Óscar Roca is finalising the details of his ‘panadera de be’ for the European Young Chef Award

The young chef Óscar Roca is finalising the details for his participation in the European Young Chef Award as a representative of Menorca, the European Region of Gastronomy. Roca, who won the Young Menorcan Chef 2024 competition held in Menorca in February, has the invaluable collaboration of Silvia Anglada and Toni Tarragó as mentors and will participate in the event in Sicily from 27 to 30 November with a ‘panadera de be’.

The young chef, 25 years old, does not want to reveal any details of his recipe so as not to give any clues to his rivals, the chefs who represent the other regions that have been designated as Gastronomic Regions of the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Art and Tourism (IGCAT). Roca admits that he feels “a set of sensations, sometimes very good and sometimes not so good, logical in view of the upcoming competition, and that range from maximum motivation to nerves and worries.”

The chef, who in recent months has combined his studies at the demanding Hofmann Cooking School in Barcelona with his work activity, is now in Menorca solely focused on finishing perfecting the details of a recipe that already had different references to the Island in the local competition held in February. “I am looking forward to experiencing everything that awaits me with this experience and the fact of representing Menorca, my home, fills me with motivation and responsibility,” he admits.

Menorca European Region of Gastronomy already knows what it is like to have its representative rise to the top of the European Young Chef Award given that Pau Sintes from Alaior won in 2022 in the competition held then in Trondheim-Trøndelag, Norway.