“Sabores de Ourense” Tapas Competition
The “Sabores de Ourense” Tapas Competition is held in autumn and spring. In this contest that honours the local tradition of going out for tapas, the establishments of the city compete for the favour of the public and the professional jury with their gastronomic creations. The result are small culinary gems to eat in a single bite (at least, that’s the theory) and in which the presence of seasonal products is mandatory: chestnuts and mushrooms in autumn, orchard vegetables in spring.
The initiative also aims to be an acknowledgment of Ourense’s gastronomic richness and diversity, rewarding the use of products of proximity and of organic or integrated production and reserving a special award for the gluten-free recipes. The wine is also present with an award for the best pairing with wines from D.O. Ribeiro.
Sabores de Ourense Tapas Competion‘s Official BlogXANTAR, International Gastronomy and Tourism Exhibition
The Expourense trade fair is transformed once a year into a large catering centre with the celebration of XANTAR, the main gastronomic fair of the city. In 12,000 square meters indoors, there are about 20 restaurants from different Spanish regions, Portugal and Latin America that offer menus representing each local gastronomy at fixed prices. A showcase for flavours that has become, during its almost 20 editions, a meeting point for professionals in the tourist and gastronomic sector, but also for lovers of good cuisine, with a wide programme of activities that includes showcookings, tastings, tastings, conferences, didactic workshops and more.
Popular Festivals
The rich cultural tradition around food in Galicia reaches its zenith in the popular gastronomic festivals devoted to any product. In Ourense the most genuine version of these celebrations are the Magostos, in which the chestnut is the star. They are celebrated coinciding with the day of Saint Martin of Tours, patron saint of the city (November 11th), and are clearly linked to the traditional agricultural calendar: the first cold of winter is greeted by tasting chestnuts and drinking the first wine of the year, accompanied by roasted sausages and other pork meat (these are the traditional dates for the pig slaughtering season).
Pig also plays an important role in another winter festival, the Carnival or Entroido, a season of stews and delicious desserts, particularly sweet ears and pancakes. The grape harvest season is also a special date in the city, as is logical in the capital of a wine-producing province with up to four denominations of origin.
