A total of ten professional chefs from Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura will be the protagonists of the 17th Absolute Canary Islands Cooking Championship - Cabildo de Tenerife Grand Prize, the central event of the 8th Canary Islands Gastronomic Salon-GastroCanarias 2023, which will take place on May 23, 24 and 25 at the Tenerife Trade Fair Center.
After analyzing nearly a hundred applications, the Selection Committee, composed of chefs from both Canary Islands provinces, decided that the participants in the inaugural event of the Salon will be: Alexandre Ivany Campos Piñero (Tenerife), Aulio Cucca (Tenerife), Daniel Castro Espinar (Gran Canaria), Frank Gómez Cortés (Tenerife), José Manuel Fernández Lamas (Lanzarote), Julia Román Martínez (Tenerife), Mario Yamuza González (Fuerteventura), Raico Jiménez Cortés (Gran Canaria), Raúl León Noriega (Tenerife), and Roberto Couto Fernández (Tenerife).
The competition day will take place on Tuesday, May 23, although the championship activity will begin on the afternoon of Monday, May 22, when the finalist chefs and their assistants will make the traditional purchase at El Corte Inglés, the official supermarket of the Gastronomic Salon. The ingredients they acquire will be those used to prepare one of the two dishes of the contest along with the secret ingredient, which will also be revealed upon arrival at the shopping center, the organizers report.
The organization establishes three prizes of €1,500, €1,000 and €500, for the first three classified, respectively, with the corresponding trophy and diploma, as well as a prize of 300 euros to the best assistant. The ten finalists will have 135 minutes to prepare their two competition proposals: a common dish, with a secret main ingredient, which will be announced before the start of shopping at the El Corte Inglés Supermarket; and a free dish made with the ingredients hidden in the so-called “Surprise Box” that the organization will provide.
The championship will begin at 11:00 a.m., after the official opening ceremony of the Salon. Five finalists will participate during the morning session, which will end at 2:15 p.m., and another group will do so in the afternoon, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
The championships to be held on the Cabildo de Tenerife stage during GastroCanarias 2023 are:
● 17th Canary Islands Cooking Championship – Cabildo de Tenerife Grand Prize. (May 23)
● 4th Canary Islands Pizza Championship – Grupo Comit Grand Prize. (May 23)
● 8th Canary Islands Championship for Young Chefs – Binter Grand Prize ‘La cocina en verde’. (May 24)
● 10th Canary Islands Ham Cutting Championship – Montesano Grand Prize. (May 24)
● 8th Canary Islands Championship of Author's Canary Islands Sandwiches – Fred Olsen Express Grand Prize. (May 25)
● 6th Canary Islands Pastry Championship – Grupo Harinalia Grand Prize. (May 25)
For its part, the championships to be held on the Heineken Stage will be:
● 1st Canary Islands Tapas Championship – GastroCanarias Makro Grand Prize. (May 24)
● 1st Canary Islands Classic Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Championship – GastroCanarias Grand Prize. (May 25)
● 8th Canary Islands Beer Pulling Championship – Heineken® Grand Prize. (May 25)
● 10th Canary Islands Classic Cocktail Championship – Ron Diplomático Grand Prize. (May 25)
● 10th Canary Islands Gin-Tonics Championship – GastroCanarias Grand Prize. (May 25)
