The Prix Baron B-Edition Cuisine, which had its fourth edition this year, is a unique event in our country. It is not only focused on distinguishing the best national gastronomybut also highlights comprehensive kitchen projects that respect the culture of the place, contribute to the dissemination of quality food and consider sustainability as a priority.
In order to evaluate the different projects that are presented, the Prix convenes a luxury jury, capable of understanding the work of other professionals based on their own commitment to the values promoted by the distinction.
The award-winning Argentine chef, Mauro Colagreco, is usually the head of this group in charge of selecting the proposals that are presented in each edition. she accompanies him Martin Molteni, owner of the PuraTierra restaurant and a professional who has always been committed to native cuisine. This year, two women joined the jury for the first time. the colombian chef Eleanor Espinosain charge of the Leo restaurant in Bogotá and chosen Best Female Chef in the World by The World 50 Best Restaurants and the Argentine sommelier Peace Levinsoncurrent Global Executive Sommelier of Groupe Pic.
They had the task of selecting, first, 3 finalist projects from the 65 presented. And then, to choose the winning chef of the Prix. “We were evaluating projects from Salta to Ushuaia, in very different places, discovering the richness of each place, where each one is transforming the gastronomy of its surroundings”, explained Martín Molteni during the final, at the Elena restaurant of the Four Seasons Buenos Aires, for which the three selected chefs prepared a dish that condensed the essence of their style.
The winning project was Jorge Monopolicommanded by Kalma Restó, in Land of Fire; a chef who came to Usuahia 15 years ago and who, with his small restaurant with 24 chairs, achieved pioneering work in the area.
Another of the featured chefs was Fernando Rivarolain front of the El Baqueano restaurant, a venture that began in Buenos Aires but recently moved to Salta, where Rivarola investigates native meats and conducts a survey of producers in the area, promoting fair trade.
Alexandra Repetto, from the El Alambique restaurant in Calafate, was the third selected chef. 70 percent of the restaurant menu that she leads is made up of dishes with guanaco meat, an animal native to the place and whose controlled consumption is sought to be promoted in the area.
The winner received as an award a cork bathed in gold and carved by the goldsmith Juan Carlos Pallarols. Also the possibility of doing an internship at Mirazur, the rest of Mauro Colagreco on the French Côte d’Azur and a reward of $500,000. The other finalists had a prize of $300,000 each and a silver cork, made by Pallarols.
award-winning chef
Buying a house and continuing to do what he does are the dreams of Jorge Monopoli, the recent winner of the Prix Baron B. “Doing what he does” is equivalent to developing a cuisine based on the food from his surroundings, in the city of Usuahia, surrounded by the sea and with a very low temperature for much of the year.
The dish he served in the final is a good summary of the work he regularly carries out in his restaurant: fire crab accompanied by carrot gazpacho, black garlic, cachiyuyo and cassis.
The spider crab is one of the exquisite meats that can be found in the Beagle Channel, a quarry of unsuspected riches, essential in Monopoli cuisine. “We have more sea surface than good surface for cow pasture – he explains to NOTICIAS-. However, we are a country that eats meat, because we look at the pampas. We forget about the almost 4000 km. that we have of marine coast, where there is a diversity and an abundance that, literally, overflows. The Argentine does not get to eat a kilo of fish per person per year. Although seafood is a healthy diet, it generates less carbon footprint than other consumption”. To illustrate this richness, Monopoli expands with the list of species that can be found on the Usuahian coast: sea urchins, octopus, clams, razor clams, mussels, mussels, snails, sea bass, grouper, Patagonian toothfish, pollock, forkbeard, pejerrey and wild salmon. .
Another element of the environment that is part of the dish presented by the chef is the cachiyuyo, an algae that forms extensive forests on the coast of Patagonia, with excellent nutritional qualities and an amazing growth rate: 60 centimeters per day. “When we collect algae from the Canal, we make a selection of leaves to be as least invasive as possible. In the restaurant we wash them with fresh water to remove excess salt, dehydrate them and cook them with a very large thermal shock. What we serve does not have any additives, the flavor that is felt is the seaweed, ”explains the chef, about that crispy food that was part of the assembly of his recipe and whose flavor enchanted everyone.
A third interesting element of his proposal, due to the difficult conditions of the environment in which he works, are fresh carrots. The production of this vegetable is from Quinta Pionera, a venture near Río Grande where experimental formulas and ancestral procedures are used to ensure that food is preserved throughout the year. “Today the land is frozen, it is impossible to sink a shovel into it, but these producers manage to grow and preserve carrots,” explains the cook.
“Jorge Monopoli’s project closes the circle in all aspects, because it values a territory, works with local producers and takes advantage of the nature of the environment with respect,” said Mauro Colagreco about the project, about which he highlighted another fact from value: the influence that a chef has in his community from his work. “I can say with humility that we set trends in the city and that is a huge commitment that fills us with pride,” explains Molteni.
“Promoting the territory, the culture of each place, with a sustainability process behind it, is very important -Leonor Espinosa commented on the work of the three chefs- Argentina has always had wonderful chefs, but seeing all these rich ecosystems where they are working , takes us to know a new cuisine of the country, linked to the native product and its cultures”.
Paired with the varieties of the sparkling wine that calls for the award, the universe of competing flavors turned out to be a lesson in creativity and innovation. A sample of nature that Argentines always have at hand, but that haute cuisine helps us discover.
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