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Cristina Cánovas

Chef | Palodú Málaga, Spain

Biography

Cristina Cánovas Gutiérrez (34) and Diego Aguilar Cañamero (36) are the chefs and owners of Palodú, a Málaga-based restaurant awarded a 2025 Repsol Sun and recommended by the MICHELIN Guide 2025. Both trained in hospitality schools in Málaga and developed their careers in renowned kitchens such as El Lago, Tragabuches, Calima, Mugaritz, Tickets, and 41º, before launching their own project in 2014.

After an initial stage as a gastrobar in the Teatinos neighborhood, Palodú evolved into a fine-dining restaurant located next to Málaga’s Atarazanas Market, in the heart of the historic center. There, they have consolidated a signature cuisine that defines their concept of dual cooking: two chefs working without hierarchy, in perfect harmony, balancing technique and emotion.

Their work focuses on reinterpreting Málaga and Andalusian cuisine through a contemporary lens, using local products, traditional cooking methods, and the utmost precision in execution. Their culinary vision is complemented by the wine program led by Ana Cánovas, head sommelier and front-of-house manager, who brings coherence and warmth to the overall dining experience.

With Palodú, Cristina and Diego represent a new generation of Andalusian chefs who have transformed culinary memory into a personal and modern narrative.

Sessions

15:30h

Showcooking | .

Dual cuisine, andaluisian roots and contemporary emotion

Cristina Cánovas Palodú Chef Speaker

Diego Aguilar Palodú Chef Speaker

2025-11-03 15:30 2025-11-03 16:15 Europe/Madrid Dual cuisine, andaluisian roots and contemporary emotion Palodú’s presentation offers a journey through Andalusian cuisine from the personal and shared perspective of its chefs, Cristina Cánovas and Diego Aguilar, who have spent more than a decade building their own culinary language from Málaga. Their proposal is based on absolute respect for traditional recipes, local produce, and time-honored cooking techniques — stews, stocks, broths, slow cooking — reinterpreted with contemporary sensitivity.

In this demonstration, Cristina and Diego will show how their concept of “dual cuisine”, always created four hands at a time, translates into a culinary language of balance, precision, and emotion. Through three representative dishes from their tasting menu, they will share the creative processes and imagination that define their cuisine: the transformation of Málaga’s popular culinary memory into fine dining.

Dishes to be prepared during the presentation:

Ajoblanco and horse mackerel: an elegant and refreshing reinterpretation of an Andalusian classic, where tradition and technique coexist in perfect harmony.

Butter brioche, beef tongue, and kefir tartare: a bite that reflects their pursuit of texture and contrast, combining delicate pastry, deep flavors, and subtle dairy notes.

Spring onion whey, roasted pepper, and codium tempura with egg yolk: a deeply personal dish that evokes the flavors of their childhood by the sea, reimagining the taste of Málaga’s beach bars from a contemporary perspective.

The showcooking will also be a journey to their roots: the Atarazanas Market, seasonal produce, and their own vegetable garden in Campillos (Málaga), where they grow many of the ingredients that define their cuisine. It is a cooking style with an Andalusian soul, committed to proximity, seasonality, and the genuine emotion of true flavor.

Palodú represents the maturity of a generation of chefs who understand gastronomy as an act of identity, hospitality, and honesty. Their participation in the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will showcase how two young cooks have elevated tradition into a contemporary and sensitive culinary experience, recognized with a 2024 Repsol Sun and recommended by the MICHELIN Guide. Makro Classroom

Mon 3 15:30h - 16:15h Makro Classroom Free acces