How to organize your paella contest

Competition is something that has existed since time immemorial, technically the desire to compete is instille¡ in our very being, but that does not mean that a competition cannot be friendly. What if the prize for winning was not money or something tangible, but the recognition of being the best cook among friends, and if everyone won after the competition and had a delicious dish to celebrate?

The answer to this question is simple: hold a cooking contest, or to be more precise, a paella contest. Whether to have fun with friends, strengthen friendships as a fun and original teambuilding exercise or to learn about Valencian culture and try some of its star dishes, a paella competition has many ways to be done and enjoyed, but how do we organize it?

In this blog post we are going to indicate the most important points so that you know how to hold this very original paellero event and where would be the best place to celebrate it.

What do I need to organize my paella contest?

To make it easier to know what we need for a paella contest, we are going to divide each need into different points:

Step 1: Define the objective of the contest

The first necessary step to organize a paella contest is to define exactly what objective we are carrying it out for, that is, what is the reason for organizing this event and what objectives we want to achieve with its realization.

Some questions we can ask ourselves would be:
- Am I running this contest to promote an event or cause?
- Is the goal a friendly competition or are we looking for something more competitive?
- Do I want to involve a community, club, guild or group in my contest?
- Am I doing it among friends or do I want to promote friendship and cooperation between the participants?
- Do I want the participants to learn how to make the dish and the culture that surrounds it or should they already know how to make it?
- What is the prize for the winners and what do the contest participants expect?

Step 2: Plan logistics

The kitchen requires a certain amount of materials, food and equipment to be able to make dishes and recipes correctly.

You have to make sure that the logistics of the paellero contest are perfectly planned. Therefore, you must make sure to provide all the necessary equipment: equipment to make paellas, kitchen utensils, ingredients, tables and chairs, aprons...

It is also essential to ensure that each cook has the appropriate amount of ingredients. It is recommended that products with exact measurements be used or that have been divided into specific quantities before starting the contest, distributed equally among all groups of participants.

Step 3: Select your team of cooks

It is important to know and define the criteria that we will use to select the candidates for our contest; these should be based on the theme or objective of our paella competition. Do we want anyone to participate, just a select group, our co-workers, professional or beginner chefs, tourists...?

Those who participate in our contest can completely change the general atmosphere; having a contest with professional chefs is not the same as competing in a friendly way among friends.

Step 4: Manage food and food safety

Food management and safety of the ingredients used are of utmost importance in a cooking competition.

Make sure you comply with the hygiene and food safety standards in force in your area, as well as that all participants comply with them, from food management to its cleanliness, condition, possible allergies among participants, etc. If necessary, obtain the necessary permits from the competent authorities and ensure that the team that provides and handles the food and ingredients are qualified to do so.

To avoid any contamination or deterioration, the ingredients must be of good quality and stored under the necessary conditions, that is, at the appropriate temperature and in appropriate containers. Remember, it is always necessary to check the ingredients before the start of the contest, we do not want any participant to get sick due to a preventable mistake.

Step 5: Find a suitable place

The success of a cooking contest also depends on the correct choice of the place where it is held.
The space chosen must be large enough to accommodate all the cooks, as well as the judges, equipment and possible spectators. It must also be taken into account that the accumulation of smoke and odors must be avoided, so make sure you have good ventilation.

Opt for a space such as a large party room, a multipurpose room or places dedicated to general or themed events.

Step 6 Choose the judges

Like any cooking competition, the final evaluation is carried out by previously selected judges. The judges' role is to evaluate the appearance, taste and creativity of the dishes.

Although there are many participants who simply come to participate, there are those who are determined to win and will not take kindly to not being the winners. To avoid possible complaints or suspicions of bad play, it is best to ensure that the jury is as transparent as possible.

Due to this, it is advisable that the judges be professional cooks or chefs, with some experience in this type of events, in addition they must be impartial in their decisions, these must be based on the dish tested and not on the person who made the dish. Because of this, it is recommended that you use a template where the judges can indicate their opinion and rating of each dish. An example of this template could be the following:

Step 7: Prepare drinks and snacks if necessary

Depending on the objective and focus we give to our contest, a few bottles of water may not be enough to keep hunger at bay while we make our competitive paellas.

Drinks, coffee, shots, accompanied by a small snack, the true experience of making a paella in the garden of our house. Depending on our contest, having something to eat while the contest continues can be a very appreciated choice by the participants.

What could be some original themes to prepare a paella contest?

-Paella contest among friends: What better way to have fun than with a bit of friendly competition? Bring out your most competitive side with your friends or family and test who of all of you is the best paella cook.

-Paella contest for Fallas: There is nothing more Valencian than Fallas, therefore, a Paella contest in a Falla is the next logical step to achieve the most Valencian event. Let yourself be baited by your companions, show your paella mastery and decide once and for all who really within the falla is the one who has the best hand in preparing paellas.

-Paella competition for the club: The activities of a club or guild can be a little more exciting if we have a snack, have a couple of drinks, surround ourselves with good company and prepare delicious paellas together.

-Teambuilding paella contest: Enough of kayaks, paintball and the typical teambuilding activities, it's time to try something more original, completely made in Valencia! Grab your coworkers, discover how to make an original Valencian paella and have a great time. In addition, the paellas you prepare also serve as food after the contest, a 2 for 1 offer.

-Paella contest for tourists: When you travel it is typical to visit the most popular and emblematic places, but you cannot miss trying the traditional food of the region, and there is no more traditional food in Spain than a freshly made paella. Grab your tourists, show them the sights, and end the day with a paella contest, so they go home with the taste and knowledge of a real paella.

What is the best way to prepare my paellero contest?

As you can see, preparing a paella competition can cover a wide range of opportunities, but it is not an easy task, a high level of logistics is needed to ensure that the entire event goes perfectly, without even mentioning the need for equipment, ingredients, the place to hold the contest…

If you don't want to get involved in having to prepare the contest on your own, why don't you trust us to do it for you?

Our team of paella masters has been carrying out this kind of events for years, from festivities between friends and family, clubs or groups that want to have fun and compete in a friendly way among themselves, teambuilding teams that reinforce their friendship with a paella... no matter the event or The reason, a friendly paella competition is a perfect way to pass the time and have fun with friends!

Don't let only our words be your only source of trust, visit our paella rental category to find the necessary equipment for your paella events and competitions, if you want more information about paella competitions, you can visit our giant paellas events page and observe in the paella competitions section the companies, groups and clubs that have enjoyed a good time making their own Valencian paella with us.

While it is more common to do this kind of competitions in Spain, we have our doors open to further ventures beyond Spain, let us know if you are interested and we can talk about extending the paella competitions further beyond.

We hope this blog post has inspired your competitive side, we'll see you in the kitchen, rice lovers!

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