The four Spanish chefs who will compete in Chef Balfegó 2024 have been selected

• The four Spaniards will be joined by a chef from each guest country in this VII edition: Italy, Germany, Portugal and the Benelux region. The 8 finalists will compete in the Grand Final on October 28 in Madrid.

Chef Balfegó International Gastronomy Contest, a world-renowned competition, already has the four Spanish finalists for this new edition. Specifically, the following will compete for the award: Cristóbal Muñoz, from Ambivium* restaurant (Peñafiel, Valladolid); Lander Cornago, from Arzak*** restaurant (San Sebastián); Pablo Zuazu, from Via Veneto* restaurant (Barcelona), and Paula Gutiérrez, from Taller Arzuaga* restaurant (Quintanilla de Onésimo, Valladolid).

The four chefs have been selected from almost 200 applications by a professional jury, made up of chefs and professionals from the sector, who have assessed: originality, technique and treatment of the product, among other aspects of the recipes presented. They will be joined by an Italian chef, another German, another Portuguese and, for the first time, one from Benelux, which includes Belgium, the Netherlands (Netherlands) and Luxembourg, a region that is participating in the competition for the first time. Unlike the Spaniards, the four internationals will be selected in individual semi-finals in their respective countries of origin, where they must prepare two recipes with Balfegó bluefin tuna and a jury made up of MICHELIN stars from the country will choose the representative.

The eight selected candidates will compete in the final of the VII edition of the Chef Balfegó competition, which will be held on October 28 in Madrid. During the morning, the chefs will prepare their Balfegó bluefin tuna recipes in the kitchens of the prestigious international cooking school Le Cordon Bleu. This final test of the competition will allow those selected to measure themselves before a jury made up of some of the best chefs in the country and top-level gastronomic critics.

At night, the Gran Teatro Caixabank Príncipe Pío will host the awards ceremony and the subsequent dinner, where the media, chefs and other personalities will be able to taste the best bluefin tuna as the closing of the Chef Balfegó 2024 competition.

The competition promotes the careers of young talents in gastronomy and has acted as a prelude to achieving a MICHELIN star, as is the case of Alejandro Serrano (Alejandro Serrano*) and Rafel Muria (Quatre Molins*), chefs who received the star after winning the title of Chef Balfegó. The winners, along with them, are Juan Carlos Reyes, winner of the first and who represented ABaC***; Alejandro Polo, from the Bardal** restaurant; Gianluca Monni, Italian representative of La Dispensa de I Balocchi and Alberto Montes, sous chef of the Atrio*** Restaurant in Cáceres, winner of the last edition.

With the incorporation of Benelux as a guest country along with Italy, Germany and Portugal, the VII edition of Chef Balfegó becomes the most international to date, bringing together the same number of Spanish chefs as international ones. This is the result of the relevance and influence that this event is acquiring worldwide, which hopes to add countries in each edition, to continue helping to relaunch the careers of young gastronomy professionals from around the world.

The awards of this edition

The jury of the seventh edition of Chef Balfegó will be chaired by Martín Berasategui –eight Michelin Stars and gastronomic ambassador of Balfegó– and made up of chefs of recognized prestige in the field of gastronomy and restoration. It should be noted that in the 2023 edition, Fina Puigdevall (Rte. Les Cols** – Girona) sat next to Berasategui; Diego Guerrero (Rte. DStage** – Madrid); Benito Gómez (Bardal** Restaurant – Málaga), and Erwan Poudoulec, chef and technical director of the Le Cordon Bleu Haute Cuisine School.

The flavor, aroma and texture of each dish will be evaluated in this order (40 points), the presentation (30 points), the balance of the ingredients (15 points), and the preparation and correct treatment of the product (15 points). Participating chefs will be able to count on the collaboration of a kitchen assistant from the same restaurant where the contestant works.

The prizes amount to more than 10,000 euros in cash, a trip to Japan, participation in a short film about the finalist chefs and other important rewards. In addition to the corresponding trophy and a blanket of special Japanese knives for cutting fish, the winning chef will receive 6,000 euros in cash and a trip to Japan for two people. A whole week to discover the gastronomic and cultural wealth of the Japanese country. For its part, the chef who comes in second place will receive a 3,000 euros prize, and the third will receive 1,000 euros.