Andorra Taste Popular closed its most successful edition having sold 56,000 tastings

Andorra Taste, the International High Mountain Gastronomy Meeting, closed its fourth edition on Sunday with the end of the popular fair. Following a few days of professional events, during which Andorran chefs shared experiences with chefs from other mountain destinations such as Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Spain and Georgia, the country's restaurants took to the streets to reach out to locals and visitors with a variety of gastronomic offerings.

The area around Prat del Roure in Escaldes-Engordany once again hosted the popular part of the event. With summery weather for most of the weekend, the area was filled with locals and visitors enjoying high mountain cuisine in a fun, festive atmosphere. Even the rain on the last day of the fair did not discourage food lovers, who continued to sample creations prepared especially for the occasion by the country's restaurateurs.

The event's success in terms of attendance has resulted in record figures, consolidating Andorra Taste Popular as the country's most important gastronomic event. Almost 56,000 tastings were sold over the three days, including tapas and small dishes created for the occasion by participating Andorran restaurateurs, as well as a wide selection of wines, cavas, beers, vermouths and soft drinks. “We are pleasantly surprised by the figures achieved,” said Betim Budzaku, the director general of Andorra Turisme. He admitted that, although the organisation was confident of exceeding last year's figure of 35,000 tastings, it did not expect to reach 55,800 in 2025. “We are talking about a 61% increase, which makes us very happy,” Budzaku concluded.

These figures confirm the current boom in Andorran gastronomy, resulting from the work carried out in recent years in the Principality, with the Government of Andorra firmly committed to using gastronomy as a driver of change. This has been achieved with the collaboration of the country's restaurant sector and the support and advice of Vocento Gastronomía. The managing director of Vocento Gastronomía, Benjamín Lana, pointed out that ‘with events such as Andorra Taste Popular, we are all working together to develop mountain gastronomy, as evidenced by the ever-improving quality of the tasting sessions led by the participating chefs’.
 

Andorra Taste has not only offered visitors the chance to sample the country's culinary creations, but also to enjoy and learn. From Friday to Sunday, there were various cooking workshops for children, as well as several show cooking events with live cooking, not to mention the wine, beer and vermouth tastings. Not to mention the live musical performances by various groups that have enlivened the fair.
 

The success of savouring the region

The spectacular response from the public, which led some restaurants to run out of stock at certain times, makes it difficult to identify the best-selling tapa. However, we can highlight some of the most successful tapas during the three-day gastronomic festival, which were (in alphabetical order by restaurant): the Andorran beef meloso with trinxat and seasonal mushrooms from Beç (Escaldes-Engordany); the Peking duck bikini from Kao Soldeu (Soldeu); and the duck confit bao with plum sauce and elderflower jelly from Mood Sensorial Restaurant (Escaldes-Engordany).

These were closely followed by the other offerings from participants in the fourth edition of Andorra Taste: Can Manel, Casino Unnic, Celler d'en Toni, El Racó del Simó, Diamant Espai Gastronòmic, Hotel Starc Coure, Jou la Borda, Kökosnøt, L’Isard, Minim's, Odetti Bistro, Plató Restaurant-Art Hotel, Sol i Neu Hermitage, Sottovoce and ToC Restaurant & Cocktail Bar. To these must be added the gourmet shop Ana Cerezo Pernilea! (Andorra la Vella), as well as the patisseries Les Delícies del Jimmy (Canillo), Sauleda (Andorra la Vella), and Youcake by Estopiñán (Escaldes-Engordany). There was also a stand showcasing the country's agricultural and artisan products.
 
The power of gastronomy to revitalise mountain environments

Andorra Taste Popular brought the curtain down on a dual event, with one part open to the general public and the other aimed at professionals. The latter attracted a large following, with more than a thousand people registering in person and online to follow the presentations from over twenty different countries.

Among the big names in international cuisine present this year were some of the chefs representing Alpine cuisine, with the Alps returning to Andorra Taste as the guest region. Visitors to Andorra included Austrian chef Maximilian Stock, Swiss-based Spanish-Moroccan chef Zineb Hattab, Slovenian chef Uroš Štefelin and Daduna Ghlonti, one of the leading ambassadors of Georgian cuisine in Europe. As in previous years, there was also a strong showing from French and Spanish chefs, including Emmanuel Renault, Stéphane Tournié, Javier Olleros, Oriol Castro, Luis Alberto Lera and Francis Paniego.
 
Andorra Taste thus closed its fourth edition, demonstrating mountain cuisine's integral commitment to the territory, its desire to work sustainably, and its potential to drive change in mountain environments.