Nominations are now open for the 9th edition of the Basque Culinary World Prize, an annual award for chefs with transformative initiatives. In 2024, this award seeks to strengthen the positive power of gastronomy in its reach and ability to deliver socioeconomic progress. 

 

This global and innovative accolade was created by the Basque Culinary Center and the Basque Government, and it has cemented itself as a special distinction within a sector where gastronomy has proven to be a constructive, global, and inspiring phenomenon thanks to the work of chefs full of talent, knowledge and creativity, who generate positive impacts in areas such as science, health, innovation, nutrition, education, social, economic and environmental development.

 

This pioneering accolade, born out of a collaboration between Basque Culinary Center and the Basque Government, has cemented its reputation as a lauded distinction on the global stage. In a realm where gastronomy serves as a catalyst for constructive change, this award celebrates chefs whose exceptional talent, knowledge, and creativity drive positive impact across a spectrum of fields, including science, health, innovation, nutrition, education, and social, economic, and environmental development.

 

In 2023, the Basque Culinary World Prize celebrated the role that cuisine could play in cultural integration in Turkey through social development and strengthened biodiversity. This year, the award continues to celebrate the transformative power of gastronomy with inspiring stories of chefs such who, in so many places today, generate transformative progress.

 

An interdisciplinary jury of some of the world's most influential chefs, academics and international experts select the winner and each year they choose a chef whose work embodies the spirit of the award. The winner, who receives €100,000 for their work transforming society through gastronomy, will allocate the prize to an initiative that reinforces the constructive power of gastronomy.

 

Opening of nominations

 

Gastronomic professionals and institutions have until April 15 to nominate chefs who demonstrate how gastronomy can become an engine of change. Nominations must be made through the Basque Culinary World Prize website: www.basqueculinaryworldprize.com

 

This award appeals to the collective knowledge of the gastronomic community to discover culinary professionals from all over the world and is open to any chef with professional experience in the sector, regardless of their culinary culture, nationality or notoriety.

 

The nomination Process:

 

After the closing of the nomination period, the candidates will be analysed by the Basque Culinary World Prize secretariat, made up of academics and experts in gastronomy.

 

The winner will be selected at the meeting of the Jury, which is to be held in Peru in June 2024, and announced in Lima (PUCP) at an ‘open to the public’ event called T'impuy, on June 19, 2024. The selection will be made by an interdisciplinary jury chaired by Joan Roca (Spain) and made up of some of the most influential chefs in the world, including Pía León (Peru), Gastón Acurio (Peru), Dominique Crenn (France/USA), Yoshihiro Narisawa (Japan), Manu Buffara (Brazil), Josh Niland (Australia), Narda Lepes (Argentina), Thitid Tassanakajohn (Thailand), Trine Hahnemann (Denmark) and Elena Reygadas (Mexico), among others. 

 

A celebrated award:

 

The award has had a great impact highlighting the work of chefs at the forefront of change and promoting the inspiring stories of professionals who use their knowledge to address problems such as climate change, food waste, biodiversity, humanitarian aid or social inclusion.

 

Chef Ebru Baybara was proclaimed the winner of the Basque Culinary World Prize 2023 for contributing, through gastronomy, to cultural integration in Mardin, near the border with Syria. She worked, for two decades, on initiatives that address everything from the migration crisis in the region, to the revitalization of soils in the face of climate change, and even the humanitarian assistance required after tragedies such as the earthquake Turkey suffered in February 2023.

 

In previous editions, the winners have been chefs from different parts of the world: Fatmata Binta (Sierra Leone, 2022), Xanty Elías (Spain, 2021), José Andrés (Spain/US, 2020), Anthony Myint (US, 2019), Jock Zonfrillo (Australia, 2018), Leonor Espinosa (Colombia, 2017) and María Fernanda di Giacobbe (Venezuela, 2016).

 

NOTES TO EDITORS: 

 

1.    The Basque Culinary World Prize is a prize awarded by the Basque Culinary Center and the Basque Government, as part of the comprehensive Euskadi Basque Country strategy, which represents a country brand that, based on its strengths and singularities, is positioned as a benchmark of excellence, as a model of quality of life and social cohesion, and as an innovative and competitive territory.

 

2.    The Basque Culinary Center is a pioneering academic institution worldwide in its dedication to university education and the development of the potential of gastronomy in relation to education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. Since its creation in San Sebastian in 2009, it has concentrated its efforts on creating an interdisciplinary space that contributes to the professionalization of the sector. Since its inception, the institution has developed its vision of 360º Gastronomy through different initiatives and projects. This year, the achievements and future challenges will be celebrated based on the bank's values: passion, excellence, innovation and social commitment.

 

3.    Nominations for chefs with transformative initiatives will remain open to professionals, institutions and experts in the gastronomy sector from February to May 2024, after which an internal nomination search and verification process will be activated.

 

4.    Ebru Baybara (2023) won the BCWP for contributing, from gastronomy, to cultural integration, betting on social development and biodiversity;  Fatmata Binta (2022) was proclaimed the winner of the previous edition for its outreach and development work carried out around the potential that lies in the culinary culture of the largest nomadic tribe in Africa;  Xanty Elías (2021) won the Basque Culinary World Prize for influencing children's food education, through her initiative "Children Eat the Future"; 2020, chef José Andrés (2020) was the recipient of the award for the forceful, global and inspiring response to the crisis generated by COVID-19 that he offered through World Central Kitchen; Anthony Myint (2019) won the award for using gastronomy as a driver to tackle climate change; the recognition was also given to Scottish chef Jock Zonfrillo (2018), who worked to preserve the food memory of Australia's indigenous peoples and embarked on the task of discovering and reclaiming this ancient culture; Colombian chef Leonor Espinosa (2017) won the award for vindicating the ancestral knowledge of Colombian populations with Funleo. In the inaugural edition, the BCWP was awarded to the Venezuelan chef María Fernanda di Giacobbe (2016) and her initiative based on education, entrepreneurship, research and development, which is articulated around cocoa as a source of identity, culture and economic wealth in Venezuela.

 

5.    For more information: www.basqueculinaryworldprize.com