On 5 and 6 October, LIFE Maronesa, through the CLIMA+ brand, had the pleasure and pride of participating in the National Cooking Congress (Cooking Congress Programme), which took place this year in Oeiras and was attended by around a thousand professionals and gastronomic professionals from all over the country.
LIFE Maronesa was represented by a delegation composed of Teresa Vivas, head of Marketing and Gastronomy for the project, Cidália Ferreira, a goat breeder from Mondim de Basto, chef Daniel Gomes from the Cais da Villa restaurant, chefs Rita Gomes and João Pires from the Forno de Jales restaurant, the project’s Communication Manager Pedro Paulo, Rafael Costa from ACM and Duarte Marques from AguiarFloresta.
On the first day of the event, chef Daniel Gomes inaugurated the team’s participation in the Tasting area with his presentation of ‘CLIMA+ Maronesa Veal Neck with Transmontano Autumn Flavours’, offering a new idea for using veal neck. Immediately afterwards, on the Collective Stage, breeder Cidália Ferreira and Duarte Marques were invited to take part in a panel discussion on the theme of ‘Land management and the importance of grazing’. The two members of the delegation spoke briefly about the challenges of the profession and the potential that new projects and dynamics are bringing to the sector. The importance of creating opportunities for income diversification in mountain livestock farms and the introduction of new technologies and better infrastructure to increase breeders’ profitability were emphasised.
The following day, chef Daniel Gomes returned to action at the same time, presenting another recipe using veal neck in a further 15-minute presentation in the Tasting area. Immediately afterwards, on the Product Stage, chefs Rita Gomes and João Pires from Forno de Jales took to the floor with their presentation ‘Gastronomy as the Driving Force of the Rural World,’ serving two recipes combining less noble parts of the carcass, such as the heart, liver, chã de fora and nispo. Of particular note was the creation of a sausage made up of around 80% of carcass leftovers that are normally discarded by consumers and restaurant operators.
LIFE Maronesa brought a total of five new CLIMA+ Maronesa meat recipes to the Congress, divided into a total of 550 meals served throughout the event. The rest of the team kept busy at their well-decorated stand, where they welcomed all the chefs, cooks and restaurant operators curious about this new approach from a team with a wide range of skills, who presented a way of working in their profession that is committed to high standards of sustainability and cultural connection from a united Trás-os-Montes territory.
