Last Sunday, the 63rd edition of the annual international paella competition in Sueca produced another winner. The honourable title of ‘best paella in the world’ has been awarded for the coming year. The title went to a restaurant in the Valencian community, the birthplace of this iconic Spanish rice dish.
The second prize, worth €1,500, also remains within the Spanish borders. This has been awarded to the restaurant Atlantis in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. The third prize, worth €1,000, goes to Socarrat Restaurante in Miramar, Argentina.
Winners
The winners of the 63rd edition of the worldwide paella competition are chef Paco Rodríguez and his assistant Rafael Climent from the restaurant Miguel y Juani in L’Alcúdia, Valencia. They received a cash prize of €2,500 for their extraordinary performance and the winning certificate presented by the mayor of Sueca Julián Sáez.
A total of forty chefs from twelve different countries took part in the competition. The prize for the best paella prepared by a Spanish restaurant was awarded to restaurant El Muelle del Barrio Pequero in Santander. The best paella in the Valencia region went to Alejandro Platero Restaurante in the city of Valencia. The prize for the best prepared paella in Sueca went to Restaurante Llopis.
Restaurant Simply Spanish in Australia won the prize for the best paella prepared outside Spain.
Olympic games of paella
Mayor Sáez of Sueca said that the competition has now become “one of the largest gastronomic events”. It´s also “one of the most prestigious awards at both national and international level”. According to Sáez, the winners will demonstrate absolute quality by hanging the certificates in their restaurant. Councillor Teresa Ribes, who is responsible for organising the competition, stressed that chefs from all over the world come to Sueca to take part in what could be called “the Olympic Games of paella”.
The honourary title of “Paellero de Honour” was awarded posthumously to Ramón Carreres Ortells, former director of the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA).