D.O.Ca. Rioja and Basque Culinary Center launch international competition
D.O.Ca. Rioja and the Basque Culinary Center have launched an international Rioja Wine & Tapas competition targeting final year culinary students.
Culinary schools and universities in 15 countries, including the UK, have been invited to participate in this competition, where students must design tapas to pair with Rioja wines.
The winning student will receive €4,000 (£3,376) and an intensive, one-week course at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián.
The finals will be held in Spain on 17 November with a shortlist of four students from different countries and a finalist from the Basque Culinary Center, as this year's host school. Finalists must prepare their culinary proposal for 25 people and a panel of experts will choose the winning tapa.
Participants must be over 18 years old and have to be enrolled in their last year at a culinary school or university in one of the following countries: Mexico, Brazil, USA, Germany, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Russia, China, Japan and Taiwan.
The deadline for submitting proposals is 14 October. Participants must submit their culinary proposal on the competition website and they will be asked for the written recipe, a picture of the tapa, the Rioja wine they have chosen to pair with it and a brief explanation of why they have chosen that particular wine. Participants can choose any type of wine or brand, provided it is a Rioja.
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