The Directorate-General for Agri-food Quality and Local Produce has sponsored this event to highlight certain species of fish that are falling into disuse by consumers.
The chef of the restaurant La Fortaleza, David Méndez, was the winner of the second edition of the Popular Fish Cooking Competition with his recipe for Mallorcan-style red mullet in three acts, an event sponsored by the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, Fisheries and Natural Environment and has been developed with the help of HORECA Baleares and the Association of Cooks Based in the Balearic Islands (ASCAIB), and with the collaboration of the Directorate General for Vocational Training and Educational Planning, and the brands Millor quín and Peix Nostrum.

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Chef David Méndez

To boost the consumption of locally sourced fish, the second edition of this competition has been held, which aims to bring to the forefront fish species that are not widely consumed at present, but which were common in the gastronomy of the Balearic Islands. Joan Llabrés, Director General of Agri-food Quality and Local Produce, pointed out that “these are very economical species today, but with which high-quality preparations can be made. Moreover, they are the fish that have traditionally been caught by our fishermen and which in recent years have been displaced in consumption.

The role of the quality brands of the Balearic Islands fishing sector, such as Millor quín, the registered trademark of Opmallorcamar, and Peix Nostrum, from Ibiza, should also be highlighted. In the words of Llabrés, these brands “guarantee the traceability of fish products and their maximum freshness and extraordinary quality”.

In this sense, the second edition of the Popular Fish Cooking Competition developed a series of previous finals in Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, within the framework of the HORECA Baleares 2024 fair, until today, when the grand final was held at the CIFP Juníper Serra, with a jury chaired by the Director General of Fisheries, Antoni M. Grau, among other authorities and representatives of the sector.

Thus, the six finalist chefs were: on behalf of Mallorca, Kike Erazo, from the restaurant Morralla, with the dish red mullet with its ravioli of livers and suquet, and David Méndez, from the restaurant La Fortaleza; representing Menorca, José María Borrás, from the Santa Mariana restaurant, with moray eel Wellington, and Patrick James, from the Pan y Vino restaurant, with cuttlefish with peas and sea truffle, and from Ibiza, Noelia Arbós, a student at the EHIB, with fish in its habitat (mollera), and William Torres, from the Ficus Food Lab & Restaurant, with cuttlefish mestiza.

The fish selected to be used in the competition were conger eel, sea bream, moray eel, red sea bream, white octopus, bogue, pollock, squid, squid, sander, sardinella, Mediterranean horse mackerel, blue whiting, blue whiting, red drum, red mullet, red mullet and cuttlefish.