• Pa de Sant Jordi ("Bread of Saint George") is a bakery product from Catalonia, specially dedicated to the Feast of Saint George.
The contest "The best Sant Jordi breads of 2024"( The best Sant Jordi breads of 2024 ) took place again this year around April 23, dedicated to the celebration of Saint George. Now in its seventh edition, the competition dedicated to pastry chefs and bakers from all over Catalonia, stood out, as every year, by the high level of quality and craftsmanship presented.
Forty-two professionals and twenty-three students from bakery schools in Catalonia entered the 7th edition of the competition Pa de Sant Jordi 2024, organized by Ernest Verdaguer Social Work of the Panàtics platform with the support Gremi de Flequers de Barcelona ( Bakers Guild of Barcelona ).
The competition took place in the premises of the old Barcelona Nord train station, a space that has already hosted several competitions organized by Panàtics. Two juries, one of professionals and the other of schools, evaluated the presented breads, taking into account the external appearance, the shape, the design of the breads representing the flag, the taste, the quality of the ingredients and the texture (due to the type of kneading and the way it was released fermentation).
Contest winners
The first prize in the professional category and the winner of the trophy was Mónica Gregori from L'Obrador dels 15. The other two finalists were Pau Carranza from Pasticceria Larrosa from Flix (finalist also in the 2023 edition) and Juli Álvarez from La Llibreria from Barcelona. And in the schools category, the winner of the trophy was Carol Cruz, from ESHOB HoReCa School.
The winning bread, as established by the competition rules, had to be made according to Eduard Crespo's original recipe, created in 1989 for the Barcelona Bakers Guild, with three doughs: with grated cheese, with sobrasada sausage and one with walnuts.
The jury was made up of Arturo Blanco, Toni Vera, Josep María Rodríguez, Emili Feliu, the winner of this competition in 2023, Mercè Sampietro, Pere Fàbrega, and the president of the jury was Georgina Crespo (Fleca Balmes Bakery – the place where it was baked for the first time this bread).
The participants received the traditional red rose and could taste the Sant Jordi breads, and over two hundred Sant Jordi breads were donated to the hospital of the Church of Santa Anna in Barcelona.
Photo source: trossetsdecuina.blogspot.com; pandecalidad.com.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and: Pa de Sant Jordi: Catalonia's holiday bread
