NAVARRA GOURMET

The aim of these workshops was to allow those taking part to find out more about products which have earned prestige or a special place in our culinary preferences. Such was the case of oil, chocolate, bread, seaweed, cod, caviar and beer.

Caviar Workshop: Caviar and cooking sturgeon

Show cooking and tasting of different organic sturgeon dishes with the master caviar chef Javier Domezain.

“Caviar del Reyno” is the only certified organic caviar in the world. Without preservatives or colourants of any kind, it has the delicate flavour of authentic caviar as it used to taste. The real taste of fresh roe.

“Caviar Per Sé” is made using the purest recipe of the "Iranian caviar masters”: The upper end of the range captures the pure essence of caviar production as developed by the Arabs over the 700 years in which they lived in our lands and uses the same raw material: caviar nacarii, which the Arabs considered the best caviar in the world. It has now been brought back for us by the Piscifactoría de Sierra Nevada following 50 years of research and endeavour.

Caviar del Reyno, founded in Navarra more than 50 years ago, was a pioneer in commercial aquaculture, and the first producer to be certified organic in the world. It is now also a pioneer in sturgeon farming and the production of caviar, the fruit of continuous research. It is a vertically integrated company, from the breeding of sturgeon to direct sale, and has two production centres: Riofrío in Granada and Yesa in Navarra. Together, they make it the fish-farming enterprise with the greatest capacity in Europe.

Cod Workshop: Essential cod cuisine

José Javier González Oliver (Graduate in Catering from the Cookery School of Galdakao (Vizcaya). José Javier has worked as production manager for the company Tecno Gourmet, a pioneer on the Spanish market in the production of ready-to-eat pasteurised dishes, combining work with a technical consultancy service on the use of new food preservation technologies to companies and restaurants.

He is currently the Head of R&D&innovation for the firm Bacalao Giraldo,overseeing the enhancement of production processes. He is the brain behind the new line of pre-prepared and ready-to-eat products which Giraldo has recently launched under the name of Sukiker.

He also gives technical courses and runs workshops on cod at cookery schools and for chef forums in Spain and abroad, including one at New York's French Culinary Academy.

Seaweed Workshop: Marrying sea vegetables and Navarra wines

Antonio Muiños Insua, founded a small family company, Porto-Muiños in 1998 with the main idea of developing new food products based on the wealth and health of the Atlantic waters of the Gulf of Ártabro. He was accompanied by the chef Daniel Pulzoni Cupeiro, who specialises in seaweed-based dishes.

Seaweed aquaculture is an activity which both contributes to the environmental recovery of areas in which other marine products have been farmed and helps preserve the immense natural wealth of the Atlantic.

Seaweed is a selected biological product which, in addition to having a wide range of flavours, colours and textures, also has outstanding nutritional properties, being rich in proteins and, above all, vitamins and minerals.

Each type of seaweed (Sea Lettuce, Nori, Thongweed, Wakame, Kombu, Sweet Kombu or Irish Moss) needs to be left to soak, cooked and prepared in a specific way.

Bread Workshop: Quality bread, rarely remembered in catering

Xavier Barriga Molina, has, since 2001, been manager and director of the company ATECPAN, which provides technical consultancy services and training to companies in the bread and pastries sector.

He has given continuous education courses in bakery to Spanish companies in the sector and, since 1998, has contributed to the magazine Molinerilla Panadería, published by Montagud, which also released his book “Panadería artesana: tecnología y producción” (The Craft of Baking: technology and production).

Oil Workshop: An oil for each occasion

Santiago Botas is a specialist in the international promotion of olive oil and other quality products. He has worked as consultant for the European Union and other bodies and companies in Spain and abroad, in countries such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Morocco, Japan, Jordan, Bolivia and Ecuador.

As a specialist in olive oil, he has run seminars, workshops and tasting sessions in more than thirty countries in Europe, America, the Middle and Far East, and Australia.

Botas contributes to the promotion work of the Spanish Olive Oil Exporters Association (ASOLIVA), the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX), the Trade Promotion Agency of Andalusia (EXTENDA) and the International Oil Council (IOC). He has also taken part in a number of TV and radio programmes, and contributed to publications, magazines and on-line publications based in a range of countries.

Beer Workshop: Estrella Damm Inedit, a beer to accompany any meal

Estrella Damm Inedit was created by Ferrán Adrià, Juli Soler and the team of sommeliers from El Bulli, Ferrán Centelles and David Seijas.

This beer is made from a unique blend of barley and wheat malt, yeast and water, flavoured with spices such as coriander, orange peel and liquorice.

It is an ideal accompaniment for a wide range of culinary inventions, including the most complicated citric- and bitter-based dishes. Outstanding with delicate starters, salads and oil-rich fish, its versatility when combined with food means that it can also be enjoyed with more structured dishes with longer cooking times. A mild beer (4.8º alcohol), a far cry from the norm.

Chocolate Workshop: VALRHONA from beans to chocolate

Daniel Hughes has formed part of the Valrhona technical training team since 2006, receiving regular training himself from the sensory analysis department run by Vanesa Lemond. Since 2009, he has formed part of the company's pastry sector sales team in the north of Spain.

Valhrona is currently one of the world's leading chocolate manufacturers. Founded in 1922 by a pastry chef from the Rhône Valley, it makes exceptional chocolate based on its experience as craftsmen in the art.

Based in the small town of Tain L’Hermitage, near Lyon, Valrhona focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. The company also maintains the École du Grand Chocolat, a school for professional chefs with a focus on chocolate-based dishes and pastries.

Its product line includes chocolate confectionery, plain and flavoured chocolate bars, and bulk chocolate in bars or pellets. Valrhona produces vintage chocolate made from beans belonging to a single year's harvest from a specific plantation.

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Related information

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Reyno Gourmet Televisión

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Aceite de Navarra

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