Put on your chef’s apron and get cooking: enter the Copa Jerez cooking competition
Sometimes I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness when I say that sherry is amazing. But chefs and sommeliers know better: you can eat incredibly well with those fortified wines from Jerez in southern Spain, from razor-fine, bone-dry fino to syrupy-sweet PX! Sherry’s variety is enormous, so there are endless culinary possibilities. The international Copa Jerez cooking competition proves it too, with teams of chefs and sommeliers presenting their best pairings to a professional jury. Entries are now open, so take part!
The Copa Jerez may well be the most prestigious food-and-wine pairing competition in the Netherlands. And the winners of the national round have something delicious to look forward to: next year, they will represent the Netherlands at the international Copa Jerez, where they will compete in Jerez against teams from Belgium, the US, Germany and, of course, Spain.
De Librije
The most recent Dutch winners were no minor names: Restaurant Zarzo, Podium onder de Dom (who also happened to win the international final), Cheval Blanc and De Librije. In the previous edition, Mei Wah came second, demonstrating that Chinese cuisine and sherry are also a great match. In short, creating a three-course menu with sherry is certainly a challenge, but with a good story and strong food-and-wine pairing, the competition is open to every kind of cuisine.
Chef and/or sommelier
And believe me, after two glasses of this special fortified wine, our Spanish passion for good food and drink bubbles right over the edge. We’re therefore very curious to see what beautiful pairings emerge this year. Being a chef and/or sommelier is, incidentally, a requirement for taking part.
Do you have sherry on your wine list? Then now is the time to get those bottles out of the cupboard and head into the kitchen (together). You can register via Copa Jerez NL; your menu must be completed and submitted by 17 October at the latest.
Header image: Copa Jerez starter by De Librije, 2020
Also read:
- Mark your calendar: the Netherlands’ biggest drinks festival is coming up again
- 25 types of pasta, because we simply can’t get enough of them
- 10 kitchen hacks from professional chefs
