El Nino may force top chefs to rethink menus

An exceptionally strong El Nino cycle may force leading chefs to rethink menus as droughts, floods and heatwaves disrupt global food systems, according to chefs gathered at the Apapaxoa gastronomic festival on Mexico's Caribbean coast.

United Nations experts have predicted an unusually strong cycle of the El Nino climate phenomenon, which changes winds and rainfall and can bring erratic weather.

Brazilian chef Alex Atala said changing supplies have already forced frequent menu adjustments at his Sao Paulo restaurant D.O.M. He said ants, one of the ingredients used in his cuisine, are now available only for customers who specifically ask to try them.

Atala said flooding and wildfires can also delay transport, leaving fresh products in poor condition by the time they arrive.

Spanish chef Quique Dacosta said extreme weather in the Mediterranean has damaged raw materials central to his cuisine, including vineyards, orange groves and rice fields near Valencia. He also said customers cancel reservations during stormy periods.

In Mexico's Yucatan region, chef Roberto Solis said an unusual lack of hurricanes had affected moisture, ocean currents and plankton, with consequences for seafood.

Danish chef Rasmus Munk said Copenhagen restaurant Alchemist is developing a chocolate alternative from brewer's spent grains because the chocolate market is under pressure. Japanese chef Yusuke Takada said warmer waters have changed the seafood available to cooks in Japan.

Alvaro Clavijo, chef at Bogota's El Chato, said cacao pulp and Andean tubers are already running low and that water shortages are his main concern.