Under the patronage of the Embassy of Croatia in Spain, after the invitation of the non governmental association Casa Mediterráneo, active in the promotion of the Mediterranean tradition and culture and one of the organizers of this specialized eno-gastronomic fair, Istria had the honour to be the partner region of the event which took place on last November 6^th to 9^th in the beautiful town of Alicante, capital town of the homonymous south-eastern Spanish region.

At one of the most important eno-gastronomic events of the Iberian Peninsula, Istria and Croatia were presented by Sonja Perić, owner of the hotel/restaurant Valsabbion from Pješčana uvala (Pula), Danijela Kramarić, awarded Croatian sommelier and owner of the restaurant Plavi podrum, and Deniz Zembo, owner and chef de cuisine of the restaurant Le Mandrać from Volosko.

Last day of the fair, at the Croatian stand there was a spectacular promotion of Istria and Croatia: in the show cooking of the pulp one could see the legendary Spanish chef Martín Berasategui, owner of the homonymous Michelin 3 stars restaurant situated in Lasarte-Oria (Gipuzkoa), as well as two, nowadays among the most known Spanish chefs, Quique Dacosta (owner of the Michelin 2 stars restaurant El Poblet - Dénia (Comunidad Valenciana), and Josean Martínez Alija (Chef de cuisine of the Guggenheim Bilbao museum restaurant).

The Show cooking of all those famous chefs was joined by the Croatian Ambassador to Spain, Mr. Neven Pelicarić, as well as Mrs. Yolanda Parrado, director of the association Casa Mediterráneo, and the President of the region Alicante, which was registered and broadcasted by a number of journalists and TV crews, making a great co-branding of Istria as eno-gastronomic region, side by side to world's most renowned chefs.

Nevertheless, each of our chefs had 60 minutes in the peak hours of the fair, in which to present its culinary creations to be included in the official catalogue of the event. And finally, within one of the culinary competitions of the fair, Deniz Zembo's extra virgin olive oil based plate reached the second place in a sharp competition.

Find out more at the Casa Mediterráneo official website: http://casa-mediterraneo.es/destacados/casa-mediterraneo-y-la-cocina-croata-en-lomejordelagastronomia-com/
 
Tourism board of Istria