An appearance by Denise Monroy, the creator of Elektra Punk Food in Bogotá, a new inspiring concept based on what she calls "vegan fast food", to demonstrate a brilliant offer with a difference, which earned her the Revelation Chef of the year award in Colombia. This was announced on the same stage by Benjamín Lana as soon as the outcome of voting had been released. The winner of the previous round held in 2019 was Miguel Warren from Antioquia, who subsequently appeared in the virtual San Sebastián Gastronomika 2020 congress.

Denise Monroy rebels against the general attitude which relegates vegetable cookery to a green minimalist role, to take it to more everyday terrain. Her offer of plain fare, apparently simple and tasty, allows her to reach new markets beyond the circuit of strict vegan cuisine. Her arguments are ordinary recipes: spaghetti bolognaise, papaya ceviche, hot dogs, "quesadilla" tortillas with a chorizo filling, and fried cheese balls.

The presence of Mario Castrellón, the creator and manager of Maito in Panama City, is quite a reference: it is the first visit to Madrid Fusión by a chef from Central America. This shortcoming has now been corrected with the man who opened the door to change in the region ten years ago. He represents the work of a generation of professional chefs obliged to make just as much of an effort in the kitchen as outside the kitchen, first to search for sources of quality day-to-day produce - fish, vegetables and also types of meat other than pork and beef - and then to elaborate on their country's original ingredients.

Working with native communities in the Darién jungle in the south of the country, next to the Colombian border, or in Bocas del Toro in the north beside Costa Rica, has brought new foodstuffs to the Maito pantry. The "bodá", a palm flower which they call "maíz de monte" or mountain maize in certain parts of Mexico, and "pacaya" from El Salvador, black or red rice. In the last two years he has been working to add geisha coffee to his cooking, looking for ways to make use of the pulp around the grain.

Héctor Solís's cuisine comes from the sea. Be it Fiesta, the restaurant his father opened in Chiclayo in northern Peru, the origin of a saga which has now extended to Lima - Fiesta, La Picantería and Chakupe - and Santiago de Chile, with another version of La Picantería. The sea forms the basis of his cookery, which is always interpreted as a northern concept.

At Fiesta the main reference is the "murique" grouper, a coastal fish which lives in rocky areas and areas near the mango grove. Its flesh is firm and tasty, the fish can be very large, and its yield can be considerable. This homage to the grouper extends to the entire fish. There is no piece or muscle that does not end up on the table in some format or other at Fiesta. Piece by piece, dish by dish, the murique arrives in its entirety: the head is fried, as is the neck, along with fried garlic, the tail is served in a sauce, the cheeks are used in "chupín" stew, while the belly is used to make ceviches which can be hot, cooked over embers with a leaf of maize as protection.

Alex Atala (DOM, São Paulo) and Gastón Acurio (Astrid & Gastón, Lima) round off the Latin American contingent at Madrid Fusión 2022. They will be attending a commemoration of the congress's first twenty years along with other leading lights of 21st century cuisine.