Wednesday afternoon ? sweets, aromas, preserves and Parmesan

For the second year running at the Summit, the Town Council of Valladolid offered a magnificent taster menu with the best of its gastronomy during Wednesday's lunchtime break, after which further surprises were in store. Daniel Patterson explained how he uses essential oils to bring out aromas. David Scabin talked about the method he has devised for carrying out sensory analysis of foods, enabling him to find out more about the products he uses. Then Keiko Nagae and Christophe Michalak, in a joint demonstration sponsored by Valrhona, made a sweet contribution with their Sweet dishes for the menu. This was followed by a selection of talks to choose from - Blogs and the new era for food writing, sponsored by Carrasco Guijuelo; Schools for slicing ibérico ham, sponsored by 5J ham; Bread in high-level gastronomy, sponsored by Triticum; How to attract restaurant customers using a website, sponsored by Oki (during which Spai Sucre was awarded the Prize for the best restaurant website) and Organoleptic and sensory assessment of foods offered by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Then to close the afternoon session, Sergi Arola, Quique Dacosta and Joseán Martínez Alija taught us about the role than can be played by Parmesan in modern creative haute cuisine in a demonstration sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano, while Darío Barrio, Juan Pablo Felipe and Marcelo Tejedor, under the auspices of Anfaco, revealed the potential of fish preserves for avant-garde cuisine.
The afternoon was also the occasion for the semi-final and finals of the 2nd Spanish Championship for Sommeliers, the Custodio López Zamarra - Madridfusión Trophy. The winner was Javier Gila, sommelier at Lavinia, just ahead of Bruno Murciano. The close finish was decided on service and decanting, when the runner-up failed in cutting open the bottle.
And, finally, in the C3 Contest, six finalists competed at the end of a long prior selection process. The professionals present at MadridFusión had four hours in which to present their desserts in a competition that, though in its infancy, has plans for the future. After the deliberations by the jury, chaired by Ferrán Adrià, the German Pierre Lingelser was declared the winner.