Marina Pelayo, coordinator of the degree in gastronomy (GASTRO) at the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO), participated as a judge in the eighth edition of the gastronomic competition organised by the Frisian Association of Cantabria (AFCA), which took place at the National Livestock Market in Torrelavega.
AFCA is a competition held since 2017 in Cantabria, whose aim is to highlight the best products made from cow’s milk in Cantabria in the categories of cow’s cheese, quesada and butter sobao. Various criteria are used to select the products, including external and internal appearance, texture in the mouth and smell and taste. In the case of cheeses, some judges were responsible for analysing their external and internal appearance, while another group assessed the texture and smell and taste characteristics, alternating between the different categories. Both the quesadas and the sobaos were tasted by the 24 judges, although in the case of the sobaos, a distinction was made between the normal and special categories.
On this occasion, a total of 78 cheeses from 25 cheese makers, 11 quesadas, 10 sobaos and 14 specially made sobaos took part. Marina Pelayo said: “I was impressed by the diversity and exceptional quality of the products presented in Cantabria. I would highlight the excellent standard in all categories, from young cheeses to quesadas and sobaos, and the impeccable organisation of the competition. It has been a real pleasure to be part of the jury and to be able to do my bit in recognising the best of our Cantabrian gastronomy.”
Finally, UNEATLANTICO reinforces its commitment to training qualified professionals in the field of food, health and agri-food innovation, offering academic programmes in the food sector comprising degrees in Food Science and Technology (CTA), Nutrition and Dietetics (ND), Gastronomy (GASTRO) and Agricultural and Food Industry Engineering (IIAA).