The award, designed to celebrate chefs whose projects have improved society through gastronomy, will award one winner €100,000 to devote to a project or institution of their choice that demonstrates the wider role of gastronomy in society.
Crisci, the only finalists from the UK, joins a host of names from across the globe, including Mexican slow food activist Alicia Gironella and chef Daniel Boulud.
The Basque Culinary Prize will be awarded at the Basque Culinary Center (BCC) in San Sebastian on 11 July.
Elena Arzak, chair of the prize committee, said: “It has been exciting to see that there are chefs who are using the essence of our profession to promote change or be part valuable projects that contribute to society in so many different ways. That’s something we couldn’t have even imagined a few years ago. I’m so proud of my peers.”
Joxe Mari Aizega, head of the Basque Culinary Centre, said: “We are thrilled by the diversity and caliber of our Top 20 finalists, who show the powerful, positive change chefs can make when they take on the responsibility of a public voice. Their stories will surely serve as an inspiration to their colleagues all over the world, which is the ultimate mission of the prize. It will be a difficult but exciting challenge for the Jury to choose one winner this summer.”
The 20 finalists are:
- Alberto Crisci, UK
- Alicia Gironella, Mexico
- Angel León, Spain
- Ann Cooper, USA
- Carols Zamora, Spain
- Daniel Boulud, France/USA
- David Hertz, Brazil
- Gabriel Garza, Mexico
- Jessamyn Rodriguez, Canada/USA
- José Andrés, Spain
- Joshna Maharaj, India/Canada
- Kamilla Seidler, Denmark, and Michelangelo Cestari, Venezuela
- Leonor Espinosa, Colombia
- Manoela (Manu) Buffara, Brazil
- Margot Janse, Holland/South Africa
- Maria Fernanda Di Giacobbe, Venezuela
- Massimiliano Alajmo, Italy
- Nani Moré, Spain
- Rodolfo Guzman, Chile
- Teresa Corçao, Brazil