Swede wins tapas competition in Spain with potato bread with cream cheese – 11/27/2023 – Food

It is very likely that, if Brazil launched a global caipirinha or feijoada competition, it would be humiliating if a foreigner won first place.

But this is not the case with the World Tapas Competition that Spain promoted this month in Valladolid, a city north of Madrid. The winner was a Swede and there was a Brazilian in the competition. And never, in six years of the event, has a Spanish native won first place.

The explanation for this is simple: more than just food, tapa is a support. More than a gastronomic style, it is a way of serving whatever. In the internet encyclopedia, it is described as: “a light food that is served in most bars or restaurants with a drink”.

It is recommended that it fits in the entire mouth, that is, that it does not exceed, say, five centimeters. If the tapa is the product of a division, for example, a piece of a potato tortilla, this larger part that comes to the table is called pincho.

And the name comes from covering it. In taverns, there was the custom of covering glasses or wine glasses with a piece of bread or a slice of raw ham, to prevent flies and mosquitoes from entering.

The winner this year was the Swede Noel Moglia, from the Julita Wärdshus restaurant, located in small Äsköping, Sweden. His tapa, called “my roots and learning” was a fried potato bread stuffed with cream cheese, topped with caramelized onion glazed with honey, crispy onion and lemon thyme.

A good tip is to visit Valladolid during the three days of the event, which always takes place in November. With 15 guests from all over the world, as well as more than 40 Spanish chefs for the national competition, tapas spread across the city’s countless restaurants. Each house hosts some chefs from the competition and serves tapas in competition on those days.

For the first time in six years, the Valladolid World Tapas Competition welcomed a Brazilian, São Paulo native Rodrigo Lohan, from São Bento do Sapucaí.

Having studied at Senac and spent time at several restaurants in the São José dos Campos region, Lohan has already won the award for the best burger in that city with a Minas Gerais version of the sandwich, which includes Serra da Canastra cheese, bacon, cabbage crispy and three eggs. of quail.

For the contest, Lohan created a little boat (made from banana stem fiber by women from the São Bento do Sapucaí quilombo) that carried a piece of crispy trout with skin, caramelized pine nut cream and a straw of boiled and fried cassava.

The Brazilian tapa was completed with a fragaia vinaigrette, a type of wild raspberry from the Serra da Mantiqueira, and pepper oil.

“The idea was to bring the crunch of cassava and trout with the almond flavor of pine nuts, with sweet and spicy flavors. A typical tapa from Serra da Mantiqueira, which even takes its name from the mountain,” explained Lohan, who, Unfortunately, he didn’t win this time.

But that doesn’t faze Lohan. “I’ve never been as respected as a chef as I am now,” said the Brazilian, who is on his second visit to Portugal, currently in charge of the meals at the Grande Hotel Termas, in São Pedro do Sul, near Porto.