José Manuel Garrote Delgado, along with his wife and son. /
The route of good bread
His sourdough bread has competed with sixteen others in the contest held at the Juan Hidalgo Pavilion in Villanueva de la Serena.
The baker José Manuel Garrote, from Horno Monesterio, from the town from which it takes its name, has been the winner of the Miga de Oro de Extremadura 2022 in the opinion of the jury. This accredits him as the best baker in the region, with the option to participate in the national contest. In addition, Borja Meneses and Enrique Martos have been finalists.
The bread made by Garrote has had to compete with 16 other artisanal products that have participated in this contest, part of the ‘Extremadura Community Good Bread Route’, one of the most anticipated events by bakers in the region. The event was held this morning at the Juan Hidalgo Pavilion in Villanueva de la Serena, with representation of artisan bakers from both provinces.
The participants delivered their creations, which were exposed for evaluation by a jury chaired by Eduardo Úbeda. There are up to ten different aspects that the assessment committee takes into account, such as the external visual image, the shape and appearance, the grain and structure, the weight that must range between 800 and 900 grams, the alveolate of the fermentation, the consistency of rind, the crumb, the aroma, the flavor and, finally, the structure in the mouth.
For his part, the winner has stated that the presented bread has a 24-hour fermentation «which can be called sourdough and that it does not have any type of additive, only flour, water, salt and a little yeast, which allows us to regulation”. Garrote has acknowledged that the award will make the years remaining for retirement, he will work with more enthusiasm “and always trying to improve.” The prize is an award in the shape of a slice of bread bathed in 24 carats.
Celebration of the award ceremony of the Golden Miga de Extremadura 2022. /
In the turn of interventions, the winner of the 2019 Golden Miga, Javier Quintana from Villanova, has claimed the fight to make “good bread, for the quality of the product”, which is the way to overcome the “delicate” moment through which the artisan workers pass, he said.
This Extremadura Good Bread Route has also been developed in the rest of the autonomous communities. From there, the bakers who have obtained the highest ratings will be selected, and they will be visited anonymously to check the positioning of the bread in the store and the attention and information to the public. The best scores at the national level will be eligible to receive a Star- IT Director of the bakery.
Finally, it should be noted that the loaves made by the 17 participants have been donated to Cáritas de Cruz del Río and the Asociación Apoyot in Villanueva de la Serena.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.