Eric Montes, best recipe made with PDO and PGI products from the Euroregion

Catalan chef Eric Montes, , regional winner of the European Young Chef Award 2022, has won the "Best euroregional recipe made with PDO and PGI products from Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Occitania" competition held today at the Catalonia HUB stand at Alimentaria.

The Catalan representative competed with the dish "Sinergies", featuring PDO and PGI products such as Pera de Lleida, Calçots de Valls, DOP Empordà extra virgin olive oil, Mallorcan almonds, Reus hazelnuts, Pa de Pagès, Sobrasada de Mallorca and Cévennes honey.

The three young chefs, one from each region, had to prepare their dishes live using products with designations of origin and protected geographical indication labels, judged by a professional panel at the Catalonia HUB stand at Alimentaria. It is a unique competition aiming to boost cross-regional knowledge of products carrying origin and quality labels among the three regions' rising culinary stars, as well as highlighting the twinning of PDO and PGI foods between the three regions behind the Network. 

The Vilanova chef competed with Balearic chef José María Borras Villarroel, i Thomas Riquier, representing Occitania, in a unique competition seeking to boost cross-regional knowledge of products with origin and quality labels among the three regions' rising culinary stars. 

Debate on the value of local products

The interregional meeting continued with talks on short marketing channels for agri-food products, including one by Fabien Santini, deputy head of the European Commission's Agri-food Market Governance Unit. The event closed with a round table on tourism experiences as a strategy for adding value to local landscapes and products , with the director of the Balearic Islands tourism strategy agency (AETIB), Xisco Mateu, the Director General of Tourism of the Government of Catalonia, Marta Domènech Tomàs and Occitania's director of innovative tourism projects and strategies, Igor Knibiehly. The director general of the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion, Xavier Bernard Sans, moderated.

The event ended with a networking lunch between the experts and producers and promoters of PDO and PGI products from the three regions , aiming to create a space for networking and encourage new interregional collaborations. 

Download the programme