Put plankton on the plate

The serene expression on his face belies the words of passion and struggle coming from chef Angel Leon's mouth. ''We must fight for the sea,'' says Spain's Best Chef, awarded that title last year by the Royal Spanish Academy of Gastronomy. Known as el cocinero del mar, the Chef of the Sea, Leon speaks in the quick-fire accent of his native Cadiz. He is outspoken about the indiscriminate pillaging of the oceans, his reaction being to create dishes that turn the humblest forms of sea life into gastronomic masterpieces. ''For the sea is more than a passion,'' he says. ''It's an obsession.''

He sits in the modern dining room of his small restaurant Aponiente, where he cooks with head chef Juan Luis Fernandez, in the Andalusian port town of El Puerto de la Santa Maria. A block down the narrow street is the town's waterfront along the Rio Guadalete where a small fleet of pleasure craft are docked. Named by The New York Times as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world, Aponiente's marine theme plays subtly with backlit fish sculptures adorning the walls, and what appear to be dried sea creatures on the table. Combining a love of everything oceanic and cutting-edge culinary modernism, with a sense of humour the Gaditanos are famous for, he presents a dish that appears to be a small green chilli pepper. It is in fact a small stuffed calamari that has been shaped into the form of a chilli and marinated in chlorophyll to taint it bright green. This is followed by what appears to be a bone with marrow but is actually braised tuna. The work done to the food for visual effect does not predominate over the natural flavour of the sea shining through in both dishes.

Angel Leon grew up in the Atlantic coastal province of Spain, known for producing some of the best seafood in Europe. Leon learned to fish at his father's side in the waterways in and around Cadiz. There he taught about the various species of fish and sea life and how to cook them. ''I cooked my first seafood dish at the age of nine,'' he says. As a young chef he trained at establishment restaurant in Seville, Taberna del Alabardero, then moved around the regions of Spain learning the myriad different techniques and traditions particular to each region. Working in Bordeaux, Miami and Buenos Aires brought him into contact with the broader concepts of global cuisine.

In 2006 he returned to El Puerto de la Santa Maria where he bought a seafood tavern called Restaurante Tambuche. He not only experimented with North African fusion but also plankton.

His obsession with microscopic algae led him to work with the University of Cadiz. Together they worked to isolate tiny building blocks of sea life and Leon started using them in his cooking.

Meanwhile, he opened Aponiente. That year Leon wowed the gastronomic world when he presented his ideas of cooking with plankton at Madrid Fusion, the annual gastronomic convention held in the nation's capital. His dish of rice cooked in plankton - rich, creamy and tasting of the ocean - became his signature dish.

Although obsessed by the sea Leon is fiercely proud of the land and its produce. One of his dishes is a tartare of shellfish served with potato gnocchi made with sheep and goat's milk cheese and rolled in pulverised cucumber and fennel. The sand dunes along the coast in the province grow some of the best potatoes in Spain, prized for their iodinic flavour. The cheese is from a small but famed cheese producer called Payoyo, a co-operative making cheese from milk of animals grazing on the Rio Guadalete near its source in the sierras of Cadiz. These are all carefully placed on top of a cream of plankton.

Fernandez, Leon's right-hand man, will bring Leon's food to the Langham Melbourne in March for the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. What he will cook is under wraps. Fernandez is facing difficulties bringing Leon's typical food to Australia. Many key ingredients may not pass border control. Instead we are led to believe that Fernandez will embrace the diversity of Australia sea life and create a menu from what can be found on these shores.

Langham Melbourne MasterClass, March 8-9, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival presented by Bank of Melbourne. melbournefoodandwine.com.au