#News • 31 October 2024

Paula Gutiérrez becomes CHEF BALFEGÓ 2024

On October 28, Madrid welcomed the eight chefs competing in the final of CHEF BALFEGÓ 2024 at the Le Cordon Bleu Madrid cooking school, which has involved five participating countries (Portugal, Benelux, Italy, Germany, and Spain), four international semifinals, 27 participants representing restaurants with a total of over 20 MICHELIN stars, and 19 members of the jury from restaurants with a total of 39 MICHELIN stars.

BRANDON DE BRUIN from De Kromme Dissel* (Heelsum), CRISTÓBAL MUÑOZ from Restaurante Ambivium* (Peñafiel – Valladolid), JULIO PIZARRO from Pizarro Fine Dining (GroB-Gerau), LANDER CORNAGO from Arzak*** (San Sebastián), LEONARDO VIOLA from  A-Spurcacciuna (Savona), PABLO ZUAZU, from VIA VENETO* (Barcelona), PAULA GUTIÉRREZ PÉREZ, from  Víctor Guitérrez* (Salamanca), and RUI SILVA from Euskalduna Studio* (Oporto) were the eight competitors who had to present two dishes, the first made with Balfegó Bluefin Tuna loin and the second with their preferred cut of tuna.

The jury was chaired by Martín Berasategui (a total of eleven MICHELIN Stars across his various restaurants), accompanied by Fina Puigdevall from Les Cols (two MICHELIN Stars and one Green Star), Toño Pérez from Atrio (three MICHELIN Stars), Ricard Camarena (two MICHELIN and one Green Star), Erwan Poudolec (technical director of Le Cordon Bleu Madrid), José Carlos Capel (food critic and president of Madrid Fusión) and Javier Antoja (director of the Apicius Journal of Haute Cuisine)

Paula Gutiérrez, the winner of the competition, kicked off the morning by preparing the tuna for her two dishes.

Her first dish was bittersweet Balfegó loin with coconut and a tuna bone marrow consommé.

The second dish was a Bloody Royale featuring Balfegó bluefin tuna and tuna heart.

Thanks to these two winning dishes, Paula won a trip for two to Japan to discover the country’s rich gastronomic and cultural heritage, €6,000 in cash, the publication of one of her winning recipes together with the tuna dishes created by top Spanish chefs on the Balfegó website, a SAKIMARU 350 mm hand-forged knife, the publication of an article about the winner describing her professional career and the creative process behind the winning dishes on the Balfegó website, the “CHEF BALFEGÓ” trophy, €1,000 in Pordamsa products, a Magnum of Taittinger Brut Resèrve, and one year’s free subscription to Apicius.

Italy’s representative, Leonardo Viola, took second prize, once again securing a place among the top three for his country, with chef Gianluca Monni winning first place in the 2022 edition.

The Italian chef won the jury’s vote with his first dish, “Cotoletta” di tonno rosso, melanzana, salsa al vino (Bluefin tuna escalope and eggplant in a wine sauce).

The second dish was Plin di guancia di tonno alla cacciatora (Tuna cheek plin alla cacciatora).

Leonardo’s humility and joy could be seen on stage as he thanked CHEF BALFEGÓ for the award for his country.

Repeating the position he achieved in CHEF BALFEGÓ 2021, the third place was awarded to Cristóbal Muñoz from Restaurante Ambivium* (Peñafiel, Valladolid).

His first dish prepared with tuna loin was Pickled: Balfegó bluefin tuna loin, preserved tomato, and chard.

His second dish was Smoked: Balfegó bluefin tuna parpatana, black chanterelle, and local herbs.

With these dishes, Cristóbal took the final prize of the evening.

Brandon de Bruin from the restaurant De Kromme Dissel* (Heelsum) was the representative of Benelux.

Brandon’s first dish was Flavors of Ibiza.

His second offering was TORRO BBQ style (Barbecue style otoro).

Julio Pizarro, a chef from the restaurant Pizarro Fine Dining (Groß-Gerau), reached the final representing Germany. 

He presented his first dish featuring tuna loin under the name of Sueños (Dreams).

The chef of Peruvian origin and German nationality chose to call his second dish Ilusiones (Illusions).

Lander Cornago from the restaurant Arzak*** (San Sebastián), one of the four Spanish participants, represented one of the most renowned restaurants in Spain with his dishes.

Lander presented the jury with his Balfegó tuna loin tartar, “enranciado” beef smear, and tuna consommé as his first dish.

For his second dish, he wanted to bring Basque tradition to the world of tuna with a Kokotxa of Balfegó bluefin tuna and cured parpatana. 

Coming from Barcelona was Pablo Zuazu from the restaurant Via Veneto* (Barcelona).

Pablo started with a classic of the kitchen, with an Aspic of tuna akami with white garlic.

He also chose to present an Escudella i Carn D’olla, a classic of Catalan cuisine, for his second dish.

Rui Silva from the restaurant Euskalduna Studio* (Porto) represented Portugal.

The first dish Rui presented to the jury was Atum à Minhota (Minhota-style tuna).

For his second dish, the Portuguese chef chose Atum confit e Xo (Tuna confit and Xo).

Following the presentation of these dishes, the competition concluded with a group photograph of the participants, the jury, and the Balfegó management team.

This year’s edition of CHEF BALFEGÓ saw the collaboration of some of the leading companies in the sector: Le Cordon Bleu, Fagor, Pordamsa, Estrella Galicia, Chatka, Bodegas y Viñedos Gancedo, Taittinger, Sorlut, Porto-Muiños, The Fork, Le Nouveau Chef, Caviaroli, GinRaw, Minami, Acqua Panna, S. Pellegrino, Montagud Editores, Trivio, Bayo, Oro Bailén, and CaixaBank.

The awards ceremony was held at the Gran Teatro CaixaBank Príncipe Pío, attended by some of the most outstanding chefs and professionals from the Spanish gastronomic sector. The awards were presented by all the members of the jury together with the management team of Balfegó. The award ceremony was followed by a cocktail reception prepared by the catering team of Tunateca Balfegó (Barcelona), featuring dishes prepared with different parts of Balfegó Bluefin Tuna, served alongside beers, wines, gin and other products of the collaborating companies.

Balfegó would like to thank all the chefs who participated in the competition in all countries for their professionalism and high standard of cooking, as well as all the professionals who formed part of the international juries and the jury for the final, all the companies that collaborated in the international semifinals and the final in Madrid, and, of course, the entire team that makes this great CHEF BALFEGÓ professional cooking competition possible. Many thanks to everyone!