The second day of the XX National Pinchos and Tapas Competition of the City of Valladolid takes place in the Millennium Dome between tension and delicious flavors ready to convince the jury. Halfway through the competition, this Tuesday is the “culmination” of the event, since during the day thirty of the 45 creations participating in this edition will have been presented, who will reveal their favorites tomorrow at the end of the afternoon . Chefs from La Rioja, Girona, Madrid, Albacete, Castellón or, of course, from Castilla y León itself (more precisely from the town of Pisuerga, which plays at home) presented their creations, aware of the level of their competition and that everyone knows what they do: “Tapa is for Spain like sushi is for Japan,” compares Javier González, of the Los Zagales restaurant.
“We love our work, We live on tapas and have been preparing them every day for 30 years.“So we are like a fish in water,” said the chef moments before presenting. The proposal from the Valladolid house, ‘Kojaz’, is a ‘chupachups’ of partridge pâté with fragrant wine and pistachio with edible paper, and fulfills the tradition of playing with local ingredients, but also with one of the great ideals of this competition. : it is eaten in a single bite. “The concept of the cover had to be something that can be eaten with your hands in two or three bites and it became a reality,” celebrated the presenter at the start of the first session of the day.
In groups of eight and in order, each participant placed their skewer or tapa in front of the judges and, although it is too early to know who will win, the committee that will decide has admitted a “superb morning”. “The level is stratospheric, I am very surprised by the quality of these little bites and we are very excited about what awaits us,” admitted the president of the jury and owner of the Atrio restaurant, Toño Pérez. “It’s going to be very difficult.” Carolina Álvarez, the head chef at Quique Dacosta Restaurante, agrees. “They are very attached to the result, they work on many techniques and try to bring the products where they come from,” he emphasizes.
This last point is one of the concerns of the Majorcan chef Antonia Massanet (Barefoot hotel), who imagined “Miel d’abeja”, a name given “to something very good” for a vegetarian creation based on eggs , pollen or frost. “We like to work with recycled cuisine and with ingredients from the environment and we decided to make a bet that is neither on meat nor on fish”, explains the candidate. It is the fourth time that they attend this event, “each year more nervous, but with great joy”.
And originality is in the taste, but also in the veneer. The “Cabeza de Vaca”, the cover of Alalunga Taberna Marinera (Gijón), appears in the hands of Luis Menéndez on a plate in the shape of a cow skull made in 3D. The Galician Sheila Barbeito, from Roots Coruña, went even further, with her “Calamero” captive inside a small recreational hook machine. “When we are children, we love to play and we wanted to combine this idea with the pleasure of dinner,” he comments.
Juan Carlos Jiménez, from the Azul Mediterráneo restaurant also in Valladolid, offers the “Lechazus Deliciosus”, “a symbiosis of suckling lamb and chanterelles” which contains Thai curry and has its own broth, in a very seasonal nod . This is the second time they have presented themselves. “It’s difficult to win a prize because there are cooking monsters here, but above all “I feel more pressure because it’s in Valladolid.”Jimenez smiles.
Plus, local chefs have fans in the stands. So, “a little ‘rogue'”, they joke, Alejandro San José and Paulina Fernández, from the Habanero restaurant – who also won this prize in 2021, with their “Salbut criollo” – recognize each other, but on this occasion they come for fun, with all your support to the competitors from Valladolid and to Teo Rodríguez at the World Cup. For them, this event is already a classic that they always follow, if they cannot do it in person, by streaming, because they like to see “how they conceive the theme of tapas” in different places.
Also from the seats, the competitors who have already gone through the fray follow the session. For example, the team from the Huesca restaurant La Era de los Nogales, in Sardas, who showed their expertise this Monday with the composition “Bocado de mar y tierra”, a chicken and yolk millefeuille. All that remains is to wait, take note, enjoy. “Here everyone can win, the best in Spain come”they suppose.
Gastronomic menu
A special feature of this competition is the possibility of testing the finesse of the competing creations almost in real time. This Tuesday the ban was opened in the bars of Valladolid, tapas will be incorporated in the bars and They will be available until Sunday, November 17.
Most of the contestants who come from out-of-town kitchens have a venue that acts as a “sponsor” and will serve them that week. To locate what and where, the mobile application has a “gastronomic map” in which you can search and consult the ingredients of tapas as suggestive as “Txipithai”, “Con un pair de bellotas”, “Ave César” or ” Mar declouds”, among many others.
