Valladolid becomes the national and international capital of tapas for yet another year
"In Spain, the main export element of our most typical gastronomy, the most recognisable, is the tapa", said Francis Paniego, two Michelin stars and president of the jury of the 18th National Tapas and Pinchos Competition 2022, to Atalayar. "And Valladolid has managed to become the setting for the Spanish Tapas Championship. Which is like saying [that it has become] the world tapas championship".
The economic and administrative capital of Castilla y León has hosted, for the eighteenth and sixth consecutive year, the National Pinchos and Tapas Competition and the World Tapas Championship, respectively, thus consolidating its role as representative of a gastronomic tradition that "sums up very well the essence of both the restaurants and the small bars that are so typical of our country", explained Paniego. Thus, the event, considered by Julio Valles, president of the Castilian and Leonese Academy of Gastronomy and winner of the National Gastronomy Award, as a very important cultural space, has hosted the two competitions under the same roof, together with an exhibition and promotion fair for the local products of the community.
"The beauty of this competition is that there is interaction with the people in the street", said the director of the World Tapas Competition 2022, Ángel Moretón, to Atalayar magazine. Moretón emphasised that "[this competition] has no competition. There is no other example like this in the world due to the particularity of the championship itself. [...] The contestants come here and are paired - twinned - with local restaurants, making this event more touristy, where you can try the tapas [participating in the competition] in the different restaurants" between 8 and 13 November.
Thus, between 7 and 8 November, the Cúpula de Milenio in Valladolid - a facility originally conceived as part of the SED Pavilion at the 2008 World Expo in Zaragoza, and moved to Valladolid to open its doors in 2011 - hosted the 18th National Pinchos and Tapas 2022 Competition. In this edition, 45 chefs from all regions of Spain compete for a cash prize of 10,000 euros and the chance to represent Spain in the World Tapas Championship the following year, based on parameters of flavour, originality, staging and marketability.
On 9 November and on the same stage, 16 chefs selected from more than 100 entries from 32 different countries will compete in the 6th World Tapas Championship with the aim of making their tapa the 'Best Tapa in the World'. "We have received more applications than ever [...] and there is a very high level. Other years I was able to give my opinion on which could be the five favourites, but this year the level is very high", said Ángel Moretón.
An opinion that seemed to be the general tone of the jurors, organisers and participants in the contest, since -in the same vein- Goyo González, journalist collaborator in COPE and presenter of the National Pinchos and Tapas Contest since its first edition, agreed with Moretón: "Every year they get better and better". Both nationally and internationally. The journalist praised "the adaptation of the international chefs to the concept of the Spanish 'tapa'", describing it as "spectacular". "How clear it was to those who came from Malaysia, Singapore, Ecuador and Mexico. How well they knew how to see it from minute one, although they incorporated ingredients from their own countries", added González. "We are in a globalised world, and this is becoming more and more noticeable in the kitchen. The culture of shared cuisine".
The event has served to bring together dozens of representatives of the regional authorities, such as Óscar Puente, mayor of Valladolid; or Guzmán Gómez Alonso, mayor of the municipality of Medina del Campo; as well as agricultural, wine and livestock directors and professionals from the region, such as Víctor Martín, director of the Gran Cardenal cheese company. In this way, the fair hopes to promote gastronomic tourism and the hotel and catering sector in the region based on the appellation wines of Ribera del Duero, Cigales, Rueda, Toro and Tierras de León - promoting areas such as the Milla de Oro (in Valladolid's Ribera del Duero), locally produced cheeses and cured meats, and olive oil of Castilian origin.
On an international level, the fair has welcomed gastronomic delegations representing countries such as Portugal and India - the two great guests at the event -, while the World Tapas Championship itself will be attended for the first time by Egypt. Other Arab nationalities such as the Emirati have already taken part in previous editions of the competition, and Morocco attended two years ago. "A competition like this brings countries closer together," said Indian Masterchef Shipra Khanna, India's cultural ambassador to Spain and vice versa, sent by the Indian embassy along with chefs from the Benares Restaurant in Madrid.
