A restaurant in Malaga serves up the best Russian salad ever

The Malaga-based restaurant with two Michelin stars and run by chef Benito Gómez, has been crowned the winner of the Campeonato Nacional de Ensaladilla Rusa, which took place on Tuesday at San Sebastián Gastronomika and saw the winners of the eight previous editions (three of whom were from Malaga) go head-to-head.

Chef Daniel Moreno Zarzavilla was responsible for preparing and presenting the winning dish; he used the same recipe with which he had already been declared the winner in 2021. He received the prize from Martín Berasategui, who served as chairman of the judging panel and from Asier Mijangos, sales representative at Mahou San-Miguel.

The recipe with which he has retained the award is simple but features an ingredient that sets it apart from the usual recipe: chopped, crispy green beans, combined with pickled chili peppers. The dish is rounded off with ‘Monalisa’ potatoes, carrots, egg and tuna. Moreno points out, however, that the main secret lies not solely in the ingredients. “The secret is that it’s made fresh every day and never goes in the fridge.”

The chef from Malaga acknowledges that this award has been particularly special because the standard in the final was so high, and he hopes it will also provide a boost for the new chapter they began two years ago with the opening of their restaurant in the capital: “It will give us a real boost for the new opening in Malaga.”

Going into this final of finals, Malaga was the province with the best chance of winning the title, as three of the eight finalists were from Malaga. As well as the winner, the line-up included Candado Golf (which won the competition in 2019) and Chinchín Puerto (which did the same in 2020).

This popular competition was launched in 2018 and has since established itself as one of the fair’s unmissable events. Carles Abellán, from Tapas 24 in Barcelona, was the first to win the competition, and the three chefs from Malaga subsequently entered the fray, racking up three victories between 2019 and 2021, with entries ranging from Candado Golf’s prawns to Chinchín Puerto’s ‘coloraíllo’ mayonnaise-with tiny prawns- and Tragatá’s spicier, greener version.

Behind them came Castru Gaiteru from Asturias, who stood out for his use of roast potato; La Viña de Henao, where the blend of northern sensibility and Andalusian roots proved decisive; Pampín from Galicia; and Elkano Txiki, last year’s champion, who won by incorporating potatoes from Sanlúcar de Barrameda into a recipe in which all the other ingredients were from the Cantabrian coast.

This year’s ninth edition kicked off with the added attraction of featuring all eight previous champions, who competed against one another to decide who was the best of the best. The competition took place in the Kursaal’s multi-purpose hall, where a professional judging panel and more than 40 members of the public sampled the eight entries before reaching their verdict.