Tenerife will participate one more year in the prestigious San Sebastián Gastronomika congress, the temple of the sector worldwide, which will celebrate its XXV edition next week. It will do so through a sample of its best local product, with wines and cheeses as its flagship, in the extraordinary showcase of a large stand, as well as a restaurant, with 200 square meters of surface.
For three days, from Monday to Wednesday, the Kursaal Palace in the capital of San Sebastian will be the Spanish and world center of gastronomy. In this unique framework, the Island will showcase its culinary offering and also, linked to it, its landscapes. The Cabildo once again assumes leadership through the Tenerife brand, awakening emotions alongside chefs, journalists and prescribers from all over the planet capable of generating enormous influence on their audiences through simple reviews or recommendations.
Sponsorship
This year, the Tenerife Island Corporation also joins the long list of official sponsors of the Donostia event, the hub of the traditional culinary power of the Basque Country. This is the main novelty in an already traditional participation during this half century and it already has a significant media impact. An example of this is the report this week in the official magazine of the congress on the island’s artisanal fishing. The great central post of Tenerife will have an attached wine tunnel, a meeting point for a great professional tasting with the best product of the vineyard in the volcanic soil. There will also be double prominence at the big 25th anniversary dinner. On the one hand, with a tapa based on the native goat and on the other hand, by offering a dish with selected cheeses from the Island.
Showcase
The Vice President and Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo, Lope Afonso, emphasizes: “Tenerife could not miss the opportunity to show itself to the world as a top-level gastronomic destination through the showcase that Gastronomika represents.” He elaborates that “even more so in its 25th anniversary and with the condition of being among the sponsoring entities for the first time.” For Afonso, “this is the perfect setting to promote our original gastronomy, capable of uniting avant-garde and tradition, with a determined commitment to sustainability.” He adds that the sector “proudly shows off the local product, which pairs with unique wines, testimony to the character of our land.” The advisor concludes: “All from the hand of authentic leaders in the kitchens of the Island, who will delight professionals, critics and the public in this great event.”
Quality
The counselor of the Primary Sector of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Valentín Gonzalez, values ”very positively” the presence of the Island in “this unique showcase to show our products.” He recalls that “they are the basis of quality gastronomy, converted into an element that also provides obvious attractiveness to the tourist destination.” The area for which González is responsible brings to Gastronomika a total of 298 bottles of wine from the six Designations of Origin, which will be tasted in the tunnel, through tastings, snacks and workshops.
Consolidated
The CEO of Tourism of Tenerife, Dimple Melwani, highlights, for her part, that “gastronomy is consolidated as a key element to diversify the tourist offer and stimulate local economic development.” She highlights the fundamental factor of “sustainability values based on the territory, the sea, the landscape, local products and the authenticity of our Island.” This year’s concept is Tenerife, territory and gastronomy. It allows, the counselor points out, “to relate the three natural parks of the Island, the TeideAnaga and Teno with sustainable tourism, consumption of local production and the circular economy. With products that, he explains, “although similar, are different in their cultivation, which gives rise to different recipe books and peculiar traditions.”
Melwani says: “In this edition we intend for the experience of attendees at the stand to be increasingly immersive and emotional.” Hence the recurrent use of video with ambient sound and the perception of even smells. A set that will allow you to “smell, feel and taste Tenerife in all its essence,” he says, adding: “Under the motto we are accompanied by a team of great professionals from both the private and public spheres. “I recognize and appreciate their work for months with an enthusiasm that really awakens emotions.” Everything, he concludes, to face with full guarantees “the most important commitment of Tenerife and its gastronomy in recent years.”
Proposal
The great stand-restaurant of Tenerife in the Kursaal proposes this historic year for the Basque congress a dizzying gastronomic and geographical tour with audio-aromatic-visual immersion included through its protected territories (48% of the Island that has that status). They will star in each of the three days of the congress under the themes The two faces of Teide, Anaga, soul and tradition, and Teno, an ancient giant. The design of a gastronomic and educational program adds active tourist proposals, workshops and round tables to breakfasts, lunches and snacks. In addition, the municipality of Santa Cruz will be present for the first time at Gastronomika with the Degusta Santa Cruz-Anaga Smart Destination project that promotes the attractions of the Tenerife capital in the Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategy.
Repercussion
A group of renowned national and international chefs, journalists from around the world and professionals in the sector will be able to experience the Island’s gastronomic traditions and avant-garde with all five senses. Under the direction of Tenerife native Juan Carlos Clemente, who is repeating, they will be guided by Rafael of Lion, Isidro Álvarez, Diana Marcelino, Judith Hernández, Alexis García, Pedro Nel, Nacho Solana, Alberto Margallo, Pawel Antoni Lisowsky and Rubén Saborido. Sommeliers, prescribers and technicians from the Cabildo complete the Tenerife embassy in San Sebastián Gastronomika.
