Chef Pablo Minister brings paella, titaina and pumpkin fritters to young Polish chefs
The Chef of Counterpoint Les Arts, Pablo Minister, has traveled for the second consecutive year to the rural heart of Poland to share the flavors of Valencian cuisine with students from the Zespół Szkół Centrum Kształcenia Rolniczego Im. K. Kluka W Rudce, located in a spectacular baroque palace in the small town of Rudka, with just 1000 inhabitants.
Minister has been accompanied by Alvaro Larrauri, Head Chef at Counterpoint Les Arts, a space of Gourmet Catering & events, with which he has given five training sessions to a group of young students, many of them coming from unstructured family contexts.
The action is part of the Erasmus program, through which this school has had an agreement for years with Gourmet Catering & Events and its counterpoint Les Arts restaurant, where every year they receive interns from Polish students and from other European countries.
If last year was paella and all i pebre, this time the chef has designed a training in which dishes such as the Ajoarriero, the titaina, the Valencian paella or the pumpkin fritters, Combining traditional techniques with resources adapted to local ingredients.
The conference culminated with a dinner for forty guests, including representatives of the local institutions, in which a six-course menu was offered – prepared by Minister and Larrauri together with the students – as a sample of the joint work carried out.
“It’s hard to get here, and if chefs from other countries come, it’s a push for energy for them, because it shows them what they can get and how far they can go as cooks,” he explains. Paul Minister. “It’s an experience with a strong human component. We give them a push of energy, but we also take it.”
For nine years, Gourmet Catering & Events collaborates in European training programs through Educa Projects. Thanks to this alliance, dozens of young people between the ages of 16 and 22 have had the opportunity to learn and grow professionally at the Les Arts Contrapoint kitchen. Some of them have gone from being interns to being part of the team.
