This week, the city of Madrid surrenders itself to the art of gastronomy with Gastrofestival Madrid. The programme for the fifth edition of this culinary event, which will be held from 24 January to 9 February, was presented this morning by the Mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella. Over 300 activities will show both visitors and residents of Madrid the world of cuisine and its links to painting, film, literature, fashion and design.

An ample programme featuring five interesting dishes has been put together for the event: ?Gastroculture? (cuisine as seen through other forms of art); ?Sensory Experiences? (tastings, trails and workshops); ?Gourmet Madrid? (?25 and ?40 set menus, ?Degustatapas? and itineraries around bakeries and cafés); ?Gastrofashion? (gastronomic delights in the shops of top designers and ?Menus by Elle?); and ?Gastrohealth? (healthy dishes, menus and eco shops and health treatments).

Gastrofestival Madrid is an event promoted by the municipal company Madrid Destino, in association with Madrid Fusión, and sponsored by American Express and Mahou beer. Over 400 of the capital's establishments and institutions will be taking part, such as restaurants, bars, museums, art galleries, gourmet shops, cocktail bars, cookery schools and bookshops.

One of the main dishes of Gastrofestival will be ?Dining with the stars? - thanks to which and as a rare exception, you can try menus by renowned foreign chefs who will be specially invited to cook at some of Madrid's restaurants. A great display of the best of foreign cuisine right in the city of Madrid. Kamilla Seidler and Michelangelo Cestari, from the Bolivian restaurant Gustu, will provide a very special menu at the Europa Decó Restaurant in the Urban Hotel on 29 January.

Acknowledged as Asia?s top chef, Duangporn Songvisava, from Thailand, will put together some of her creations (inspired by eco-cuisine) at the Hotel Ritz? Goya Restaurant on 30 January. That same day, the Mexican Juan José Gómez, who helms the kitchen at the Coral & Marina Hotel, will show off his culinary skills at Dassa Bassa; Turkish cook Ufuk Ügümü, from Hünkar Restaurant, will do the same at El Jardín del Orfila.

Japanese chef, Tatsuo Nishizawa, from the Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo, will prepare a special dinner at Al Trapo, the restaurant at the Las Letras Hotel. Another Mexican, Daniel Ovadia (Paxia Restaurant), will be in charge of the kitchen at the Villa Magna Rodrigo de la Calle on 31 January.

Amongst the most noteworthy activities of this fifth edition of Gastrofestival Madrid, we have "19th Century Morsels" (25 January and 8 February) - a workshop at the Cerralbo Museum, where typical recipes from the 19th century will be reproduced, and "Literary Bites" (30 January and 6 February) - literary gatherings focused on gastronomy, which will have the San Ginés café as their backdrop and writers from different generations taking part. On this occasion, the Prado Museum is organising ?Cakes and Wine? (24, 25, 26 and 31 January, and 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 February) - a tour around a selection of paintings from its permanent collection focusing on these two products.

Other museums and cultural spaces in the capital are once more taking part in the programme for Gastrofestival Madrid with interesting events. This is the case of the Garment Museum (?The cocktail dress - a dress of a new era?), the Museum of Anthropology (?Sushi - a practical trip to Japanese gastronomy?), the Sorolla Museum (?The Orange: ingredient, dressing and dessert? and ?The wines of Jávea and paintings of Sorolla?) and the Museum of Romanticism (?Cheers!! Glass at 19th-century tables?).

The firm Vitra will be in charge of presenting culinary art from the perspective of design with an exhibition titled "Design and Gastronomy", at its showroom in the Salamanca District. The show will comprise works by illustrator Jacobo Gavira. There will also be several special activities organised around the world of cookery, which will be set in dining-rooms recreated with chairs and tables designed by the Frenchman Jean Prouvé, and the Americans Charles & Ray Eames. The full programme, which will also include a round table with the expert in design in gastronomy, Juli Capella, can be viewed on the city of Madrid's official tourism website www.esmadrid.com/gastrofestival.