Pampín Bar wins the award for best potato salad
There were eight finalists, all eager to impress the judges. So much so, in fact, that they were advised to arrive at competitions with the recipe for which they had been selected, rather than trying to show off, as a lack of practice might not translate well to the nerves of the competition.
Alen Tarrío, from Pampín Bar—a restaurant with an average price of 30 euros and a reputation for excellence that sets it apart as one of our favorites in Santiago de Compostela—followed the rules. He boiled the Kennebec potatoes with their skins on, along with the carrots, whole, just as his mother used to do. The eggs were boiled separately. While these ingredients were still warm, he mixed them with Hellmann's mayonnaise (he prefers the commercial kind for food safety reasons) and chilled tuna and olives.
This isn't the first time a potato salad made with commercial mayonnaise has won the National Championship held at San Sebastián Gastronomika. In fact, La Viña de Henao Casa de Comidas (Bilbao), winner of the last edition, also makes it with that brand. Tarrío explained that he can't make it at home due to preservation issues and because "the first problem with this dish is refrigeration."
And that's because Pampín Bar doesn't have a storeroom. Tarrío loves going to the market, and 95% of his ingredients come from producers he negotiates with directly. He's a lover of unadulterated produce, pickled dishes, stews, game… In a restaurant with seating for 24, staffed by four employees, they served 1,400 people in August. He admits that when they finally had an opening in the dining room, he felt a sense of relief, although he doesn't want to repeat last winter's rather slow season in Santiago de Compostela.
This restaurant opened seven years ago and has been serving Russian salad for just over five. They are prepared for the increase in demand, as has happened to their predecessors on the podium: La Viña de Henao Casa de Comidas (Bilbao), Castru Gaiteru (Llanes, Asturias), Tragatá (Ronda and since this summer also in Málaga city), Chinchín Puerto (Caleta de Vélez, Málaga), Candado Golf (Málaga) and Tapas 24 (Barcelona).
In this seventh edition of the Potato Salad Championship, the jury was composed of Pedro Subijana, José Carlos Capel, Julia Pérez, Carlos Maribona, Maria Solivellas, Iván Cerdeño, and Lisa Abend.
They also had to judge the dishes presented by the restaurants Kiki (San Sebastián), Taberna de Miguel (Bailén, Jaén), Restaurante Balear (Madrid), Es Codol Foradat (Formentera), Bar Cotxino (Marbella, Málaga), El Baruco de Anero (Santander) and San Remo (Palencia).
