Campus Andorra Orígens Launches High-Mountain Gastronomy Training

Around 22 professionals from Andorra and abroad gathered in La Massana on 12 and 13 January for the inaugural Campus Andorra Orígens, a hands-on event dedicated to high-mountain gastronomy that blended practical training, professional insights, and discussions on craft, heritage, and forward-looking techniques.

Organised by Andorra Turisme within its 2025 Gastronomic Plan, the two-day programme represented the third such training effort but shifted focus to kitchen-based skills for chefs and cooks, distinct from prior sessions on front-of-house operations or promotion. Enric Torres, the agency's director of Product and New Projects, explained that the goal is to position high-mountain cuisine as a defining Pyrenean trait. With restaurant numbers rising across Andorra, he said the emphasis should fall on local producers and mountain-inspired dishes to engage both visitors and locals, strengthening ties between food, landscape, and identity.

The event began with opening remarks from Tourism and Trade Minister Jordi Torres, who urged participants to step back from routine service for deeper reflection on cooking. He described the campus as a dedicated space for exchanging skills, expertise, and perspectives. Benjamín Lana, director general of Vocento Gastronomía, followed with a talk titled "Tradition as Vanguard," arguing that culinary roots underpin modern, identity-rooted innovation.

Highlights included Hilario Arbelaitz of Antic Zuberoa in Irruñotz, who discussed daily discipline, dedication, and respect for regional ingredients in place-based ventures. Jon Ayala from Laia Erretegia in Hondarribia ran a grilling workshop on fire management, fuel choices, timing, intensity, and product pairings, framing it as "paleolithic cooking" that stirs profound emotional links through flame and hearth memories. Later sessions featured Josep Maria Masó of Tanganà and Fonda Puig on time as a core element in mountain fare, and Xavier Pellicer on vegetable preparation via honest, local-sourced approaches and low-temperature methods.

Day two delved into Pyrenean character and emerging issues like sustainability and creativity, with input from Albert Boronat, Toni Massanés, Salvador Brugués, Jordi Butrón, and Ana Belén González Pinos.

Feedback was strong. José Antonio Guillermo of Odetti Bistró noted that such events drive personal and team development while elevating national products, pushing for staples like escudella on menus. Rodrigo Martínez, an Andorra Taste ambassador and chef at Beç, Bar del Poble, and Rosta, called it enriching, praising techniques to safeguard and enhance Andorra's scene.

Andorra Turisme intends to sustain these formats, pairing them with Andorra Taste and outreach in Toulouse, Barcelona, and Madrid to elevate the principality's mountain-specialised cuisine.