The 1st National Ham Cutters Competition ‘Mijas Ibérica’, which pitted eight expert cutters of international standing against each other last Sunday 7th at Cortijo Don Elías in Las Lagunas, was a great success in terms of attendance. 

As the mayor, Josele González (PSOE), stated, “we were really looking forward to this event, which has been made possible thanks to Francisco Ortiz, an event that has exceeded our expectations”, which means that “we will definitely have to repeat it next year”, he said. 

Ortiz, from the company ‘Corte de Autor’, was the promoter and acted as master of ceremonies. He  is a professional in this gastronomic discipline and won the title of runner-up in the seventh national league of ham cutters. The idea of organising the event came about precisely because, he said, “as I have been competing for about eight years and there has never been a competition like this here in Mijas, I thought it was a good initiative”. 

One of the members of the jury, Jesús García, who was the Spanish champion in 2019 and international champion in 2021, recalled that the Mijas event “qualifies for the Spanish championship within the national league, which is where the future Spanish champion will emerge”. 

After a tough competition, Santiago Díaz won first place. Second place went to Vicente García, while José Antonio Romano came third. There were also special prizes for style, which went to Santiago Díaz; for the best creative dish, which went to Roger Molina; and for the most creative table, which was won by Toño Rodríguez.

The event was a social and gastro-cultural gathering centred around the competition, although there were many more surprises for the attendees, such as a grand paella, performances and lots of fun for the whole family.

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