“TEN TEN” Ten Years. Ten Tapas
The Valladolid City World Tapas Championship celebrates its tenth anniversary. Ten years after it was first launched, the competition marks a decade of bringing together chefs and culinary professionals from all five continents around a shared gastronomic language: the tapa, an expression of cuisine in miniature.
Over the past ten years, the Championship has established itself as the only gastronomic competition in the world to hold qualifying contests across all five continents,selecting representatives from each territory to compete in the grand final in Valladolid. This format has turned the city into a major international meeting point for creativity, technique and gastronomic identity, bringing together chefs from around the world every year in a celebration of culinary diversity through a single bite.
The finalists’ tapas can be tasted during the International Tapas Festival, together with their partner restaurants, from 10 to 15 November.
Five continents represented in the final
The World Tapas Championship begins long before the finalists arrive in Valladolid. Each edition starts several months in advance with qualifying competitions held in different countries and continents, where hospitality professionals compete for a place in the grand final
The winning chefs become the official representatives of their respective territories and travel to Valladolid to compete against some of the world’s leading culinary talents in a competition that celebrates skill, creativity and gastronomic diversity through the tapa
Throughout its nine editions, the Championship has held qualifying competitions in different countries, consolidating an international network that brings together some of the finest professionals in miniature cuisine. Thanks to this model, chefs from Mexico (3 editions), Portugal (2) (2), the United Kingdom (2), (2), Asia (2), (2), Malaysia (3) (3), Oceania (8) (8), Ecuador (1) (1), India (1) (1), Switzerland (1) (1), Texas (1) and different countries across the American continent have qualified to compete in the grand final.
The winning countries and chefs over the past nine years:
2017 · Norway
Øyvind Bøe Dalelv
Winning tapa: Cod in a Jerusalem artichoke crisp with seaweed
2018 · New Zealand
Shuyun Chen (Dani)
Winning tapa: Crispy rice with tuna rolls and pickled vegetables
2019 · France
Pascal Etcheverria
Winning tapa: Beef cheek, carrots, duck pâté and passion fruit
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2020 · Argentina
Gabriel Pedreira
Winning tapa: To the Rhythm of Tango
2021 · México
David Quevedo Olvera
Winning tapa: Ceremonial Chilli
2022 · United Arab Emirates
Lendl Pereira
Winning tapa: Cijara Baba Ganoush
2023 · Sweden
Noel Moglia
Winning tapa: My Roots and Knowledge
2024 · Spain
Teo Rodríguez
Winning tapa: Pucela Roll
2025 · Australia
Andrea Vignali
Winning tapa: Smoke Under the Tapa
In 2026, one question remains: who will become the tenth World Tapas Champion? We will find out on 11 November…