United Arab Emirates wins the Best Tapa of the Valladolid 2022 World Tapas Championship
"The jury has decided that the award for Best Tapa of the VI World Tapas Championship 2022 City of Valladolid goes to Lendl Pereira, from the Hyatt Centric restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and twinned with the JIAPAN restaurant in Valladolid, for his tapa Cijara Baba Ganoush", announced the journalist Goyo González, presenter of the national and international tapas competitions that took place between 7 and 9 November in the Castilian city of Valladolid.
Lendl Pereira, an Emirati of Indian origin, competed against 15 chefs from countries such as Australia, Ecuador, Egypt, Spain, the USA, India, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal and the United Kingdom, and won with a potato canutillo stuffed with aubergine, romesco sauce, yoghurt cream and pomegranate, on the back of a miniature camel. "Cijara Baba Ganoush". A tapa through which he paid tribute to the local Emirati product, but for which he was also inspired by the cuisine of his native country, India, and Spanish gastronomy; and which has earned him a prize of 10,000 euros.
"Somehow I have been inspired by the ingredients in my culture of origin. For example, some spices were Indian. And also in other elements of the cuisine of Spain, as with the romesco sauce," Lendl Pereira explained to Atalayar magazine. "It has been an incredible experience. It is very interesting to see people living the cuisine with so much passion," said the chef. "Because of this, and because there are so many inspired chefs who want to do things like this, my goal now is to organise a similar competition."
The 'Cijara Baba Ganoush' tapa won over the palates of a 10-member jury chaired by Leonor Espinosa, rated the world's best chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2022, and including chefs Mario Sandoval, Lucia Freitas and Jasbir Kaur, and the president of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, Lourdes Plana, among others.
"It is very valuable that countries that until now have not had a culture of tapas can make a very accurate interpretation of the meaning of tapas as a snack that can be eaten easily. Through which dialogue can take place", underlined Leonor Espinosa for Atalayar. "The finalists have been very well chosen, they have managed to symbolise the meaning of what we were looking for". Furthermore, in what turned out to be a small nod to the winning tapa, Espinosa praised the "memory of the strong Arab gastronomic contribution in the kitchens of the Caribbean", which reminded her in some way of her country of origin, Colombia.
Second and third place in the 6th World Tapas Championship went to New Zealander Yee Tak Frederick Wong, from the Poni restaurant in New Zealand, with the tapa 'Ash Dog', and British James Russell Kirkwood, from Browns Brasserie in the United Kingdom, author of the tapa 'Sea and Mountain', respectively. Meanwhile, the award for 'Most traditional tapa' went to the representative of Portugal - the guest country at this edition - Joana Duarte, for "Mordisco Atlántico"; the award for 'Most avant-garde tapa' went to the Australian Amber Heaton, for "Salmon Ceviche"; and the award for 'Best tapa concept' went to the Spaniard and winner of the previous National Pinchos and Tapas Competition, Alejandro San José, with "Salbut Criollo".
The 6th World Tapas Championship kicked off on 9 November after the official opening ceremony, in which the President of the Provincial Association of Hotel and Catering Businesses of Valladolid (Apehva), Jaime Fernández, the Councillor for Culture and Tourism of Valladolid, Ana Redondo, and the President of the jury of the world competition, Leonor Espinosa, dedicated a few brief words to the participants and attendees, as well as to the organisers of the event. And so, the chefs from all over the world got down to work and began to prepare the tapas.
"The magic of this International Championship, which has only been held for a few editions, is the mixture. It is very enriching to see the tapas from the other cook's eyes. From their prism. From his perspective. From the perspective of a professional who did not grow up with the social and cultural concept of tapas", considered Michelin star Lucía Freitas. Something with which participants such as the Spaniard Alejandro San José agreed, and which was evident in the efforts of the Egyptian Karem Atef Ahmed and the Maltese Germain Rosas García - who in both cases were representing their countries of origin in the competition for the first time - to promote the traditional ingredients and flavours of their countries, with recreations of dishes in the form of tapas.
"This competition is very important to give visibility to the work of many people. In fact, this year for the first time a parallel initiative has been carried out, which is the tapas competition in the neighbourhoods, which I think also puts an end to the elitist touch of this type of competition, bringing it closer to the people and making it more accessible to everyone", added the representative of Spain, Alejandro San José, on the national phase of the competition - the 18th National Pinchos and Tapas Competition - held during the previous days and crowned by Ariel Munguía from Alava, with the tapa "Cochino Bocado".
And, as the president of the championship, Ángel Moretón, had already underlined, one of the strong points of this event is the democratisation of the gastronomy of high cuisine for ordinary people, bringing together both national and international chefs and offering the tapas in the bars and restaurants of Valladolid. Especially this year, an edition that - according to the collaborators - has had one of the highest levels in living memory.
