Despite all the setbacks that this fateful 2020 is throwing at us, the capital of Gipuzkoa is not ready to give up being the focus of the gastronomic world for a few days. Today welcomes a new edition, the 22nd, of San Sebastian Gastronomika - Euskadi Basque Country. The doyen of the culinary congresses is once again a pioneer, this time in adapting to the reality of health safety and social distancing, which has already wiped out dozens of events in the field. The congress will increase from three to five days and will have more presentations than ever before, broadcast online from the best restaurants in the city. But it will also be free for the first time, which will multiply its chances of reaching professionals around the globe.

Under the title 'Caminos – Bideak – Pathways', it will explore the less travelled areas of a trade that, perhaps more than any other, is at a crossroads. More than 60[AN1]  speakers make up the intense programme of presentations, which has been organised around several themes. In addition to reviewing the latest discoveries made by great Basque and Spanish chefs, Gastronomika will be devoting a space to cuisine with black roots, reinforcing the twinning with Italian colleagues, giving a voice to the most heterodox professionals in the restaurant industry and, of course, analysing business prospects in a scenario hit by the pandemic.

Determined to maintain its roots in the region, the congress will be sneaking into the kitchens of two of the greats of international cuisine, Bittor Arginzoniz and Eneko Atxa. The restaurants of both will open their doors to the cameras of Gastronomika to show live what it is like to be served in two of the most acclaimed restaurants on the planet; it will be a unique broadcast that will open up new paths for the congress experience. A good part of the schedule of presentations will also take place in prominent host restaurants: Arzak, Akelarre, Martín Berasategui, Zuberoa and Aiala will provide the backdrop for a congress that has had to forego the traditional mass event at the Kursaal for obvious reasons.

However, this edition could break participation records, as registration is free of charge on the platform that will also host the programme of activities (sansebastiangastronomika.com). The opening day is full of heavyweights: Pedro Subijana, Ángel León, Quique Dacosta, Paco Morales and Toño Pérez will parade around on the screens of the congress to talk about marine textures, salted dishes and age-old recipes. They will be accompanied by a trio of Italian chefs - Caterina Ceraudo, Gennaro Esposito and Pietro Zito - who are keen to bring out the essence of their region. On Tuesday, the session will be dedicated to visiting a handful of heterodox cooks and atypical restaurants. Rafa Peña de Gresca, Nino Redruello de Fismuler, Pedrito Sánchez de Bagá and Sacha Hormaechea, among others, will address a phenomenon that has come to be called 'post-bistronomy' but which resists being labelled. Another heterodox chef, Hilario Arbelaitz, who followed orthodoxy when everyone else was skipping it, will close Tuesday's programme with a talk on the futility of fashion.

Cuisine of black origins and Basque minimalism

On Wednesday, the day will be dedicated to exploring a cuisine that has its roots in the mists of time, but which has continued to be ignored on the Western scene. African talents such as Ghanaian chef Selassie Ataka and Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam, African American chef J.J. Johnson and Colombian chef Maura de Caldas will talk about colourful, intense cuisine that promotes race as a culinary ingredient. In contrast is the minimalism embraced by Josean Alija, Eneko Atxa and Elena Arzak, with whom they share a programme.

Thursday will be a day of reflection, which has to be done to tackle the new reality of the post-Covid hotel and catering industry, with the help of British chef Clare Smyth, Uruguayan-Italian chef Matías Perdomo, Colombian chef, and chefs from León, Juanjo Pérez and Yolanda León. To round off the event, on Friday none other than Ferran Adrià, Joan Roca, Martín Berasategui, Carlo Cracco and Javier Olleros will put in an appearance at Gastronomika. We will also be paying tribute to the humanitarian work of José Andrés, recognising the journalism of Ignacio Medina and toasting the Gueridón de Oro with legendary sommelier from San Sebastian, Txomin Rekondo. Cheers!