Health
For us, the world of food is absolutely connected to the world of health. We understand that we have a tool that is as beneficial as it is dangerous. We started down a path that began in 2010, and has continued to grow into three lines of work, favoring a diet that aligns with health.
Internal feeding
This is clearly the basic foundation we must start to build upon, creating a healthy and respectful dietary plan with the people who make up the Azurmendi team/family. We have a person who designs the whole team’s menu, taking into account that we eat at the restaurant most of the time, so as an obligation, we have to design menus to be balanced, fit, and beneficial to our health
Taking care of ourselves
Menus for people with allergies, intolerances and other restrictions
External feeding
The restaurant monitors the number of people who come to Azurmendi with food difficulties daily – sometimes in the form of intolerances, others in the form of allergies. This has become a responsibility for us towards people and their right to food that is adapted to their needs, within an equitable framework in which people who lack the same alimentary difficulties are also respected. Currently, we have designed more than 16 alternative options (celiac disease, diabetes, lactose, seafood, lupine, etc.) for some of these groups, and our intention is to continue growing.
Food for society
We have created a cookbook along with the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital of recipes for day-to-day life with ingredients that are humble, affordable, easy to find, and that fit into different chapters, such as celiac disease, diabetes, renal failure, heart failure, childhood obesity, etc. Every chapter and recipe is validated by a medical expert or specialist. All the proceeds from the book go to research projects on the diseases covered therein.
Study and collaboration with the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital
Developing hospital menus
Over the course of two years, the Azurmendi and the Galdakao-Usansolo Hospital have jointly developed a work plan for the design and implementation of menus aimed at hospital patients. The idea is to create a community of young chefs from the are who commit to designing menus pro bono with us, and with various hospitals and their respective kitchen teams – at least once a month the first year, twice a month the second year – and following in that vein, we can offer our knowledge, know-how, and love for society in designing menus of the highest possible quality for patients. The idea is to do it with young chefs, so they understand the value of real life and what it means to help others through a discipline such as cooking, thus promoting the possibility of cooking a better future.