The best rice in Spain is this.
They may have told you that the best rice dishes are in the Valencian Community , maybe they were not wrong or yes, because in Spain there are many who have a good hand with rice So much so that we get surprises.
This is how it was when we met the winner of the contest of Best Rice of Spain 2019 , organized by Unilever Food Solutions and Knorr, with the support of Hospitality of Spain and Facyre. In the contest, which held its first edition in 2017, have participated more than 2,000 restaurants throughout our geography , though only six have been the finalists and one of them the winner.
The final, which was held in Murcia on November 4, had a luxury jury with Kiko Moya , which has two Michelin stars in its restaurant L'Escaleta de Cocentaina (Alicante) ; Estrella Carrillo, president of the Murcia Region Restaurant Association and chef of the Santa Ana restaurant ; also Rebeca Hernández, member of Facyre and chef of the La Aubergine restaurant in Chamartín , and Peio Cruz, executive chef of Unilever Food Solutions.
The cooking point , the combination with ingredients , the texture and the presentation have been some of the characteristics on which they were based to choose the winner.
One of the finalist rice dishes.
** VIGO, THE WINNING CITY **
Do you want to know who the six finalists were? Between the 500 selected , six were chosen who were the ones who cooked their best rice dishes for the jury.
The finalists were Carles Soriano from Solraig restaurant in Castelldefels (Barcelona), Aurora Torres del La Herradura Restaurant in Los Montesinos (Alicante) Cristobal Martin del Torremolinos Twins Restaurant (Malaga), Fernando Ortega del Royal Golf Club La Herrería of El Escorial (Madrid) and Juan Ignacio Silva of the Restaurant Sea and Magma of Candelaria (Tenerife).
Like Vigo rice there is none (at least this 2019).
David Counago, chef of the Mala Sangre Food Restaurant & Vigo Club took the award to 'Best Rice 2019' with “its shellfish and rice of sea and land”.
What's so special about it? It's about a traditional but evolved seafood rice , the grain is DO Calasparra and the dish consists of several elaborations. Apart from the sofrito, the seasoning and the triple broth with which they irrigate the rice, highlight the carabineer , the Cies knife , the Noia cockle , the bueu barnacle , the Cambados scallop , and other ingredients such as trout roe and the organically produced buds and flowers.
“I have opted for this specific recipe because it has several of the qualities that my restaurant and my kitchen concept try to convey: impeccable treatment of the product, mostly close, respect for tradition and for the environment , finesse in the plating, colors, textures, flavors, and, above all, a remarkable passion for the sector to which I dedicate myself. This recipe, like all the ones I offer in the restaurant, they are self-created ; It is not a recipe typical of Vigo, but it does take Vigo, Galicia, its estuaries and its people deep inside ”, tells Traveler.es the winner.
A winning rice.
Since practically my whole life David Counago He has been preparing rice dishes, although this one in particular has been created especially for the occasion and has only been on the restaurant's menu for a short time, about 4 months.
The secret of its flavor is, according to the chef, like that of any rice: “ a good base sauce and in a good broth that waters it . But the trick, without a doubt, is the care with which I cook. My father, from a very young age, taught me that as cousas ben feitas, ben they seem ”.
The contest, in addition to recognizing the work of the Spanish rice farmers , has also been supportive because they have delivered 836kg of rice to Spanish Federation of Food Banks , one for each first vote cast by diners. In addition, to this amount must be added 50 kg of rice donated by the DO Calasparra.