Wrapped in a large showcase of different local products –as if it were an open-air market– different interventions took place on stage, expressing the desire and illusion of being able to carry out the more than 50 activities that will make up the calendar of the European Region of Gastronomy 2022 for the next 365 days. The President of the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (IGCAT), Diane Dodd, praised Menorca’s effort to achieve this goal, born from the union between chefs, producers, associations and academics and which includes in this Platform of European Regions of Gastronomy. Dodd also asked that the mandate not only be to show the best of Menorca but also serve to generate synergies and reflect on what future we want to leave our children.
The cook Blanca Mayandia –of Menorcan roots and protagonist of the program ‘Blanca en Menorca’, broadcast by Canal Cocina with the support of the Island Council– put an emotional point when recalling the legacy of peasants and fishermen, the genuine way of making and cooking products, the recipe book not to be missed and the calendar of flavors to be respected, because the countryside and the sea are not production machines.
After the musical aperitif offered by the duo Dones Llunes –Annabel and Auba Villalonga– the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and ambassador of the Gastronomic Region, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, highlighted the fact that Menorca has been forged in diversity cultural and gastronomic created from a claim of identity that is not exclusive, but the sum of various identities and its defense of biodiversity almost 30 years ago as a Biosphere Reserve. These dregs are also part of the mandate that Menorca is now inaugurating as a Gastronomic Region and which is an excellent 21st century society project.
the climactic moment
Almost at the end of the ceremony, the president of IGCAT, Diane Dodd, presented the award that symbolizes this mandate and which was collected by the president of the Island Council, Susana Mora, on behalf of all Menorcans. An award that has been designed by the Ciutadella artisan Silvia Vivó. Subsequently, the Norwegian region of Trondheim -with whom Menorca will share the European Region of Gastronomy this year- joined the ceremony with a congratulatory message.
The act closed with the intervention of the president of the Island Council, Susana Mora, who emphasized that this mandate that Menorca assumes is not about another distinction but about an island project that must serve to reinforce it internally in the will to build from the union between all sectors; and externally, as a promotional tool that will serve to create synergies with other territories. For her part, the President of the Government, Francina Armengol, highlighted the strength and desire of Menorcan society in carrying out an exciting project like this one, with a year ahead full of activities and reflection, of which one must feel proud.
