It is the fifth edition, but it is the sixth year of work. Alicante Gastronomic had to be suspended in 2020 due to confinement forced by the pandemic. Bad news that produced an extraordinary consequence: the birth of Alicante Gastronómica Solidaria, a project that covered the needs of thousands of Alicante residents during those dark days, did the same later with the hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the city, and has established as one of the NGOs that provides food to those who lack resources and a roof under which to live.
But today is gala day, Friday to open the immense doors of pavilions I and II of the Alicante Fair Institution, to celebrate an event that has earned a place of honor in the national calendar of culinary events. Who better than the promoter of the assembly, Carlos Baño, president of the Chamber of Commerce, to accompany our journey.
“It wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t name the father of the child, who was Rafael García Santos,” Baño tells us at the entrance (we saw the prestigious critic a moment ago, trying to go unnoticed during the inauguration). “He was the one who, with the Alicante Provincial Council, insisted on bringing here the fair par excellence that was The Best of Gastronomy, which was held in San Sebastián, but after three editions it was stopped and a few years later the Chamber of Commerce with the economic support of the Provincial Council we are determined to recover it again.
That recovery had the collaboration of some of the most important chefs in the province. From the most successful, Quique Dacosta, to those who were beginning to make their way in modest businesses. Baño boasts of the boost that Alicante cuisine has experienced in recent times: “When we held the first fair, Alicante had three Michelin stars, now it has fourteen. But that is not the important thing: gastronomy is culture, it is food, it is even today today a tourist attraction; gastronomy, together with our way of being, our Mediterranean lifestyle, is what differentiates us”.
We confirmed that the Alicante fair has the ability to combine the atmosphere of any neat Central European Sunday market, with a wide display of shiny fruits and vegetables, with colorful food trucks, bars and counters full of Basque-style pintxos and Alicante-style montaditos, a thousand and options to have a wine, a beer, taste an aperitif or sit down to eat, interspersed with immaculate municipal and corporate stands that sing and tell about the excellence of the corresponding products.
This year the fair crosses borders, bringing aromas and flavors of Greece, cradle of Mediterranean civilization, which shows the excellence of its cuisine, its oil, its cheeses, its Kalamata olives, as a guest country. The Greeks also have that way of being and living that is so typical to us: “We have a way of being that consists of sharing and living a lot on the street; that is why at Alicante Gastronómica what we do is transfer gastronomy, but also the culture and way of being of the Mediterranean”.
The fair has an annual contest that each year takes it to the newspapers and news programs throughout Spain: the National Potato Tortilla Championship. “Yes, it is a benchmark, but we are increasing activity with new trophies.” Yesterday, Friday, the tapas with salted meats competition and the broth with ball competition were held; Throughout the weekend there will be rice dishes – of course – tuna tartare or the one that will designate the best recipe with artichoke, among others.
“We bring together the popular public and the professionals,” Carlos Baño tells us, “the day of excellence for professionals is Monday, but we start on a Friday to start with the little ones: today we had seven hundred children doing cooking workshops, because we understand that we have to transmit gastronomic culture and good habits from a very young age.
As we focus on the Mediterranean, the fair does not forget our love for partying: “In addition to the two pavilions, we have a central outdoor area where we can relax, smoke a cigarette, have a drink and enjoy the music. This is the Marmarella space, which opens until 4 in the morning”. Fortunately, there are no neighbors in the area around the fair. And let no one forget that, if you drive, alcohol is prohibited. The initial influx of public on Friday suggests that the weekend will exceed the 65,000 visits registered last year.
There is a place for celebration, but also for dissemination and learning: haute cuisine MasterClass for amateurs, tastings, forums, tributes to rice, presentations, children’s family workshops and tributes, in various spaces such as the Bread and Pastry Forum , the Tapas Island, the Corner of the Stars and the Suns or the Tunnel and the Plaza del Vino.
The best sushi in Spain, the best croquette in the world, affordable haute cuisine, tasting of award-winning whiskeys in the world, a Greek tasting with wines, yogurts and cheeses… just reading the program whets your appetite… and contemplating how Susi Díaz (La Finca, in Elx) and María Gómez (Magoma, Cartagena), two star chefs, cook with four hands, does not help.
The list of sidereal chefs is extensive: the aforementioned Dacosta and Díaz, Carme Ruscalleda, Kiko Moya, Alberto Ferruz, Fran Martínez, Pablo González, Cristina Figueira, José Manuel Miguel, Nazario Cano, José Manuel López, Ferdinando Bernardi or María José San Román , among many others.
One of the successes of the fair is free admission. You want to browse, then browse to your heart’s content (it is necessary to purchase a smart security bracelet at the price of €1 per person, which is donated entirely to the NGO Alicante Gastronómica Solidaria). The bracelet allows access for the four days of the fair and is the official means of payment at all stands, after automatic recharge on the alicantegastronomica.com website and at the counters and ATMs enabled at the fair.