Grup Balfegó presented on Thursday a new concept of sustainability and traceability in the consumption and marketing of the red tuna, which will let instantly check the legality of the tuna fishing and the exact time since it was captured.

Paco Roncero, chef in La Terraza del Casino in Madrid (two Michelin stars), and Ricardo Sanz, chef in Kabuki (one Michelin star), were the ones responsible for the transformation of the red tuna, fished just the day before in the Mediterranean sea, as a token of the gastronomic excellence that was cooked live in the Casino de Madrid.

Nearly 400 people were present at this ronqueo ceremony or, in other words, the tuna quartering. This unusual show made the audience know more deeply the red tuna, a protected species that can now be consumed in a responsible and sustainable way thanks to the new Balfegó’s system.

The event, chaired by the journalists Carme Chaparro and Xavier Agulló, was attended by Josep Maria Pelegrí, the councillor for Agriculture, Stockbreeding, Fishing, Food and Natural Environment of Generalitat de Catalunya; Driss Meski, the secretary general for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas; and Alicia Villauriz Iglesias, the secretary general for Maritime Affairs in the Ministry of Natural, Rural and Marine Environment.

Balfegó is a family business that has devoted five generations to the tuna fishing and wanted to present its innovative traceability system thanks to a bidi (for “bidimensional”) code that will guarantee the security and legality of the product not just in the fishing, but in all the marketing chain, in an efficient and easily controllable way, through a cellular phone.

In order to present it, Manel Balfegó, Pere Vicent Balfegó and the business general manager Juan Serran also took part in the event and stressed the importance of the “shared responsibility” of all the actors of the tuna marketing and consumption chain, which is essential to preserve the sustainability of this valuable species.

“We all must make all the actors that intercede in the value chain aware that they are sharing a collective responsibility, in order to get our fish to come from a sustainable sea to a responsible consumer”, stated Serrano.

Several restaurateurs in Madrid and special guests from the entire Spanish gastronomic sphere did not miss this event. Some of them were Andoni Luis Aduriz, chef in Mugaritz, and some other cooks from Restaurante Zalacaín, Rubaiyat, Restaurante Balzac and Ramon Freixa Madrid, among others.

The presentation was a pure tuna spectacle: the video, in which Juan Echanove took part, showed that there is only a day since the fish is captured until it is served on the dish.

A 140-kilogram huge specimen made a triumphant entry into Casino de Madrid and it was perfectly quartered live by the Balfegó team. Afterwards, Paco Roncero and Ricardo Sanz were the ones in charge of converting this top-quality raw material into sashimi, toro ham, tuna loin risotto with peas and cherries, and tuna belly tataki with olive oil honey white garlic soup, among other dishes.

For further information about Grup Balfegó and their particular bet on red tuna, please read the report by Pau Albornà on www.7canibales.com.