Life Lessons Learned from José Andrés at Outside Days
James Beard-Award winning chef, New York Times -bestselling cookbook author, Nobel Peace Prize nominee: José Andrés has earned many titles over the years. Speaking to a packed crowd at Outside Days on Saturday, May 30, it became clear “trav…
James Beard-Award winning chef, New York Times-bestselling cookbook author, Nobel Peace Prize nominee: José Andrés has earned many titles over the years. Speaking to a packed crowd at Outside Days on Saturday, May 30, it became clear “traveler” is the one that has inspired all the other titles in his life. His adventures around the world have not only shaped his culinary identity, but the celebrated chef’s humanitarian mission of feeding millions in the wake of disaster around the world via his nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
Featured on Outside’s Summer issue cover, Andrés walked the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route in his home country of Spain, to celebrate his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife Patricia. Our editorial director Kevin Sintumuang joined him for the journey, as Andrés slowed down on the sacred path, while still taking calls from his team on the front lines of disaster relief in Gaza. Andrés cooked an impromptu 20-minute, three-course meal on the trail to surprised pilgrims, and told Sintumuang that he walks the Camino every year not to escape the world, but to process it all.
On the second day of Outside Days, sitting down with Outside’s VP of Media, Mary-Frances Heck, Andrés shared the pivotal moments traveling around the globe that have inspired his life’s work. As a James Beard Award winner and cookbook author herself, Heck talked with Andrés on stage about his new cookbook Spain: My Way and the connection between cooking and the outdoors, drawing on the universal elements of “air, water, fire, and, of course, jamon.”
Animated and unable to sit still, Andrés captivated the crowd with his tales from his early days cooking on a Spanish tall ship to his lifelong fascination with the night sky to scuba diving all over the world. In between downing and passing the porrón– a traditional Spanish wine vessel—and throwing Iberian ham-stuffed frisbees to the audience, the humanitarian imparted some poignant life lessons.
If the Door Doesn’t Open, Jump Through the Window
Andrés shared that his travels are what shaped his life’s work, starting at 18 years old on the Juan Sebastián Elcano, a four-masted Spanish Navy tall ship. During his military service in the Spanish Navy, his culinary skills caught the attention of high-ranking officials, leading to a dream assignment: cooking meals onshore for a Navy admiral. Instead of accepting the cushy assignment, Andrés chose to pursue his childhood dream. He convinced the admiral to send him to sea on the legendary four-masted training ship and the third-largest tall ship in the world.
“When you want something, knock on the door. If the door isn’t open, jump through the window. And be creative about it, because the destiny of your life is not in the hands of others,” he told the audience. “I am so happy I risked it to get in trouble, only to do something that was my destiny.”
These formative years cooking on a Spanish Navy tall ship first brought him to the Americas. And at the time the ship docked in New York City, he recalled, only blocks from where his future Mercado Little Spain, a 35,000-square-foot Spanish food hall and market, stands today.
Sailing Is the Ultimate Lesson on Teamwork
Andrés’ adventures navigating intense storms, including hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, and the incredible views from high above the deck, instilled in him his lifelong sense of wonder. Sailing through unpredictable weather taught him a profound lesson about moving forward through adversity, too. His days cooking on a Spanish Navy tall ship also taught him the power of a team working toward a shared direction.
“Those six months [were] probably one of the most important six months of my life,” he said. “It showed me the power of 300 people working together, even when the winds, the oceans, and the currents were taking us in another direction. Together, we could always take the boat in the direction we wanted.” This camaraderie he felt with his shipmates and later his kitchen staff fueled his humanitarian work.
The Most Important Ingredient Is Time
Andrés emphasized that time is the most essential component in cooking, particularly when discussing traditional Spanish foods. The chef detailed the creation of Iberian ham, the prized Spanish cured ham from the black Iberian pig (and in José Andrés fashion, he shared his country’s delicacy with the audience via a rather inventive distribution method—stuffed in frisbees and tossed from the stage).
He described to Heck the essential natural elements needed: from the pigs fattening on acorns to the mountain winds—both the cold northern winter winds and the hot southern summer winds—that are naturally harnessed to cure the meat.
“The most precious gift and ingredient is time,” he said. “Because when we waste it, it is precious. And when we [don’t], it’s precious because we are enjoying every second.”
Spain Is the Best Bet for Total Solar Eclipse…and Well, Food
Where will the astro-loving chef be for this year’s total solar eclipse? Spain, of course. Andrés shared that he has already meticulously planned for the total solar eclipse happening on August 12, 2026. He’s rented out a ten-room hotel situated in the path of totality in an undisclosed location in Spain. The spot was specifically chosen for its high probability of clear skies, but no surprise, also for its close proximity to the region’s best restaurant.
Paella Is Best Served on Earth, Not in Space
Speaking of celestial wonders, Andrés shared a hilarious story on stage about developing a space menu in 2022 so that American and Russian astronauts on the International Space Station could eat the same meal together. He sent up a traditional Valencian paella, but without enough moisture to keep the grains stuck together, the rice floated everywhere when the bag was opened. He said he joked to NASA that he was just trying to recreate the Big Bang.
Fire Equals Food for So Many
While discussing beautiful moments cooking over an open fire outdoors, Andrés brought up a stark contrast. For over three billion people, gathering wood to cook is not a weekend camping outing, but a matter of daily survival that perpetuates the cycle of poverty and causes respiratory illness. Andrés founded World Central Kitchen in 2010 following the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti. It was this first mission that inspired him to rethink disaster relief with freshly cooked meals on the ground. On stage, he noted that in places like Haiti, families spend up to 25 percent of their daily earnings just on charcoal alone. He said he is dedicating the next 25 to 30 years of his life to bringing clean cookstoves to Haiti.
As he wrapped up his talk, Andrés passionately offered a call to action for the audience and the outdoor industry to support global initiatives that turn cooking over the fire into a safer practice around the world. Food is a fundamental human right, he underscored.
“When I see a fire, I don’t see this beauty,” he said. “I only think that there are more than three billion people on planet Earth that are in the process of feeding their families with wood.”
People Who Love the Outdoors Represent the Best of Humanity
When he’s not writing a new book, or adding a new restaurant to his empire, or feeding millions on the frontlines around the world, you can find him out in nature. From walking Spain’s Camino de Santiago year after year, to spearfishing and scuba diving in the Caribbean, to walking through the green spaces around his Washington, D.C., home, Andrés says the people you find outside are the best people.
“The people you find in the outside world just enjoying nature itself are the people that are always on the side of humanity,” Andrés said while exploring the Outside Days festival grounds post-talk.
“What is good for you must be good for me; it means that you are willing to share everything with everyone else in the same way nature shares everything with us. That’s why I think the people you see on the walks of life, down in the ocean scuba [diving], or trekking up a mountain, or walking to a lake, or going for wild strawberries in the middle of nowhere near a little stream, are the best people. And that’s why I like to be outside.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Kathleen Rellihan is Outside‘s Senior Travel and Culture Editor. Chef José Andrés’ first restaurant, Jaleo, was her favorite while she was living in Washington, D.C., and she was immensely inspired by World Central Kitchen during her visits to Haiti.
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