Por Pablo Arranz 
Alicante, June 4, 2025. The Association of Journalists of the Province of Alicante with their gazpacho señoret, canelones maruja, and stuffed watermelon has won the first prize in the healthy cooking contest ‘Lápiz y Cuchara’ organized by the Alicante City Council in 2025 and promoted by Cerca. The team ‘Cocinappa’ were the best chefs in the final held this Wednesday in the kitchens of the Educational Resource Consumption Center – Cerca- with a dish full of healthy ingredients. The second prize went to the San Rafael Center with the team ‘Amb gust i saler’ who cooked a seafood gazpacho, stuffed artichokes, and cherry alicantino mus, and the third place was awarded to the team ‘Delantales mágicos’ also from the San Rafael Center with their cod with ratatouille, stuffed mushrooms, and orange mus.
The Councilor for Consumption, Commerce, and Markets, Lidia López, attended the final where she praised the commitment of all entities and presented the awards, congratulating «the associations and centers participating in this consolidated contest in the city, especially this year when we are the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy, which is of great importance as it promotes the products of our land, healthy gastronomy, and recipes that are part of the essence and traditions of our city.»
In this edition, there were seven teams competing for the award, participating in the contest from associations, social collectives, and entities, among which were Paralíticos cerebrales de Alicante, Aspenger, Periodistas, Dominicanos Unidos de Alicante, Fundación Estima, and the San Rafael Center.
Lidia López emphasized that «the winners of both the journalists’ association and San Rafael have demonstrated that they cook extraordinarily well and also have very important skills such as teamwork and creativity to develop recipes and menus with flavor and identity.» The councilor also highlighted that «this is not just a competition, it is a program where they learn to consume and eat better, get to know our municipal markets, take care of what we cook, and promote the participation of neighborhood collectives and associations in the city.»
The jury in charge of evaluating the menus was composed of renowned chefs from Alicante restaurants, representatives of the association for the educational dissemination of Nutrition, Health, and Sports, students from the Nutrition Degree at the UA, the Councilor for Consumption, and representatives from the municipal area of Cerca. Each team was evaluated based on three criteria: healthy ingredients, menu balance as a whole, understanding in the recipe explanation, and kitchen decoration and creativity for the occasion.
The ‘Lápiz y Cuchara’ project, promoted by Cerca, will continue to organize these programs in future editions, as it is an initiative in which many collectives from Alicante participate and promotes responsible and sustainable eating habits as well as more responsible and better consumption.