Colombia’s 5th annual National Gastronomy Competition chose the Misak May team from Cauca and Minka group of La Guajira as the winners of the 2011 awards on Wednesday, reported the Ministry of Culture.
Misak May won the award for best reproduction, that honors traditional Colombian cuisine, with their dish consisting of a coca tortilla, quinoa with vegetables, curry meatballs, mafafa mash, corn soup, and coca tea.
“This recipe is intended to deepen the Wambia culture in the kitchen, as a place and act that reflects the thinking and feelings of those who belong to this community, creating links with others and sharing our inherited practices, and ritual identities,” explained group member Lorenzo Maway Muelas Trochez.
In the category of innovation, that seeks to reinterpret local cuisine, the winning Minka group presented a “shepherds of the sea” plate, consisting of friche (goat meat) balls in a shrimp paste, served over a red tomato syrup – a traditional dish of the Wayuu culture.
Group member Luisa Fernanda Acosta said “this dish has the basic ingredients of Guajira cooking, and the innovation is that the group recreates the friche with contemporary techniques regarding the preparation of game meats, bringing in taste and aroma without losing the magic of the ancient flavors, making in enjoyable for both the honorable mouth of the Alta Guajira indigenous as well as a universal gourmet.”
Both winning teams were awarded a prize of approximately $12,000, and an additional $2,000 each in funds for local schools from the team’s communities.
The two winning teams were chosen out of a group of six, including other competitors Rescate Muisca from Bogota, Pimienta Negra of Guapi, Diaspora Caribe from Barranquilla, and Pijaos of Ibague. A total of 58 groups participated in the gastronomic competition.
