Dabiz Muñoz ‘s visit to El Hormiguero has left numerous headlines, but one of them has stood out above the rest: the chef from Madrid revealed that he suffers from hyperthymesia, an extraordinarily rare disorder that affects less than a hundred people in the world and is characterized by an out-of-the-ordinary autobiographical memory.
The chef, known for his radical creativity and culinary intuition, surprised the audience by explaining: “It’s wild. I remember everything I’ve eaten (…) I have a brutal memory to know what I’ve eaten, when I’ve eaten it, what it tastes like, where it was and how it was… I have mostly texture and flavor”. A confession that opened the door to a debate on what it means to have this kind of memory and how it affects his work in haute cuisine.
What is hyperthymesia? A perfect autobiographical memory
Hyperthymesia is an extremely unusual disorder or syndrome that allows sufferers to recall in an accurate, vivid and virtually unlimited way details of their past life. It is neither a common memory nor a typical good memory: it is the ability to record and recall dates, sensations, conversations, places, smells or emotions as if they happened yesterday.
As described in the general clinical report of this phenomenon, hyperthymesia makes it possible to remember “even the smallest detail of past experiences”. It is not a trained memory, but an extraordinarily rare neurological trait.
The hypertimesia of @Dabizdiverxo #DabizMuñozEH pic.twitter.com/W2Kj9VOnZq
– El Hormiguero (@El_Hormiguero) November 27, 2025
In fact, according to available data, only an estimated 60 to 100 people worldwide have this type of memory, making it one of the rarest syndromes documented.
Dabiz Muñoz and the memory of taste: when hyperthymesia becomes a creative tool
In the case of the chef from Madrid, hyperthymesia manifests itself in a very particular way: his autobiographical memory is directly linked to culinary experiences. As he himself confessed: “I have a brutal memory to know what I have eaten, when I have eaten it, what it tastes like, where it was and how it was… I have above all the texture and the flavor”.
This quality, far from being an obstacle, has become a competitive advantage for his work. Remembering with total clarity textures, aromas and flavors of dishes tasted in any context allows him to reinterpret them, combine them or transform them into new gastronomic experiences, such as his latest striking Christmas nougat inspired by chicken and waffle or margherita pizza that he brought to the program. Hyperthymesia, in her case, acts as a kind of “infinite sensory archive” that feeds her creativity.
Is living with hyperthymesia a problem?
Although it may seem like a superpower, hyperthymesia also has a complex side. Remembering absolutely everything can lead to reliving painful moments or saturating the mind with details that are not always relevant. In Muñoz’s case, the most intense facet is linked to his culinary life, but in other individuals the perfect memory extends to all kinds of experiences, both positive and negative.
However, in his case, this extreme sensory memory has become a professional ally.
A disorder as rare as it is fascinating to science
Hyperthymesia continues to be studied because its neurological origin is still not entirely clear. People with hyperthymesia show different brain activity in areas related to autobiographical memory, but no universal pattern has been identified.
It is known, however, that it is not a learning process, does not depend on mnemonic techniques, cannot be trained or induced and is extraordinarily rare, with only between 60 and 100 individuals worldwide, which makes hyperthymesia an almost unique phenomenon in neuroscience.
Hyperthymesia and cooking: the Muñoz case, an exceptional example
In Dabiz Muñoz, hyperthymesia does not only affect the emotional or the biographical, but specifically the taste, something typical of very few documented cases. His ability to remember “what he ate, when he ate it and how it tasted” allows him to faithfully reproduce past culinary sensations and transform them into new creations.
In an industry where sensory memory is key, having this feature turns every dining experience into an ingredient for future dishes.
