Dénia, its gastronomy and its landscapes occupy a relevant space in the pavilion that this year the Tours Fair (France) dedicates to Spain. As a UNESCO Creative City, Dénia is the guest city and has a 25-square-meter stand offering tourist information, a sample of products from the Marina Alta and tastings of traditional cuisine. The fair, one of the five most important in the country, opened on Saturday with the presence of the Spanish ambassador in France, Victorio Redondo, and the mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt.
The representatives of the country and the city honored toured the facilities in the company of the Mayor of Tours, Emmanuel Denis, directors of the fair and public officials of the region. The mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, took part in the central act, who underlined the friendship of both cities and summed up the presence at the fair with these words: “We bring you our wines, our rice dishes, our way of cooking and living together. We therefore bring you our art of living, intimately linked to a sea, the Mediterranean, which bathes the city, its beaches and its cliffs, and that inspires and encourages us in our daily work”.
Both the mayor of Tours and the Spanish ambassador had words of affection for the city of Dénia and thanked them for their presence. Also present at the event were the director of the Spanish Tourist Office in France, María José Gómez, and the Councilor for Culture of Dénia, Raúl García de la Reina.
The official entourage was presented with an arròs a banda prepared by the IES teacher María Ibars Vicent Almela, and the students of the Cookery and Gastronomy cycle Andrea Ortuño, Leonardo Landa and Darshan Cortell, who take care of the tastings served throughout the ten days of the fair. If the arròs a banda was the star of the first weekend, the next one, which closes the event, will make and distribute cocas de la Marina.
In the first 24 hours, around 400 people passed through the fair, which hosts more than 25.000 exhibitors and attractions, according to data provided by the organization. In charge of the Dénia stand have been the technicians Enric Gil, from the Office of Innovation and Creativity, and Vicenta Perelló, from the Department of Tourism. In one of the counters a selection of products from the Marina Alta is displayed, especially those that participate in the experience to introduce the Bancalet brand, which aims to visualize the origin of the agri-food production of the region.
On Friday of last week, as a tribute to the gastronomy of the guest city, tAll the educational centers in Tours served a “Dénia Menu” consisting of Valencian salad, arròs a banda and sweet coca with citrus fruits. The special food was prepared in the Central Kitchen of Tours, which daily attends to the needs of the 8.000 boys and girls who attend the school canteens of the 58 public schools in the city. The menu was served on special table mats with information about Dénia and its gastronomy.
On Monday, a tasting of wines from Marina Alta wineries was held at Villa Rabelais, headquarters of the European Institute of Food History and Culture, an entity created by the French Ministry of Education with the aim of promoting gastronomic research.
In the coming weeks, five second-cycle students from the Descartes de Tours institute will carry out internships in companies, shops and leisure and restaurant establishments in Dénia.
