Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España closes the most complete edition in its 22-year history with a new record number of congress participants (1,814) from 53 countries and visitors (25,812). A great response to the largest and most international edition in its history. With a programme of 184 presentations and round tables on the six official stages, held simultaneously over three days, the Gastronomic Summit took a leap forward and laid the foundations for the future of major culinary congresses, both in terms of formats and speakers in its new venues. The commitment to the future of food in the Dreams area has catapulted the educational dimension of the world's most influential congress.

After last year's record-breaking edition, Madrid Fusión Food from Spain faced a real challenge in 2024: to maintain the excellent results. By the end of the third day of this 22nd edition, it has more than succeeded.

A total of 184 presentations have been made, sharing knowledge and discussing the future of the sector, content that has been collected by more than 1,357 journalists who have attended and covered the congress.

The five areas of Madrid Fusión - the Main Auditorium, Madrid Fusión The Wine Edition Wines from Spain, Madrid Fusión Pastry and the new stages Dreams #spainfoodtechnation and Madrid Fusión Drinks - were all very well attended. An even more remarkable milestone when you consider that all this content will be developed simultaneously during the three days of the congress. A multi-proposal format that demonstrates the vitality of a sector that is facing the future with new ideas and strength.

The pantry marks the kitchen

The last day of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España was all about one concept: adapting to your own pantry and making the most of it. Chefs from places as diverse as the Norwegian Arctic, the mountains of Madrid and cosmopolitan Copenhagen agreed to celebrate local cuisine that is both sustainable and imaginative.

Perhaps the most peculiar example came from Alberto Lozano of Albacete, who runs the kitchens at Huset, an extraordinary restaurant in the heart of the Arctic, where he struggles every day to squeeze 100% of what his environment's scarce larder has to offer, as the chef warned at the start of his speech: "We are in a peculiar place, and that makes us do special things that are outside the normal path of a chef, especially in terms of product". Reindeer and seals are the stars of his menu. Lozano works with all parts of the animal, achieving wonders such as using seal fat to make "authentic Arctic reindeer sausage". In a place where resources are scarce, making the most of them is a necessity, and with this in mind, the chef explained how they came up with a bread made with flour from the hops left over from the local brewery, which has given them "a bread with 50% more protein and a lot more fibre," explained an enthusiastic Lozano.

A zero waste approach that Dani Ochoa (Montia*, San Lorenzo del Escorial, Madrid) is also applying in the mountains of Madrid with his new passion: mushrooms. The chef noticed that in the mountains there were many mushrooms that were thrown away because they were too big and too ripe. "These mushrooms are really interesting gastronomically. In terms of texture, a smaller, tighter mushroom is firmer, but in terms of flavour, overripe mushrooms are very interesting," Dani Ochoa explained to the audience. With these mushrooms, he has created "pure umami" broths, jellies or powders to make "an express cure for meat".

Another great chef, the Valencian Ricard Camarena, agreed with Lozano and Ochoa about making a virtue out of necessity, saying that "necessity, combined with circumstances, is a great teacher that leads you to make the best choices". In this sense, and with the problem of water so present, Camarena has created a humid universe to which he does not add a drop of water, rescuing the humid part of the ingredients to put it at the service of the dish. Gonzalo Aramburu also has experience of overcoming difficulties. A survivor of the endless crises his country has suffered, Argentina has shown how haute cuisine can be created with the products available at any given time. "The crisis never ends and it is an incentive to look for the best products. You have to be brave and work with what you have," says Aramburu, who offers a menu of just twenty dishes that cover a journey of more than 4,000 kilometres, from Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego to Salta and Jujuy. Quite a challenge.

Also linked to the territory is the cuisine of Carlos Casillas, the youngest chef to be awarded a Michelin star for his work at the helm of Barro (Ávila), who says he wants to "cook the past from the present with an eye to the future".

From Denmark to New York, Nordic cuisine continues to make waves

The main auditorium was inaugurated today by one of the fathers of the new Nordic cuisine and co-founder of Noma, Danish chef Mads Refslund. The chef opened his new project, Illis, a few months ago in Brooklyn, New York, where he explained that "it doesn't have the typical menu you find in other haute cuisine restaurants". Instead, Illis offers diners "a marketplace where there are baskets of twelve different ingredients from which the customer must choose the ones he or she prefers, starting with a minimum of five". Based on the customer's choice, Mads' team prepares the dishes on the spot. "It's a bit like choosing your own adventure," says the chef.

His compatriot Nicolai Nørregaard, chef at Kadeau restaurant on the Danish island of Bornholm, also talked about the importance of ingredients, explaining that "a typical Kadeau dish has a lot of ingredients. The idea is to make them very complex, but to make them look simple. Nørregaard, who only uses what's around him - such as caviar, salmon, oysters, crab and other animals caught in the waters off Bornholm - said that "at first glance you don't see what's inside, so it's surprising".

The international presence of the day was completed by Riccardo Canella, an Italian chef who worked at Noma for seven years and is currently preparing a new restaurant in his native Venice, and Davit Narimanishvili, chef of the Georgian restaurant Nunuka (Madrid). Through the latter, Georgia, the guest country of this edition of Madrid Fusión, has shown the richness of its gastronomy, in which "everything is shared at the table, as a fundamental point of Georgian hospitality", explains Narimanishvili.

Health, the protagonist of the last day of Dreams

The first edition of Dreams #spainfoodtechnation left an unbeatable taste in the mouth on its last day, demonstrating that the need for a healthier and more sustainable diet means educating children and families about the richness and benefits of our Mediterranean diet. Not only is it delicious, it is also the favourite of the microbiota, the trainers of our immune system, whose deterioration leads to intolerances, allergies and more serious diseases.

The stage will be set for the future with innovations such as vegan eggs, gluten-free flour or Baia Food's miraculin, which helps cancer patients who have lost their taste buds. Above all, the crucial role of the chef in culinary medicine and hospital catering was highlighted, as it is not only the food that matters, but also the way it is eaten.