The bikini is the favorite snack of Catalans. This was confirmed yesterday by the El Plat Favorit dels Catalans contest, within the framework of the edition of the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona that started on Monday at Fira de Barcelona, where the preparation prepared at La Bikineria, with establishments on Muntaner street and in the Corte Inglés on Diagonal Avenue. This hot ham and cheese sandwich topped the burger, frankfurter, and Iberian ham sandwich.
The contest, which in this edition has opted for the search for the best sandwiches in Catalonia, has been organized by Cuina magazine for eight years and started with 12 different proposals, each of which defended an establishment in the territory. In the final, held yesterday at the Forum, the bikini from La Bikineria, the hamburger prepared by Toni Romero at Bart Gastronomic Burger, the frankfurter from El Flaco and the serranito from A Queixalades arrived.
Yesterday morning, the hamburger was in first position, but there were still a few hours left to close the vote and the jury's assessment was still pending. Finally, the bikini ended up gaining momentum in the popular vote and also won over three of the five judges, which placed it in the lead and made it the winner of the contest with 1,336 points.
"La Bikineria was born in 2018 with the desire to do such a simple thing very well," defended Joan Gurguí, head of La Bikineria, upon receiving the award. With the belief that the bikini is a universe with infinite possibilities, he opened a store exclusively dedicated to this preparation in all its versions. Some of the most popular are the one with Iberian ham and Manchego cheese, the one with roast chicken or the one with sobrasada and Maó cheese. When collecting the award, Gurguí confessed that he is preparing the opening of a new establishment in the Born neighborhood.
The bikini is a very popular sandwich in the territory and many argue that it is not just a mixed sandwich, but that it has its own history in Catalonia. It was a Barcelona dance hall with the same name that began serving this sandwich in the city. Such was its popularity that people began to ask for "a bikini" in other bars in Barcelona and, over time, in the rest of the territory.
The contest started a few weeks ago and the finalists were chosen by popular vote through the Plat Favorit dels Catalans website. The winner emerged from the weighting of 70% of the public votes and 30% of the jury's votes.
