More than sixty professionalsamong journalists, influencers and specialists in the agri-food sector tourism attended the La Ereta restaurant in Alicante at the event’Basindestination Gastronomic‘, where up to eight chefs from the province prepared a selection of dishes with indigenous products and tasted high quality products provided by the Provincial Association of Agrifood Products of Cuenca, integrated into the Confederation of Businessmen from Cuenca.
In order to show the potential of the gastronomic destination of the neighboring province, this event in Alicante joins the one organized in Valencia last year and in Oviedo a few days ago, with the aim of attracting new tourists from the region to visit Cuenca. of Levante, which is already one of the main sources of travelers and overnight stays thanks to the existing road and high-speed rail connections.
Authorities present at the meeting at La Ereta restaurant
The event brought together mayor from Cuenca, Dario Dolzleading the expedition with his advisor for tourism, historical heritage and business promotion, Marta Tiradoaccompanied by the business side of Cuenca led by the president of the Cuenca Hospitality Group, Jose Manuel Abascaland the secretary general of CEOE CEPYME Cuenca, Angel Butler.
The city of Alicante welcomed this action with a representation of the authorities and the local productive fabric with the presence of the advisor for commerce, consumption, hotels and markets, Lydia Lopezas well as the general secretary of CEV Alicante, Ana Gosalvez.
The event began the institutional part with the welcome of the Councilor for Hospitality of Alicante, Lidia López, who highlighted the important link between the provinces since both were designated Capitals of the Gastronomywhich corroborates that the two provinces are positioning themselves as quality gastronomic destinations. This fact was confirmed by the intervention of the president of the Hotel Association of Cuenca, José Manuel Abascal, and the mayor of Cuenca, Darío Dolz.
Furthermore, in his speech, the Mayor of Cuenca highlighted the many tourist attractions of Cuenca in terms of heritage, culture, nature and also gastronomy, highlighting the progress of Cuenca in being designated the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy in 2023, with “a perfect union of the entire sector of hospitality of the city of Cuenca and the province during this year and this remains as you can see throughout this year and this is going to be one of the marches that we want to mark from the City Hall of Cuenca, to maintain this union of the entire hotel sector with what the territory is, with these riches that we have in the territory and which are magnificent.
For his part, José Manuel Abascal passionately defended the gastronomy of Cuenca, emphasizing that his creations are “the imagination put into the dishes and carried out by people who knew how to unite the flavor of the traditional dishes with the innovation. The eight dishes that you are going to taste here, the creation of eight of the best establishments in Cuenca, are proof that our gastronomy is another tentacle of our tourist attraction, which can be seen, touched, heard, but here in Alicante they can smell it and taste it, two senses which will undoubtedly lead them to seek the other three in our land.
Guests at the Cuenca Cooking Exhibition
After the speeches, dishes prepared by eight establishments in Cuenca were served, including cooks They personally welcomed the participants and cleared doubts and curiosities regarding these creations. Concretely, La Muralla participated with “Essences of Autumn”, mushrooms and truffles on a plate; La Martina with an “Autumn Mousse” with partridge, saffron, pumpkin, chestnuts and seasonal mushrooms; Mesón Sierra Alta prepared a garlicky arriero with crispy cod, applesauce and olive oil; Cocedero Tarancón served Manchegan porridge with braised octopus, while Restaurante Marlo prepared low-temperature lamb shoulder with porcini mushroom sauce. Raff San Pedro made a scrubland gazpacho, while the Kadon restaurant created an Essence of La Mancha from Cuenca. The sweet treat was provided by the Hotel Moya restaurant through a torrija brioche with Abadía de Jábaga white chocolate cream and a pipette of resolí.
This event was promoted and organized by the Cuenca City Council and the Hospital Group, within the framework of the Tourism Sustainability Plan, financed by the Cuenca City Council, the Community Council and the Spanish Government.
