“Food is health, culture, leisure and industry, it is what we do every day and that is why it makes sense to talk about it”, says Ricardo Dias Felner, gastronomic journalist and curator of the Melting Gastronomy Summit. The 2nd edition of Congress dedicated exclusively to gastronomy will focus on Portuguese cuisine and its producersbecause “here resides a large part of our wealth.”
“When we want to hold an important conference, in Portugal we usually look for the most famous names to stick them on a poster with big letters. It’s not that we don’t have things to learn from what is done outside, but I think we have forgotten the features of our cuisine and what distinguishes us”, the curator begins by explaining to the Observer, adding the importance of going back to the roots of the Portuguese recipe. “We began to travel and realized that extraordinary things were being done abroad, we were very dazzled by this and this idea that Portuguese cuisine is unbeatable was being questioned. Today chefs have more of the world and We would like to have in Melting this mixture of knowledge that we have been acquiring around the world.????????
Looking at the national gastronomic identity and the products that make it unique, inviting 12 chefs to work with these ingredients, giving them a new, more contemporary image, but without forgetting the memory and flavors associated with these dishes is one of the premises of the event. which will have after-dinners and live cooking, in a harmonious meeting between chefs and producers.
“The vast majority of catering is given by two or three food distribution brands, they are competent companies that do their job well, but that means that we find the same products in almost all restaurants, the same meats, the same vegetables and the same shrimp It is highly uninteresting, not only because the quality does not reach the highest levels, but above all because it kills the possibility of using all the diversity of local products. This work with producers that many chefs already do is extremely important and enriching”, highlights Ricardo Dias Felner.
“When we go on a trip, what do we miss the most?” This was the motto for choosing recipes and products to explore inside, such as meats, seafood, soups or olive oil. Natalie Castro, the chef in charge of Isco’s kitchen in Lisbon, will open the doors and prepare a broth with cane potatoes, an old variety of Lourinhã that is disappearing. On the same day, Marco Gomes, chef at the Porto Office, will prepare ribs rice with Allorio, olive oil and local meats. “We are the European country that consumes the most rice and one of the largest producers in the world, we know and treat our rice very badly and in recent years some unique Portuguese varieties have disappeared. We managed to bring Allorio de Montemor Carolina rice to Melting, an ingredient that is no longer sold”, shares the curator.
André Magalhães, from Taberna da Rua das Flores, will present an Alentejo pig, with its homemade peppers, while Nuno Castro, from Fava Tonka, and Renato Cunha, from Ferrugem, join forces for the world premiere of a vegetarian sarrabulho. EITHER Portuguese olive oil will prevail in two desserts, a chocolate mousse with 85% cocoa and vanilla ice creamin a tasting commented by the journalist Edgardo Pacheco and the oleologist from Esporão, Ana Carrilho.
The program also includes two Spanish names that will stand out on Saturday. Edu Pérez, chef of the Tohqa restaurant, one of the most emerging in the Andalusian region, will show off his skills on the grill with his most famous dish: a grilled white shrimp and cow fat. Juanlu Fernández, chef at Cañabota, in Seville, arrives with a daring and sustainable fish recipe where, fromthe digestive system to the loins, everything is used when cooking lily tripe.
The 2022 edition of the Melting Gastronomy Summit, promoted by AGAVI – Association for the Promotion of Gastronomy, Wines, Regional Products and Biodiversity, will take place on November 25 and 26, at the Galeria do Mercado do Bolhão, in Porto , and tickets start at 50 euros per person.
Source: Observadora
