Ten young talents from the regional hospitality industry will receive the ‘Gastroestrellas’ scholarships to train in Michelin restaurants

Ten young talents from the regional hospitality industry will benefit this year from the ‘Gastroestrellas’ scholarships, promoted by the Ministry of the Presidency, Tourism, Culture and Sports with the aim of providing a training and practical experience to professionals who have prior training at the medium or high. The scholarships will have a duration of up to 8 months in restaurants with Michelin stars and will be distributed equally between kitchen and dining room jobs.

These scholarships, which were launched for the first time in 2018 and 2019, had to be suspended for the following two years due to the pandemic, and are now being recovered. They include an economic endowment of between 600 and 850 euros per month for the national ones and 500 euros per month for the regional ones. The scholarship is also provided for tuition, accommodation and travel expenses for carrying out training activities. The establishments offered in 2022 will be three regional, La Cabaña (2 stars), Odiseo (1 star) and Magoga (1 star), and six national, specifically, Akelarre (3 stars), Abac (3 stars), Mugaritz (3 stars), Casa Marcial (2 stars), Quique Dacosta (3 stars) and Miramar (3 stars).

The reactivation of these scholarships was one of the issues addressed at the Gastronomic Tourism Table that was held this Friday, chaired by the councilor Marcos Ortuño, with the assistance of experts and representatives of the main regional entities linked to the sector.

At the meeting they discussed the novelties of this year, among which the creation for the first time of a catalog of 48 gastronomic tourist experiences that will be released in the second quarter of 2022 in an ‘online’ format. The initiative, which is a complement to the gastronomic offer of the Region, will propose different plans in all the municipalities. Among these proposals you can choose ‘Become an artisan cheese maker for a day’, in Águilas, ‘Get to know gastrobiotánica in Campo de Cartagena’ or in the Huerta de Murcia, ‘Become an artisan brewer for a day’, ‘A day with el pastor’ or ‘Embark on a tuna boat and discover the taste of bluefin tuna’, among others.

All the recommendations revolve around knowing the gastronomic identity of each area of ​​the Region, selected under a conceptual criterion that works as a plot line, taking into account the natural environments, raw materials and gastronomic producers, crafts and outstanding shops, drinks, restaurant or bar, even places to sleep.

The Minister of the Presidency, Tourism, Culture and Sports pointed out that “the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy provided a great opportunity to demonstrate the great culinary wealth that the Region treasures, but now we must continue working to continue positioning our gastronomy as one of the main tourist attractions, taking into account that according to different studies it is the second most valued product by those who visit us”. To meet this challenge, the Gastronomic Tourism Plan has an allocation of 1 million euros in 2022.

positive balance

The IV Table of Gastronomic Tourism also analyzed other projects planned for this year. Among them, a new edition of the forums ‘The territory on the plate’, which will take place in San Pedro del Pinatar, Pliego, Ojós and Calasparra, as well as the presence of the Region in the twentieth edition of ‘Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España ‘. To these initiatives will be added the experiential promotion actions that will be carried out in different Spanish cities and the promotion of the Gastronomic Passport and the 1,001 Flavors Gastrotourism Commitment Seal.

Apart from the planned programs, the Gastronomic Tourism Board, which meets once a year to learn about the action plans and set guidelines and actions to be developed within that roadmap, took stock of the results of the event that led to the distinction of the Region of Murcia Spanish Capital of Gastronomy 2020-2021, which registered more than 10,000 participants and 41,000 users on social networks.

Some activities that took place in 39 wine tastings, 5 gastronomic forums, 28 ‘Cooking with your grandpa’ workshops, 15 ‘Cocineros en route’, 8 presentations in other cities in Spain, 5 conferences 1,001 Flavors of the Region of Murcia, 18 ‘Gastrojueves Workshops’, ‘Gastronomic Passport’, ‘GastroUM Conference’, the Wine Bus, and presence at fairs and congresses.