Raül Balam Ruscalleda, Jaume Subirós and Carles Vilarrubí, National Gastronomy Awards

BarcelonaThe Pedralbes Palace was dressed up to award the distinctions with which the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition (ACGN) each year rewards the talent of our land. More than 550 people gathered and enjoyed a dinner together offered by chefs Romain Fornell and Òscar Manresa.

This year, the recipients of the National Award for Traditional Gastronomy and the Award for Signature Gastronomy are two very beloved chefs. Firstly, Jaume Subirós, the soul of Motel Empordà, has been recognized in the traditional cuisine category. The Figueres restaurant is an institution in the country, and a guarantor of good cuisine and good service. Subirós began working there at 12 years old under the orders of what would be his father-in-law, Josep Mercader, whose centenary of birth is commemorated this year. Subirós is pleased to receive the award "and to be able to work every day knowing that there is a succession behind me". He refers to his children, who guarantee continuity. "There is only one type of cuisine: good. Product and from the land," he states. And to finish, he makes a wish, that the cooking school created by Mercader continues to function for much longer.

Raül Balam Ruscalleda has been recognized with the National Gastronomy Award for Author. He says he is "happy, joyful, and scared," as imposter syndrome often makes an appearance. He does think, however, that this is a recognition that comes after thirty years of being a chef. "I started on 9/6/1996," he explains. The chef, who will also turn 50 this year, knows that the restaurant he runs, Moments, located inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, is at a very good moment since they dedicate their menus to seasonality and let nature's course decide what to serve. He is happy to also see that Catalan cuisine is increasingly being made: "I see hope in the youth who open restaurants and seek tradition." He is clear that "the customer must think that we have to take care of the sea, but also those who work at sea." The same with the vegetable garden and livestock. "They are the ones who make our country great. We already lost the textile industry," he explains. And he reinforces it with a "Catalans haven't known how to sell themselves, but now we're starting to believe it."

A different trajectory

Vilarrubí was replaced by Joan Font Torrent, who already served as vice-president, and who announced that from now on, the award will bear his name.

This year's special award has been given to Carles Vilarrubí, president of the ACGN since 2016, who passed away at the end of the year. Vilarrubí was the architect of a significant transformation of the institution and its consolidation as a national benchmark for Catalan gastronomy. "There are people who understand institutions as an expression of representation, and there are those who understand them as a form of service to the country. Carles Vilarrubí undoubtedly belonged to this second way of exercising public and institutional responsibility," they say from the ACGN. Vilarrubí was replaced by Joan Font Torrent, who was already serving as vice-president, and who announced that from now on, the award will bear his name.