Twelve international chefs compete this Sunday in Valencia for the best paella in the world - Gastronomy Daily: Cooking, wine, gastronomy and gourmet recipes
This coming Sunday, September 20th, the World Paella Day Cup final will be held in La Marina de Valencia, with twelve international chefs competing for the title of Best Paella in the World.
To this end, the organization of the World Paella Day Cup 2026 previously toured different countries on several continents through its official qualifying tests: the cities of Piriápolis (Uruguay), Barranquilla (Colombia), Quito (Ecuador), Querétaro (Mexico) and San Juan (Puerto Rico), in America, Tokyo (Japan) in Asia and, in Europe Nimes (France), Bucharest (Romania), Zurich (Switzerland) and Burgas (Bulgaria).
In search of the best paella in the world.
And now, the international competition has announced the twelve chefs who will compete on September 20th at La Marina de València to prepare the best paella in the world. Eleven of them qualified through the international semifinals, and the twelfth spot was assigned to the guest country, the United Kingdom. Their selected chef, Daniel Taylor, participated in the qualifying rounds of the previous edition and came very close to reaching the Grand Final. The twelve finalists for this 2026 edition are:
By America
- Ecuador: Hugo Andrade
- Mexico: Froilán Mújica
- Uruguay: Victoria Rodríguez
Through Asia
- Japan: Keisuke Mutsuura
For Europe
- Bulgaria: Nikolai Genchev
- Dinamarca: Jimmy Holm
- France: Jöel Jacquet
- United Kingdom: Daniel Taylor
- Romania: Camelia Mihai
- Switzerland: Juanma Molina
During the days leading up to the final, the twelve chefs and their assistants participate in a gastronomic and cultural stage designed to bring them closer to the territory, the products and the traditions linked to paella, in order to get to know the Albufera and discover Valencia as a pantry of the Mediterranean, delving into the culture of rice, the landscape, the local products and the spaces that explain the origin and identity of paella.
SUMMARY INFORMATION
This Sunday, September 20th, Valencia's Marina will host the final of the World Paella Day Cup 2026. After holding official qualifying rounds in various cities across the Americas, Asia, and Europe, the organizers have selected twelve international chefs to compete for the title of the world's best paella. The finalists include representatives from countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Japan, Bulgaria, and Denmark, as well as British chef Daniel Taylor representing the guest country.
