Ángel León provided a sneak preview of the edible plankton which he pioneered,recently approved as a marketable foodstuff.
The journalist Pau Arenós won the 2nd Pau Albornà i Torras Gastronomic Journalism Award
Joan Roca, with his presentation «Glocal fiction”, filled the Kursaal auditorium to bursting point during this second day of the San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country conference. On stage, the chef from Celler de Can Roca cooked a rayfish with mustard from Girona and ice cream made from huitlacoche and maize brought back from South America following their tour of that continent. Roca mixed tradition with ingredients from other countries and defended the glo-cal concept of his culinary style. He also paid tribute to his father, whom he described as a «renovator», and presented a new bowl for El Celler that opens up when hot stock is poured in.
Another highlight of today’s session was Ángel León, who in a Private Kitchen session and then in the Auditorium presented his edible plankton. The Chef of the Sea announced that, at long last, his plankton has been authorised for human consumption and can now be marketed. Plankton is a product that León has developed and ceded to others, including Quique Dacosta, who cooked some French toast in the auditorium with plankton, snails and green sauce. Dacosta also announced that in 2015 he will be taking a break and will not be attending any conferences in Spain.
The Kursaal auditorium also revisited Italy (its guest country) today, focusing this time on the pizza chefs from Naples Enzo Coccia (owner of the only pizza restaurant in the world to be awarded a Michelin star), Raimondo Cinque and Enzo Piccirillo as well as others such as Davide Scabin. In his presentation entitled «playful land», Pedro Subijana closed today’s session in the packed auditorium of the Kursaal Conference Centre, at the end of a day of intense gastronomic delights and experiences.
Italy was also present in one of the most eagerly anticipated tasting sessions, featuring the Aria di Alba white truffle by Tartuflanghe, in which three Spanish chefs and three Italian ones challenged each other to cook a dish containing this product. Rubén Trincado, with his Passion: meat carpaccio with beetroot and Christian Milone, with his Sweet Truffle, were voted by those registered in the session as the best Spanish and I talian dish (respectively).
Today also saw the announcement of the winner of the 2nd Pau Albornà i Torras Gastronomic Journalism Award The winner was Pau Arenós, a journalist from El Periódico de Catalunya.
Another of the day’s winners was María Clavería, who emerged triumphant from the Aula Makro Escoge tu Pinche session, in which Susi Díaz, Ramón Freixa, Gorka Txapartegui and Dani García served as kitchen assistants for four competitors, with Joan Roca, Mikel López Iturriaga and two representatives from Makro and El Diario Vasco as jury members.
San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country, an international benchmark in the world of haute cuisine, opened its doors last Sunday with an open day, the best pizza chefs in the world and pizzas cooked from ingredients, dough and ovens brought over especially from Italy. For three days, the holders of 30 Italian Michelin stars, including Massimo Bottura, Carlo Cracco and Gennaro Esposito, will be gracing the stage of the auditorium. They will be accompanied by some of the best chefs from both the Basque Country and Spain, including Juan Mari Arzak, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Martín Berasategui, Hilario Arbelaitz, Pedro Subijana, Eneko Atxa, Joan Roca and CarmeRuscalleda.
Tomorrow, at the Gastronomika
The last day of San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country will star Martín Berasategui (Imagining perfection) and the Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez (pre-Colombian Creationism), whose restaurant has recently been voted the best in Latin America. Another highlight will be the traditional National Grill Competition (14.00h-15.30h), in which professionals and amateurs alike will have the chance to vote for the best T-bone steak. In the afternoon, Paco Pérez, Pepe Solla, Ramon Freixa, Josean Alija and Eneko Atxa will add the final brush strokes to the 16th San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country.
For further information: San Sebastian Gastronomika-Euskadi Basque Country