As they stormed up the world rankings, Spain’s top chefs went out of their way to praise each other, presenting themselves as a band of merry brothers at award ceremonies from London to New York.

Now, however, the carefully crafted fraternal bonhomie has gone up in flames, with the country’s most-celebrated chefs accusing each other of everything from jealousy to endangering public health.

The furore was sparked last week when Santiago Santamaría, a three-star Michelin chef, unleashed a tirade against his colleagues, accusing them of pretentious cooking that aspired more to art than cuisine.

Training his sights on Ferran Adrià — whose El Bulli restaurant has been voted the world’s best for the past three years — Santamaría said: “Cooks should not be preoccupied with creating sculptures or painting pictures with their work. A table is not an art gallery.” More seriously, he went on to claim that Adrià and his disciples were putting their patrons’ health at risk by using synthetic gelling agents and emulsifiers such as methylcellulose — a substance used to keep food liquid at low temperatures.

“Some chefs are offering a media spectacle far removed from the desire to offer a healthy meal,” he said as he collected an award for his latest book, The Naked Kitchen. “They are giving their patrons dishes that they themselves would not eat.”

Santamaría, whose restaurant, Can Fabes, is ranked 31st on Restaurant magazine’s list of the world’s top eateries, called on health authorities to investigate the kind of dishes that have made Adrià famous: foamed beetroot, pine cone mousse and parmesan snow. Spain’s other top chefs reacted to the broadside against Adrià with outrage and disbelief.

Juan Mari Arzak, the usually avuncular Basque chef who works at the world’s eighth-ranked restaurant, said: “I would prescribe Santi a big dose of humility to learn and reflect upon the ideas of others, from the most humble tavern to a culinary genius like Adrià.”

Andoni Luis Aduriz, whose restaurant, Mugaritz, is ranked fourth, was also angered. “We do an honest job,” he said.

“We give it our all every day, so it seems insulting to question our work to sell a book — work that he has benefited from because Spanish cooking is now recognised around the world.”

But it was Santamaría’s suggestion that they use potentially harmful ingredients that caused the most consternation.

“If he believes what he’s saying, then he should go to court and sue us for crimes against public health,” said Sergi Arola, a chef who studied under Adrià.

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