From this year 2025, the 'Cooking with Truffle' Competition will be held annually and will alternate the international call with an Iberian call (Spain and Portugal) that begins this year. In this way, this 5th edition will take place in Soria from February 7 to 9 with different promotional activities open to the public. The culinary competition will be held on Saturday, February 8 at the Palacio de la Audiencia, with the participation of eight teams of chefs, two from Portugal and six from different autonomous communities of Spain: Castilla y León, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Aragon and Asturias.
The two chefs representing Portugal will be Diego Duarte Tonet, sous chef at 'The Yeatman Hotel' in Porto with two Michelin stars and Polyanne Ribeiro, sous chef at the restaurant 'Eleven by Joachim Koerper' in Lisbon, with one Michelin star. The Spanish representatives will be Giulia Cantatore, owner of 'Margot Bistrot y Tapas' in Fuerteventura; Marcos Montagut Liarte, from Lérida; Alejandro Such, director of the 'Mediterráneo Culinary Center' in Valencia; Ricardo Pina Rodríguez, head chef of the restaurant 'Lillas Pastia' in Huesca, with one Michelin star; Pedro Antonio Noriega, founder of 'Castru El Gaiteru' in Asturias. The representative of Castilla y León will be Jiale Pan, who has won important awards with his restaurant 'Jiapan' in Valladolid, such as the 2024 Golden Pincho in the Provincial Competition of Valladolid.
The winning team will receive the title of 'Truffle Cooking Champion' and a cash prize of 3,000 euros. In addition, the runner-up will receive a prize of 2,000 euros and the third-placed team, 1,000 euros. A Public Jury has also been established, which will receive a prize of 1,000 euros.
The international competition will take place at the Palacio de la Audiencia on Saturday 8 February from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and can be followed in person and online, via streaming, through the website. Tickets for the competition are free and can be obtained at the Tourist Office of the Junta de Castilla y León in Soria or online through www.cocinandocontrufa.com
Prestigious jury
To evaluate the creations of the participating chefs, the competition will have a jury made up of prestigious professionals in gastronomy, tourism and cooking, with highly relevant personalities in world gastronomy such as David Yárnoz, chef with four Michelin stars and one green star, at the restaurant 'Molino de Urdániz' in Navarra and 'Taipéi' in Taiwan, who will chair the Jury; Cuchita Lluch García, entrepreneur and leader in gastronomy and business networking, who chaired the Academy of Gastronomy of the Valencian Community (2009-2015) and the Mediterranean Gastrónoma Fair (2019-2020); José Augusto Moreira, journalist and founding member of the newspaper Público, from Portugal and for years, specialized in gastronomy and wines; Nahuel Pazos Pacini, researcher at the Basque Culinary Center, where he develops new gastronomic products; Melinda Padilla, chemical engineer and Master in Institutional and Political Communication, responsible for the Repsol Guide's gastronomic rating system; and Javier Pérez Andrés, journalist specializing in wine, agri-food and tourism, National Award for Gastronomy, Hospitality and Sommelier.
The jury will be provided with technical advice from Melania Cascante, chef at the Hotel Restaurante 'Los Villares' in Soria, winner of multiple awards at the Provincial Mycological Tapas Competition and speaker at the ' Soria Gastronómica' Mycology Congress.
As in the previous edition, the competition will have a Popular Jury, made up of cooking and gastronomy enthusiasts from the province of Soria, chosen by lottery from among the proposals of the sponsoring restaurants and cooking enthusiast courses, with the aim of promoting knowledge of the black truffle among consumers.
Promotional activities
Before the start of the competition, a 'Technical Conference' is planned for professionals in the culinary and communication fields and the general public, with the aim of promoting the responsible use of black truffles in restaurants and homes to avoid confusion and fraud for consumers. This Conference will be coordinated by the European Mycological Institute-EMI.
In addition, with the participation of the Association of Truffle Collectors and Growers of Soria- ATRUSORIA, during the morning of Saturday 8th in the portals of the Palace of the Audience a 'Truffle Market' will be organized, with the aim of promoting and marketing the product, aimed at both the general public, as well as the professionals of the sector who attend the contest and the contestants themselves.
Once the competition is over, the winner will present his dish to the media on Saturday 8th in the afternoon in Soria. As a novelty in this edition, on Monday 10th February he will present the dish at the Basque Culinary Center, in San Sebastian and via streaming for the students of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, together with the technical day on black truffle, which includes quality control and tasting of black truffle, within the Trufforum New York programme, coordinated by the European Mycological Institute.
Gastronomic Days in 8 restaurants
With the participation of restaurants and chefs from Soria, from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th February, the 'Gastronomic Days' will be held in which the eight competing chefs will be sponsored by some of the best restaurants in Soria. In this way, each of the sponsoring restaurants will host a contestant and will become at the same time his assistant and helper during the celebration of the competition day on the morning of Saturday 8th.
This activity aims to boost the restaurant industry in the city of Soria, creating opportunities for future exchanges and enriching relationships between chefs and ways of cooking, and promoting a whole project of collaboration and international promotion of the Soria and Castilla y León brands through truffles. The participating restaurants are: El Tilo de Vallecas, La Gastro Tasquita, El Fogón del Salvador, La Galiana, Trashumante, La Chistera, Baluarte and La Cepa.
