San Sebastian Gastronomika hosted the 1st National Chickpea Competition - Tierra de Sabor, a competition that sought to highlight the gastronomic potential of this versatile Castilian product.

In the final, Argentinean chef German Carrizo (Fierro, Valencia) beat seven colleagues from restaurants all over Spain.

It took place physically a fortnight ago at the Fernando Pérez International Cooking School in Valladolid and was broadcast this Thursday at San Sebastian Gastronomika. The first National Chickpea Competition – Tierra de Sabor sought to crown the chef who presented the best dish made from this super food, which it did to Germán Carrizo, from the Fierro de Valencia restaurant, a chef who trained with the teams at El Poblet and Vuelve Carolina under Quique Dacosta.

The Argentine went up against seven “tough opponents” in the final, in the words of the president of the jury, Lourdes Plana, who was recently appointed president of the Spanish Royal Academy of Gastronomy. These were Víctor Martín (Trigo, Valladolid), Diego López (Pascuais Eventos, Lugo), Txema Martínez (Bodega Amposta, Barcelona), Xosé Gonzalez (Ceibe, Ourense), Pedro Martino (Pedro Martino, Caces, Asturias), Charo Carmona (Arte de Cozina, Antequera, Málaga) and José Ignacio Herraiz (Raff San Pedro, Cuenca).

All of them have had to cook a dish on their menus made from Fuentesaúco chickpeas, whose Protected Geographical Indication recognised by the EU rewards the exceptional nature of this product, or Pedrosillano chickpeas, which are protected by a Guarantee Mark. The dish could be presented either hot or cold (in the case of Carrizo, it was cold), highlighting the culinary virtues and the potential of this type of legume, which is “destined to write a new chapter of flavour and aromas in our gastronomy”, they remarked.