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Denis Walsh receives his prize after winning the All-Ireland Tapas and Pintxo Championships in IT Tralee from Robert Curley. Also included are judges Gorka Arrieta and John Harty.
IT’S been wonderful week for the food industry in the Kingdom, as guests and competitors at the All Ireland Tapas and Pintxo Championship got to experience the culinary delights on offer in Kerry and also meet with local producers and suppliers in the food industry
Two days of competitions where chefs from all over the country showcased their skills in the area of Tapas and Pintxo style food, the winner was chosen on the criteria of the competition – This criteria was based on flavour, texture, practicality and creativity on a limited budget.
The launch event was hosted by Sua on Monday night in the intimate surroundings of Sol-y-Sombra Kilorglin and it was a fabulous evening of food and wines presented by one of the organisers of the event Gorka Arrietta who was joined by a host of chefs in the kitchen.
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Tuesday night saw The Ashe Hotel host another evening of food and wines and the public got to taste a real fusion of Spanish and Irish food chefs using the finest local ingredients from local suppliers, accompanied with fine Spanish wines and beers Chad Byrne a founder of ChefCoLab, and executive chef at the Brehon hosted the evening and chatted to the guest speakers on the production of Pintxo and Tapas and those attending came away with lots of ideas for themselves from the night.
Winner Denis Byrne from Killybegs in Donegal (centre) with Runner up Darren Collins from Waterford (left) and Most Creative winner Ismael Castillojo.
Wednesday saw the final closing of this great three day event with the winner being announced for their work. And he was Denis Byrne from Killybegs in Donegal. Runner up was Darren Collins from Waterford and Most Creative was Ismael Castillojo.
The Overall winner received an amazing prize of a specially commissioned trophy along with an all-expenses paid trip to the World Tapas Championships Valladolid in November 2019 as part of Team Ireland.
John Harty of Taste Kerry and main organiser of the event says “it was a wonderful event for the county to showcase our produce to other countries. Having guests here from around the world really opens up our local produce to these countries and we are proud to do this. We would like to thank our Sponsors who supported us in this event and of course to the Spanish Embassy for all their help and input into the event, this is Spanish Wine week in Ireland and we are glad to be able to put our mark on this week with such wonderful events. We also thank Taste of Sol Foods for their support.
Local sponsors included IT Tralee, Kerry Group, Terra Food and Wines, the Ashe Hotel, Sol Y Sombra, Croi Restaurant, Connect Marketing and Events and the many other local food producers who supported in anyway. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back again next year for an even bigger event”.
