ISABEL MUÑOZ

Updated Sunday, January 28, 2024-00:04

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With January comes, in addition to its dreaded hill, the great international meeting with avant-garde gastronomy: Madrid Fusión, which this year celebrates its XXII edition.

A three-day party - from Monday the 29th to Wednesday the 31st -

that will turn the capital into the great showcase of world cuisine, its trends, its chefs...

Pavilion 14 of Ifema, in the Campo de las Unidas, will be transformed into a culinary planet full of presentations, workshops, round tables,

showcooking

, tastings... This year, the event raises the motto

Where it all begins

, that moment and place where "the idea is born, talent is shown and excellence is sought", explained a few days ago Benjamín Lana, director of Madrid Fusión (MF). Moment and space with which this congress

vindicates its innovative

and almost prophetic character - in some cases - in advancing trends. In fact, for many famous chefs today it has been a kind of international shuttle, including the three-time best chef in the world, Dabiz Muñoz, who returns to MF this year and as always will be one of the main protagonists.

MF is held in different spaces in Pavilion 14.

More than 220 speakers and 1,800 congressmen

, among whom there is no shortage of international names - from the United States, Korea, Switzerland, Norway, the Philippines, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Denmark, Italy, France... - and national ones. Among the first, Gonzalo Aramburu (Aramburu, Buenos Aires), Nicolai Nørregaard (Kadeau, Copenhagen), Junghyun Park (Atomix, New York), Mingoo Kang (Mingles, Seoul, South Korea) or

Chele González, a Cantabrian chef who triumphs in Manila

with its restaurant Gallery by Chele, among others.

Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, from the Spanish three-star Disfutar.

The national representation includes chefs from our

gastro firmament:

Ángel León (Aponiente); Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca);

the new triple stars Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas (Disfrutar) and Paco Morales (Noor)

; Andoni Luis Aduriz (Mugaritz); Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi)... And also young chefs who are more than promising and who already have a Michelin guide crown, such as Vicky Sevilla (Arrels, in Sagunto, Valencia), Jorge Muñoz and Sara Peral (OSA, Madrid) or

Carlos Casillas

, who has obtained a red star and another green star for Barro, the dining room that opened last April in Ávila.

Joan Roca, from El Celler de Can Roca, will be one of the speakers.

The list is long, as is the list of topics that will be worked on. For example,

the use of water - an essential and scarce good - in stoves and its relationship with sustainability

from different points of view. Through the experience of Miguel González, from the restaurant of the same name in Orense, who prepares some dishes with water from the hot springs and who, together with the University of Vigo, has developed a study. From north to south, with

Pedrito Sánchez (Bagá, Jaén)

, who has long avoided using foods that require high water consumption for their production (beef, nuts, corn...), and Ángel León -

the king of the tides -

and his

master class

on management, nutritional properties and the influence of sea water on its

gastronomic

proposal . And we cross the pond - and half the world - with Jeferson García, a traveling chef who has worked from Thailand to Denmark, passing through Colombia, where this specialist in

cooking with spring water

will soon open his own restaurant.

There will be no shortage of culinary exhibitions.

More ideas and thinking in the form of presentations, debates, round tables... Genetic heritage, ancient fermentations, wild cuisine, the new Nikkei cuisine, responsible creativity, the underground pantry, the loss of diversity... Until the emergence of artificial intelligence. And

more reflection will take place in Dreams

, a new space that this XXII edition brings. In it, everything revolves around the future of food from science and technology.

Gonzalo Aramburu, leader of the only restaurant in Argentina with two Michelin stars.

More news from this delivery: the Sala Revelation Award, which recognizes the work of young professionals in this area. An

award with seven candidates; six of them women

, which reflects the increasing female presence in the world of the dining room and in front of the restaurant cellar. Here are the finalists: Oliva Ridruejo, sommelier and restaurant manager at Berria (Madrid); Laura Ferrer, from Vandelvira (Baeza, Jaén); Leticia Palomo, by Ugo Chan (Madrid); Carmeta Torrens, Paula García and Sophie Glossin, waitresses and sommeliers at Hisop (Barcelona); Laura Novoa, by Miguel González (O Pereiro de Aguiar, Orense); Naroa Pérez, from the Xixario steakhouse (Orio, Guipúzcoa) and Carlos Castelló, from Nou Manolín & El Piripí (Alicante).

Nicolai Nørregaard, one of the pioneers of Nordic cuisine.

We continue with more awards. To find the

Revelation Chef

you have to go through Finisterre, Madrid, Alcanar, Ávila, Mungia, Huesca, Murcia and Avilés, towns where the eight candidates for this recognition officiate, which in their day were achieved by some of the most influential Spanish chefs (Dabiz Muñoz, Ricard Camarena, Rodrigo de la Calle...). And from Cádiz, Málaga, La Coruña, Barcelona and Madrid the six finalists arrive

for the 2024 Revelation Pastry Chef.

What is never lacking in Madrid Fusión are the

contests and championships:

from the best ham croquette, where more than experienced chefs participate in the preparation of one of the reigning tapas in bars and restaurants, to the signature sandwiches, the mojos, the escabeches and las bravas, a competition that debuts this year.

Pedrito Sánchez, from Bagá (Jaén), participates in different activities.

In parallel and within Ifema's pavilion 14, other conferences will be held:

MF The Wine Edition

, with tastings, workshops and trends within the world of wine;

MF Pastry

, the date with pastry and bakery, and

MF The Drinks Show

, dedicated to spirits.

Poster for the new edition that starts this Monday.

Madrid Food Fusion of Spain 2024

. From January 29 to 31, in Pavilion 14 of Ifema (Avenida del Partenón, 5). Tickets: 250 euros for three days and 100 per day. You can also follow online, live or delayed, 50 euros for three days. More information on the MF website.