Roberto Couto Fernández from Tenerife has been proclaimed winner of the seventeenth edition of the Championship of Canary Islands Absolute Kitchen – Big prize council of Tenerife, held on the first day of the Gastronomic Fair of the Canary Islands – GastroCanarias 2023.
second placeendowed with 1,000 euros, has been for Daniel Castro Espinar (Gran Canaria), and third place, endowed with 500 euros, for Ivan Mario Yamuza gonzalez (Gran Canaria).
The prize for the best assistant, endowed with 300 euros, went to Iván Pulido Rodríguez (Gran Canaria), who also obtained the pass straight to the next edition of the cooking championship, in 2024, as a finalist chef.
For the first course, with the island rooster as the mandatory ingredient, Couto prepared a recipe titled “The Rooster of the Golden Eggs” that consisted of a smoked breast with creamy black potato puree, golden spherification of his own broth and an intense sauce also with its own broth.
For the second recipe, made with the ingredients from a surprise box, Couto prepared an Atlantic sea bass titled “Sea bass, sweet potato and its broth”, which consisted of a loin made at low temperature with roasted sweet potato, green mojo and false citric pil pil and spicy These elaborations decided in their favor the first prize, endowed with 1,500 euros.
A native of Tegueste, Roberto Couto studied at the IES Virgen de Candelaria and has been working as a cook since he was 18 years old. He is currently the chef at Andana Beach Club, an establishment in Puerto de la Cruz.
Also competing in the contest were Alexandre Ibani Campos Piñero (Tenerife), Raúl Lion Noriega (Tenerife), Rayco Jiménez Santiago (Gran Canaria), Frank Gómez Cortes (Tenerife), Daniel Castro Espinar (Gran Canaria), Julia Román Martínez (Tenerife), Mario Yamuza González (Fuerteventura), Aurelio Cucca (Tenerife), José Manuel Fernandez Lama (Lanzarote), Roberto Couto Fernández (Tenerife), Richard Díaz Aguilar (Gran Canaria).
The jury for the championship was made up of Roberto Rivetti, regional manager of Hospitality at El Corte Inglés; that he served as president; Thomas Leeb, president of Acyre Gran Canaria; Juan Carlos Clemente, vice president of Acyre Canarias, and Diana Marcelino Bermúdez, head chef of El Secreto de Chimiche and female cook of the Canary Islands 2013.
The jury was also made up of Joao Faraco, chef of the 14th Canary Islands Absolute Chefs Championship 2018 and of the Coentro restaurant; and David Fernández Prada, journalist from Asturias- CEO of the Gustatio Gastronomic Agency and director of Pasión Abanos Podcast
The previous winners of this contest have been Esteban Gómez, Braulio Simancas, Phillippe Laurent, José Miguel Barrera, Laura Nieto, Nacho Hernández Almira, Soledad Piñeiro, Adrián Bosch, Diana Marcelino, Jorge Peñate, Víctor Suárez, Eduardo Domínguez, José Luis Espino Santana , Joao Henrique Faraco and Gonzalo Calzadilla Garcia.
