The Dénia Red Shrimp International Creative Cooking Contest announces the composition of its jury and the list of chefs who will enter the final phase of the contest. The eleventh edition of this contest, which since 2012 seeks to pay tribute to the red shrimp from Dénia, has been a complete success, with a total of 76 renowned chefs and novice cooks registered, from Galicia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, Aragon , Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Madrid, Castilla y León, Extremadura, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community.
Among all of them, a previous panel of gastronomic professionals and critics made up of Evaristo Miralles, head chef of the Nou Cavall Verd Restaurant (Vall de Laguar, Alicante) and teacher at the CDT; José Manuel López, head chef of the Peix i Brases Restaurant (Dénia); Sergio Boix, head chef at La Perla restaurant (Xàbia); Cristina Baixauli, from restaurant Agua de Mar-Benjamín Winery (Dénia) and Carolina Álvarez, head chef of Quique Dacosta Restaurant (Dénia), has selected the eight chefs who will defend their recipes in the final of the contest, which will be held on February 28 at the Mercat Municipal de Dénia.
The eight selected finalists are: Juan Manuel Salgado from the Dromo restaurant (Badajoz), José Blasco Colas from the Gente Rara Restaurant (Zaragoza), Carlos Miralles Vericat from the Mar Blava by Vericat Restaurant (Benicarló, Castellón), Cristina Gómez Manarel from the Fierro Restaurant (Valencia ), Kevin Gutiérrez from Esterlicia Restaurant (La Matanza de Acentejo, Tenerife), Víctor Suárez González from Haydée Restaurant (La Orotava, Tenerife), Juan Francisco Pérez García from Espacio Montoro Restaurant (Alicante) and Nicolás Leblay Valdés from Atelier-RobuchOn Restaurant ( Madrid).
These eight applicants will compete for the first three places in the XI edition of the Dénia Red Shrimp Contest in the grand final on February 28. The capital of the Marina Alta That day promises to become a gastronomic festival that will bring together participants, professionals and cooking enthusiasts, to see how the finalists prepare their selected recipe live, with Dénia's red shrimp as the protagonist. The star ingredient of the contest will be provided, courtesy of the Dénia Fishermen's Association, to each of the contestants, for the preparation of eleven servings of their dishes, which they must present to the jury.
An exceptional jury
This contest organized by the Association of Hospitality and Tourism of the Marina Alta (AEHTMA) in collaboration with the Department of Tourism of the Dénia City Council, will have an exceptional jury made up of renowned culinary experts, chefs and gastronomic critics.
Julia Pérez Lozano, a journalist specializing in gastronomy and a member of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy, will be in charge of chairing the jury that includes names such as chefs Quique Dacosta, from Quique Dacosta Restaurant (Dénia, Alicante); Paco Roncero, from Paco Roncero Restaurant (Madrid); Álvaro Salazar, from the Voro Restaurant (Mallorca) and Cristina Figueira, from the El Xato restaurant (La Nucía, Alicante).
The panel of experts is completed by the journalists, consultants and gastronomic critics Jose Carlos Capel, Igor Cubillo, Fernando Huidobro, Santos Ruiz, Gokmen Sozen and the gastroinfluencer Pablo Cabezali.
All of them will value the presentation, the flavor and the prominence of the red shrimp in each finalist dish, to choose the winners of the first, second and third prize of the contest, with an endowment of 2.500 euros, 1.500 euros and 1.000 euros, respectively, in addition to a sculpture by the artist Toni Marí for each of the winners.
After eleven editions, the Dénia Red Shrimp International Creative Cooking Contest is consolidated as a reference event in the national gastronomic calendar and as a unique platform for established chefs and cooks on the rise to demonstrate their technical and creative capacity, before the difficult challenge to improve one of the most coveted gourmet products in the world, the exquisite red shrimp from Dénia.
