Tomato, egg, cheese, lettuce, breast, ali oli and bread. Although not in this order, these are the ingredients of Carlos’s favorite snack “since he was a child” that he knows as “españolito.” Each of these ingredients can be seen perfectly on his forearm, where for a few days he has had a new tattoo that, now healed, appears for the first time in all its splendor in the tapas street of the Murcia Gastronomic Region.
Having your favorite snack tattooed, that’s feeling gastronomy in your vein. That’s why Carlos had to be a cook. That is why Carlos is training at the Cartagena School of Hospitality and Tourism and this Friday he visits the culinary congress for the first time with his colleagues María Isabel, José Andrés, Jazmín, Carlos, Pablo, Alejandro and Bárbara. For everyone, except for Jazmín, this is his first time at the event hosted by the annex building of the Víctor Villegas Auditorium in Murcia, and the young people have not missed the opportunity.
After learning from the teachers in the first presentations of the opening day, “very interesting” according to María Isabel, and trying some of the tastings, they continued their lunch on the tapas street, trying “everything.” Chard croquette, chard cream, bao bread, brioche bread puff pastry with cheeks and ham croquettes from Cosa Fina – favorites for some – were part of their menu this Friday.
Inés and Carlos, Extremadurans who come to the Murcia Gastronomic Region for the first time, differ in tastes regarding that irresistible snack, the croquette. For them, the best is the XL shrimp ham croquette from Gamalor distributors and the Fricocina company, one of the stands that debuts at the event.
The menu of Julia, Aira, Jesús and Susana, other of the new ones that walk along the Calle de las Tapas this year, is also not short in terms of variety. Willy’s Carillera Cake, Chispos’ gazpacho – “I liked it a lot,” says Jesús -, Juana La Loca’s wine, Maguro’s Sushi – “very good, as always” according to Julia, who will return tomorrow -, are some of the snacks that these Event Management students opted for, with their eyes focused on the organization to take note of all the details behind an already consolidated congress.
The queen of the Huerta de Murcia 2023, Andrea Sánchez, and some of her bridesmaids such as Paula, Delfi and Carolina, did not go unnoticed, who walked around the different exhibitors wearing the sash that accredits them in their position. When in doubt between wine and beer: both. Estrella de Levante and a glass of Juan Gil to start tasting the different proposals at the fair. A wide variety of flavors that, apparently, was not enough for Javier, who cheated and brought his own snack from home. “Beans from my garden.” Beans that he planted on one of the tables that he shared with his friends Alfonso and Benito, who alternated the flavor of an authentic garden with the different proposals of the Calle de las Tapas. «We are doing great, enjoying this Murcian country. It has been several years in the Gastronomic Region of Murcia. We have just started with great enthusiasm and we noticed in the atmosphere this friendliness and pleasantness characteristic of that way of being of the Murcians,” says Javier. “We have tasted seafood and it is a delight,” says his friend Alfonso.
«Are you here already? You don’t forgive a Friday, eh?”, a few friends greeted each other who, after finishing the work day for this week, and already with a drink in hand, were preparing to try various proposals with the best attitude: that of enjoying a annual appointment that is already marked on the calendar. One of those days that lasts until night. A day that begins with gastronomy and that gives rise to great conversations that take tone between broth and broth. And the pending chats, for tomorrow.
#Street #Tapas #gastronomy #vein