Paella rice dishes are, without a doubt, the trademark of Spanish gastronomy around the world, and in Querétaro, at the Finca Sala Vivé de Freixenet, the 21st edition of the Paella Festival was held, one of the most important in Mexico, with which the winners qualified for the International Paella Competition Valencia de Sueca, in a weekend full of flavor in which thousands of visitors were able to enjoy various versions of this exquisite dish along with refreshing glasses of sparkling wine
A tradition that is strengthening
Paella and wine... what could go wrong in a weekend? For those attending the Paella Festival 2022, held at Finca Sala Vivé de Freixenet, Spanish-inspired gastronomy took over the Querétaro countryside, at the foot of the imposing Peña de Bernal, to spend a different weekend, full of flavor, very refreshing and served as an example of how much the Art Route, Queretaro Cheese and Wine has to offer.
And it is that this traditional festival, which this year experienced its 21st edition and served as a framework, once again, for the most important Valencian paella contest in our country, is already a registered trademark of the Querétaro wine scene and undoubtedly one of the necessary events before the harvest season begins.
The venue is unbeatable; Finca Sala Vivé de Freixenet, the most visited winery in Latin America, continues to be a benchmark on the Querétaro route even over the years. Although today there are wonderful options of local wineries that together create what is known as the new Napa Valley, Freixenet is essential to understand and enjoy Querétaro wine.
With the heat well into the heat and the vines loaded with fruit, the Freixenet Paella Festival serves to warm up for the next few weeks of the harvest, which is undoubtedly the most important moment in the winemaking calendar. With this festival you can not only taste the best exponents of Valencian paella in Mexico, of course accompanied by a sparkling cold of the house, but you change the chip for what is to come: green countryside in the heat of a dazzling sun, hats and boots to tour the land and celebrate the magic of wine.
There were more than 20 exponents of Valencian paella in Mexico who, in addition, were encouraged to prepare signature rice dishes that left no one indistinct. What these cooks do with good rice and a powerful broth is unthinkable. Then, of course, the crown of such diverse ingredients give special touches to each paella but, after tasting them all, it is clear that the secret is at the bottom of the pan, where the flavors accumulate, where the socarrat sticks.
Within the framework of the festival, a very special contest was also held, as it classified the winner of the best Valencian paella to the Valencia International Paella Competition in Sueca, the small Valencian town where this tradition was born and continues to preserve the most native cooks of a dish that is already a world heritage site. There, the chefs of Crocus Servicios Gastronómicos, from Zacatecas, will represent Mexico and will face the best paella cooks in the world, both those who master the millenary art as their ancestors did and those who under that inspiration and mastery of modern culinary techniques, are part of the avant-garde of Valencian paella.
After a weekend full of flavor, a lot of joy, with an enviable warmth and first-class wine, the Freixenet Paella Festival closed a new edition demonstrating that tradition is what sets trends and that within the maelstrom that implies the development of the best wine region in Mexico, what is well done endures makes a school.
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