The cover Milpa by Alejandro San José Birnbaum, of the Habanero Taquería restaurant in Valladolid, won the XXI national pinchos and tapas competition of Valladolid while the Australian chef Andrea Vignale wins the IX international competition with a dish based on kangaroo meat.
The winner, from Valladolid, assessed the victory as follows: “I was there four years ago and I didn’t think I would repeat myself. I was there as a student and it’s incredible to be here. I want to thank my environment for these weeks of support. I’m very proud to be from Valladolid and that he stays at home.” Valladolid brought together 46 chefs from 16 autonomous communities, while the 9th World Tapas Championship Ciudad de Valladolid 2025 saw the participation of 16 international chefs from all five continents.
The victory of the local chef maintains the line of 2024, when the Trasto restaurant triumphed with his team Pucela roll. This year the winning tapa consists of a ring of crispy corn, filled with lamb stewed in green tomatillo sauce, chitextle (ground chilli paste) of cod, pineapple marinated in tepache (fermented Mexican drink) and sweetened pine nuts, for which Alejandro San José won 10,000 euros, a diploma and a trophy. The jury awarded the second prize to Aitor Martínez Ros, from the Can Ros restaurant in Burriana (Castellón) and the third prize to Jesús Iván Anaya Gómez, from the El Mirador de la Mancha restaurant (Ciudad Real). The second place winner also received a prize of 5,000 euros, diploma and trophy while the third place place received 2,500 euros, diploma and trophy.
As for the international discipline, the winner was Smoke under the lid, by Andrea Vignali, from the Al dente wine shop (Australia), twinned in these days of the competition with the El Corregidor restaurant. The Australian creation is a smoked kangaroo consommé served with hand-cut kangaroo tartare and pata negra ham, accompanied by a fun kangaroo gel for which he also won 10,000 euros, a trophy and a diploma. The international runner-up is Emerald, by Chen Cheng Dian, from the Fresh&Aged Italian Steak house restaurant (Taiwan), twinned with the Sala 20 restaurant, while third place went to The queen of the sea, by Øyvind Boe Dalev, from Brasserie Touch (Norway), twinned with the Originario restaurant.
The president of the national jury, Paco Morales, of the Noor restaurant in Cordoba, defines this new experience as “enriching” in conversation with EL PAÍS, since he had never participated in the Valladolid competition, thanks to the quality “of the products and the chefs”. For him, both Valladolid and Spain have an “identity” built around tapas and the particularities of each community around their small dishes. «I really liked that the people welcomed us with great warmth, they are very empathetic and natural, I was expecting something else perhaps because on the Castilian plateau they are more distant», confesses Morales, happy with what he discovered about lamb, an indispensable dish in these parts, and about the liturgies around its preparation and tasting, which he took the trouble to get to know these days in the city. The presiding jury had to choose from creations of all varieties for the five senses and from every corner of the country and the globe, a challenge in the packaging of the competition, which has been running for 21 years. Valladolid brought together 46 chefs from 16 autonomous communities, while the 9th World Tapas Championship Ciudad de Valladolid 2025 saw the participation of 16 international chefs from all five continents. The mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero (PP), defended the event as a way to “recognize chefs and restaurateurs”, key to creating a “city brand” as “world capital of tapas during the competition and in a very intense way throughout the year”. Carnero applauds the possibility of “connecting people and cultures, tapa is a vector of social relationships”.
