Beltran Alonso, chef at Casa Mories: winner of the WOOE Challenge (Salad competition)

His creation of a salad made with olive oil from the PDO Montes de Toledo won first prize of 1,500 €.

The second prize went to Jose Luis Camacho of restaurant Zascandil (Gijon) and a special recognition for Fidel Meza, chef at Fijo.

Beltrán Alonso, chef at Madrid’s restaurant Casa Mories, has won the first prize of the 2^nd WOOE Challenge, the Competition of Salads with EVOO from Castile-La Mancha, which was held in Madrid, within the framework of the World Olive Oil Exhibition. Sponsored by “Campo y Alma” (Land & Soul), the quality and warranty brand for products with a protected designation of origin and/or a protected geographic indication from Castile-La Mancha; this competition involved the participation of ten chefs who had to make a salad. The essential requirement was that the salad had to be prepared using one extra virgin olive oil from one of the protected designations of origin of Castile-La Mancha (Aceites de la Alcarria, Campo de Calatrava, Campo de Montiel and Montes de Toledo and Manchego cheese with a PDO) or a blend of more than one of those EVOOs.

“I had made a very simple salad with a base of Manchego cheese foam, seasoned tomato and smoked sardine”, remarked Chef Beltrán Alonso. “For the elaboration, I have selected an olive oil from the cornicabra variety from the PDO Montes de Toledo, simply because I’m from there and that’s my beloved homeland”, concluded the award-winning chef who won the competition. Elena Escobar, Director-General for Food at Castile-La Mancha’s government, was in charge of giving the prize of 1,500 €.

The second prize went to Jose Luis Camacho, from restaurant Zascandil (Gijon), who was awarded the prize by Otilia Romero de Condes, CEO of the WOOE. Miguel Angel Leon, regional director of Globalcaja was in charge of giving the special recognition to Fidel Meza, chef at the restaurant Fijo.

The 2^nd WOOE Challenge was presented by Concha Crespo, food journalist; and the jury was made up of: Elena Escobar, Director-General for Food at Castile-La Mancha’s government; Enrique Escobar, chef at the restaurant El Doncel (Guadalajara); Alicia Rivas, influencer responsible for “La Recomendadora”; and Patricia Magaña, writer for Origen magazine; and Álvaro Madrid, chef at La Soga (Ciudad Real).

For this 2^nd Competition of Salads, as well as the awarded restaurants, the following restaurants participated: Cocina34, Portal Bajo, Restaurant Alilian, Amore Gastrobar, Quinta Cocina, El Pedrusco de Aldealcorvo and Piscomar.