Auction for French Bulldog Rescue – El Bulli 1983 – 1993

We’re holding auctions all of this month to benefit Eastern Canada French Bulldog Rescue. Our rescue kitty is bare, and your support will let us sock away some much needed funds before the next needy little French Bulldog ends up in our care!

Our first item up for bid is VERY special – and very rare. Only ever available directly from El Bulli Restaurant, by special order, this is widely considered to be the most expensive cookbook ever released.

From the eBay description:

In 2011, an era came to an end with the closing of El Bulli, one of the world’s most revered restaurants, and arguably the birthplace of molecular gastronomy.  And to think, it all started with mini golf – and French Bulldogs.

From the El Bulli website:

Doctor Hans Schilling, a German homeopathic doctor, and his wife Marketta, Czechoslovakian in origin but German by adoption, came to Roses at the end of the 1950s, and having fallen in love with Cala Montjoi, they decided to buy a piece of land there.
… 

At that point, our link with the story begins with a planning permission licence for a minigolf installation, dated June 1961. The name chosen for their business (which came into use at some unspecified time) was El Bulli, since the Schillings had some French bulldogs, a breed colloquially known as “bulli”.

In 2009, I contacted El Bulli to request an interview for an article I was writing. I mentioned that I owned French Bulldogs, and struck up an animated conversation with Chef Ferran Adria’s assistant. A month later, this stunning gift arrived in the mail – the Deluxe Boxed Set, El Bulli 1983 -1993, along well as several copies of their much in demand ‘general catalog’ and a charming personal letter.

El Bulli 1983 – 1993 is a gorgeous piece of literary art, and details the arrival at El Bulli of Chef Ferran Adria. It details the rise of a new style of cooking, and a new approach to gastronomy. It has only ever been available by special order, directly from El Bulli, and is considered to be possibly the most expensive cookbook ever released, with an initial list price of $492

This set includes a hardcover book which “filled with full color photographs, presents not only El Bulli’s unparalleled recipes, but also an analysis of their development, philosophy, and technique” and is “presented as a boxed set that includes the main volume, along with a detailed Users Guide and an interactive CD that contains each recipe, numbered and catalogued by year.”

Item is in brand new condition, having only been gazed on reverentially as it sat in a position of honor on our bookshelf.

This incredible collectors item is being sold as part of our annual fund raiser to benefit Eastern Canada French Bulldog Rescue. 100% of all profits from this auction go directly to rescue. As a tip of the hat to French Bulldog lovers, we’ll include an El Bulli business card, emblazoned with the iconic El Bulli French Bulldog logo.

Please bid, and support French Bulldog Rescue!

Note: This is a LARGE item, weighing roughly 10 pounds (!!), so please make note that the shipping rates quoted are for general, non insured package mail. Priority and express shipping with insurance are available, at cost. Please contact me after auction end for details.

The item is up for auction on eBay – please go and take a look! It’s a wonderful, once in a lifetime item, soon to be possibly one of the world’s most rare cookbook collections, and a great addition to the collection of any lover of food or of French Bulldogs – or of both!

Please bid – and please share!