The international festival and cooking competition Black Sea Fish Festival – Romanian Sustainable Fish Festival will be held on 13 and 14 September and will gather many competitors in a series of disciplines at the Pirates Resort in Mamaia, a town on the Black Sea coast. Top chefs from Romania will compete, and guests are coming from Greece, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Turkey, Slovakia, Macedonia, Italy, Spain, Albania and, of course, Croatia. They will prepare special fish and seafood dishes to promote intercultural and professional dialogue.
The international ŠKMER team is also coming to the festival, led by Željko Neven Bremec. With him will be the married couple Renata and Stevo Karapandža, Hamid Hadžić, the association’s ambassador for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Damir Rožajac, a pastry chef from Sarajevo and an international pastry judge.
During a break in judging the competitors, masterchef Bremec will demonstrate to the participants dishes from the project Dalmatička marenda (the Dalmatian mid-morning meal) of the Tourist Board of Split-Dalmatia County. Also at the festival will be a legend of Croatian cooking, Stevo Karapandža, as a judge and as a guest of honour. He made Croatian cuisine recognisable even in Switzerland. His wife Renata Karapandza, who spent most of her professional career in Switzerland, will sit on the jury that scores bartenders and waiters.
An essential part of the team is Hamid Hadžić, one of the greatest promoters of Bosnian and Herzegovinian cooking and a key person in the development of the ŠKMER international festivals, especially Biser mora (Pearl of the Sea).
“This is the 11th edition of the festival, and the fifth to be held in this luxury resort. This year’s edition is dedicated to promoting sustainable fish consumption and to the valorisation of marine and freshwater products, from the Black Sea, the Danube and Romanian rivers. There is also a special challenge for young and experienced chefs who compete for the Black Sea Grand Trophy. Under the slogan “The Power of The Blue Storm”, juniors cook only with fish species from the Danube, the Danube Delta, the Black Sea and Romanian rivers” – announced dr. Iulia Dragut.
She is the president of the Asociației Culturale Euro Est Alternativ (ACEAA) and an IGCAT expert (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) since 2019. With a doctorate in philosophy, degrees in hospitality management and wide experience in organising national and international events, dr. Drăguț is a key figure in promoting sustainable gastronomy and cultural heritage. She is also an essential part of the international judging team of Biser mora. 
The Black Sea Fish Festival is connected to the Culinariada project, started in 2015 by Euro-Toques Romania and the Euro East Alternative Cultural Association. It is an outstanding national training programme that teaches students professional culinary skills, and it strengthens the professionalism of future gastronomy and tourism specialists.
FESTIVALUL PESTELUI DURABIL ROMÂNESC – BLACK SEA FISH FESTIVAL
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