The day;
today, March 30.
The place: IFEMA, Multipurpose Stage of Madrid Fusión.
Participants: a cartel of bells that had the mission to duel with culinary skills as their only weapons.
The objective
: to find the best ham croquette in the history of this international
gastronomy congress that is celebrating its 20th anniversary since Monday.
And it is that, for this edition, the National Croquette Contest has dressed up with a very special competition -the eighth-, because it
has been the winners of previous editions who have fought to make the 'Champion of Champions' croquette
.
The award-winner has been made to beg, since
the chefs have taken longer than expected in their preparations
and in the atmosphere it was clear that the participants were playing a lot, some have even brought their own fryers to "not fail".
And, of course,
Miguel Carretero, soul of the Madrid restaurant Santerra, has not been wrong
.
Miguel Carretero (in the center of the image).
Carretero, who won the contest in 2018
, has replicated that winning recipe,
a hit at home
(he serves it at the gastronomic restaurant and at La Barra, both at General Pardiñas, 56; at Neotaberna, in Ponzano, and is also available at delivery).
And what
is the elaboration that has triumphed for the second time?
A rich bite with a bechamel prepared with double cream milk;
the
Iberian ham cut with a knife
and a batter with panko.
The jury
has tasted six of the seven champions from previous editions
(only the 2019 winner, Javier Ugidos, from Tobiko, from Toledo, has not been able to attend)
in a blind tasting
and has valued, among other things, the batter, the bechamel, the intensity, the view, the aroma, the result in the mouth and the presence of the ham.
The doubt was, as its members recognized, between two, but Carretero's has finally prevailed.
This chef from La Mancha has not had a bad time this Madrid Fusión
, since his most informal space -Santerra Neotaberna and his chef, Máximo Benages- won the award for the best sandwich in Spain 2022 on Monday.
Iván Cerdeño (on the right) received the Golden Croquette.
Participating in this unique edition were Diego Fernández, from Regueiro (Tox, Asturias);
Jesús Segura, from Trivio (Cuenca);
Nacho Solana, from Restaurante Solana (Ampuero, Cantabria);
Alberto García Escudero, from Restaurante Iván Cerdeño (Toledo), and Javier Sanz and Juan Sahuquillo, from Cañitas Maite (Casas Ibáñez, Albacete), winners of the 2021 contest.
Iván Cerdeño , who has received the Croqueta de Oro award,
put the finishing touch to the contest . The chef from Toledo
has created a school with his mythical croquettes
, whose recipe has inspired other winners of Madrid Fusión.
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