Tolosa reaffirms status as grill capital, with second edition of HARAGI

14/05/2019 |

The second edition of HARAGI, the International Meat and Grill Meeting of Tolosa was a real success. After almost 24 hours of almost continuous grills, the festival was marked by the high level of participation, the good weather and the unbeatable atmosphere.

The many live cooking shows and tastings that took place in Plaza Euskal Herria once again brought together hundreds of people.

On Saturday, the Uruguayan Diego Pérez Sosa achieved great success with his striking grilled suckling pig and smoked pine nut, a traditional dish from La Pampa. Txomin Parrilla, which grilled a leg of beef weighing 75 kilos, also surprised both locals and visitors, as it was the first time that it had done this by hanging the meat from a hook.

Yilmaz Öztürk and Carolina Carriel and Isidora Díaz both also delighted with grilled lamb. Öztürk was the sensation of Saturday night, with grilled Turkish Cag Kebab, while on Sunday at midday the Chilean grill chefs offered lamb tapas with a Chilean style seasoning.

A special mention goes to the volunteers of the gastronomic societies, who helped the four chefs at all times, forming a perfect symbiosis between learning and humour.

The chop, the great star

As you would expect in Tolosa, the txuleta (chop) had a great presence. There was a great reception for the SUA space, where a hundred people learned to grill a chop alongside the four grill houses of Tolosa.

On Saturday night it was also possible to taste tapas made from chops, such as the chistorra of the butcher Joxe Mari Barriola and the hamburger of Josean Goya who had a constant queue up until 11 pm.

The now classic lunch that took place on Sunday at midday in Tolosa Market served as the finishing touch to the great festival of meat and grill cuisine. Almost 300 people gathered to enjoy the traditional chop menu of the grill houses alongside their grill chefs. After lunch there were even popular songs to liven up the event.