think to coat a rack of lamb with a pistachio pesto, then wrap it in pancetta to keep it nicely moist and make it even richer as it roasts?

Nothing could be easier than slapping a piece of chocolate on a slice of bread: Spanish children do it all the time as an after-school snack. But by sprinkling the melted chocolate with sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil, Ferran Adrià; turns kid food into something parents will want to try.