The National Grilling Competition was held in July at Bodgas Hika (Villabona, Gipuzkoa) and was attended by representatives from eight restaurants from all over Spain.

The 11th edition of the National Grilling Competition, the longest running contest at San Sebastian Gastronomika - Euskadi Basque Country, has announced the winners for 2020. Narru, a restaurant in San Sebastian, represented by grill chef Gorka Irure, won the competition with a German Friesian supplied by Guikar, who were also voted best meat supplier in the competition. As a result, Narru takes over from the Amaren restaurant (Bilbao), Guikar succeeds Fisterra Bovine World; the two winners of the competition in 2019.

The 11th National Grilling Competition was broadcast this Wednesday but was actually held on July 28th at Bodegas Hika in Villabona (Gipuzkoa) due to the pandemic. The teams from the eight participating restaurants travelled to the spectacular winery complex, located overlooking the River Oria, as did the entire jury, presided over this year by Amaia Ortuzar, from San Sebastian's Bar Ganbara. The event was livened up by chef and showman David de Jorge, who once again showed his pride for a competition that pays tribute “to one of the toughest jobs in the world”.

The Josper grills were set up on the terrace of the wine-producing complex, next to the restaurant run by Roberto Ruiz - the legendary chef of Frontón de Tolosa - and the grilling began. “It was a very entertaining contest, which demonstrated the diversity of the meat and techniques”, explained Agulló, “although all the meat was served in the Basque style, done to a turn”, his colleagues remarked.

Ortuzar assessed the quality of the meat, the cooking, the texture and the taste of the chop, together with chefs Pedro Subijana, Martín Berasategui and Juanjo López, journalists Benjamín Lana, Xavier Agulló, Carlos Maribona, Patricia Mateo, Alberto Luchini, José Carlos Capel, Julia Pérez, Julián Méndez and Clara Pérez Villalón, and meat experts Francisco Carrasco and Juanjo Arratibel - the jury - and agreed to present the award to Narru.

With grill chef Gorka Irure at the helm, Narru won ahead of its seven opponents from different parts of the country, “showing the importance of a way of cooking that gains more followers every day”, explained De Jorge. The opponents were Txitxardin (Lasarte, Gipuzkoa), who came with meat supplied by Arcecarne; Balcón del Pirineo Ordesa (Buesa, Huesca), supplied by Cárnicas Goya; Saizar (Usurbil, Gipuzkoa), supplied by Discarlux; Pura Brasa World (Barcelona), supplied by Beef on Food; Verum (Málaga), with meat supplied by Makro; Casa Lola (Tudela, Navarre), with meat supplied by Cooperativa de Hostelería Navarra, and Asador El Esquinazo (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), supplied by Cárnicas Lyo.

The tasting of meats by the jury included the pairing proposed by Agustín Santolaya, from Bodegas Roda, and a final dish of beans prepared by Roberto Ruiz, who is currently running the winery's restaurant, Hika.