Mario Sandoval News · Research
1st Science, Cooking and Future Congress: six dialogues at the CSIC headquarters
On 3 and 4 November 2025, at the CSIC headquarters in Madrid, we sat six researchers across from six chefs. Two days, twelve speakers and eleven hours live to think together about food that is healthier, more sustainable and committed to society.
On 3 and 4 November 2025, the Mario Sandoval Foundation and the CSIC held the first edition of the Science, Cooking and Future Congress at the CSIC headquarters in Madrid. The format rests on a single idea: each session pairs a researcher with a chef and has them discuss the same subject from the perspective of both crafts.
The six dialogues
- Cooking history, making possible pasts
- Daniel Ramón, biotechnologist (CEU Cardenal Herrera), and Paco Morales, chef (Noor).
- Creativity and the avant-garde, looking to the future; learning to learn
- María José Alonso, professor (University of Santiago de Compostela), and Albert Adrià, chef (Enigma).
- Cooking the search for a word
- Juan Luis Arsuaga, palaeoanthropologist (Atapuerca), and Eneko Atxa, chef (Azurmendi).
- Seeds that tell stories, sowing the future
- Leonor Peña Chocarro (CSIC) and Joan Roca, chef (El Celler de Can Roca).
- Breaking boundaries in neurons and seas
- María Llorens-Martín (CSIC-UAM) and Ángel León, chef (Aponiente).
- Future, longevity and dreams
- María Vallet-Regí (Complutense University of Madrid) and Begoña Rodrigo, chef (La Salita).
Fifteen years of work behind it
The congress did not come out of nowhere. Mario Sandoval has worked with the CSIC since 2011, and that collaboration has produced nine lines of research: egg hydrolysis with Dr Marta Miguel, which makes it possible to produce lactose-free egg products; polyphenols from grape pomace as an alternative to salt; the extraction of aromas with supercritical fluids with researcher Elena Ibáñez; local ferments with the CSIC and IMIDRA. Each of them has ended up, sooner or later, on a plate at the restaurant. All nine lines, on the Research page.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Science, Cooking and Future Congress?
- A congress organised by the Mario Sandoval Foundation and the CSIC that pairs a researcher with a chef in each session. The first edition was held on 3 and 4 November 2025 at the CSIC headquarters in Madrid: six dialogues, twelve speakers and eleven hours of live broadcast.
- Who took part?
- Six researchers —Daniel Ramón, María José Alonso, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Leonor Peña Chocarro, María Llorens-Martín and María Vallet-Regí— and six chefs: Paco Morales, Albert Adrià, Eneko Atxa, Joan Roca, Ángel León and Begoña Rodrigo.
- Since when has Mario Sandoval worked with the CSIC?
- Since 2011. Nine lines of research, from egg hydrolysis to polyphenols from grape pomace.
- Where can the dialogues be watched?
- The videos, programme and materials are published on the Mario Sandoval Foundation's website.
Sources
More about the team: Mario Sandoval, chef · Diego Sandoval, maître d' · Rafael Sandoval, sommelier · Research
