Traditional recipes: Rosquetes rellenos (stuffed donuts) a 19th century recipe

Rosquetes canarios (Canarian donuts)

Fried donuts filled with a boozy, nutty, syrupy mixture, what's not to like? Some effort, but should be well worth it. Those of you 'of a certain age' may be familiar with the curious old measurements that had appeared in this ancient Canarian recipe.

Ingredients: 

1 egg and 4 egg yolks
½ pound (250g) of flour
½ pound (250g) of lard
2 teaspoons of yeast
juice of 1.5 lemons
a pinch of salt
butter for spreading
2 ounces (57.4g) peeled almonds
½ pound (250g) of sugar
a glass of anise liqueur
ground cinnamon
anise/aniseed
Sherry

Method: 

Beat an egg (white and yolk together). Next, mix ½ pound of flour and ½ pound of lard and two teaspoons of yeast. When they are well mixed, add the beaten egg, which has previously been mixed with the water that is necessary [going to have to guess this one], the juice of 1 lemon and a pinch of salt. After kneading everything very well, roll out the dough on a floured surface. When well extended, it needs to be folded into four. It is first spread well with butter. This must be done three times, letting butter rest from one layer to another, for about ten minutes.

Fry two ounces of peeled almonds then grind them. Then a syrup is made, putting on the heat half a pound of sugar with half a quart of water and stirring well (it is removed from the heat when the syrup coats the back of the spoon, hanging on it as if it were a strand). To this syrup are added the ground almonds, the juice of half a lemon, a glass of anise liqueur, a powder [pinch] of ground cinnamon, a powder [pinch] of anise, half a portion of Sherry wine and four yolks. When all the ingredients have been mixed well, put this paste on the heat until it is well cooked. It is better to wait a day to introduce this paste into the donuts (leave in a cool place).

Roll out the previously prepared dough with a rolling pin, until it is very fine. Then the dough is cut into pieces four fingers wide, put a little of the filling in the center of the dough and then roll it, like a cigar, forming the donut. The donuts are then fried in very hot oil.

• Libra (Pound): Old weight, variable according to the provinces, in the Canary Islands it can be compared to 500 grams. Therefore, in this recipe 250 grams are mixed. flour and 250 grs. lard. The syrup is also made with 250 grams. of sugar.
• Onza (Ounce): Weight that consists of 16 adarmes and is equivalent to 287 decigrams. Therefore, in this recipe, the filling of the donuts is made with 57.4 grs. peeled almonds.
• Cuartillo (Quart): Measurement of liquids, a quarter of a gallon, equivalent to 504 milliliters. Therefore, in this recipe the syrup is made with ¼ liter of water.
• Polvo (Powder): Powder is understood as that which is only taken with the fingertips of the thumb and index finger [.i.e. a pinch].

El Mercado de La Laguna con las recetas tradicionales: Rosquetes rellenos (Receta del siglo XIX)

The video below shows a more usual recipe for Rosquetes canarios (Canarian donuts), in which the unfilled donuts are fried and then bathed in sugar syrup.



Recetas de cocina fácil - Rosquetes canarios

Frutas de otoño (Autumn fruits)

Just some of the many autumn fruits which grow in a fertile valley on the north of Tenerife

With today, Tuesday 22 September 2020, being the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere, we bring you this guide to the seasonal fruits such as figs, quinces, grapes, persimmons, pomegranates, apples, pears, kiwis and nuts (chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts), many of which will be familiar, some less so, that are available on the island.

Autumn fruits:

• Figs: The fig is a sweet fruit that can be found during the late summer and early autumn. Due to their fragility, they are eaten fresh only during autumn, although dried figs are very typical at Christmas.
• Quince: Quince is an autumn fruit that is consumed only after cooking. For this reason, it is used mainly to make jam, compote or the popular quince paste.
• Grapes: The grape is a fruit rich in antioxidants that we can enjoy especially during autumn, its best time.
• Kaki or Persimmon: Persimmon is a tropical fruit typical of autumn, being very difficult to find fresh at another time.
• Pomegranate: is a refreshing fruit with a sweet and sour taste that is becoming increasingly popular. There are many health benefits, including its high antioxidant content and its stimulating power of sexual desire, which is why it is known as natural viagra.
• Apple: The apple, one of the most consumed fruits in the world, has its best season in autumn. Discover the different types of apple, how to preserve them and their use in the kitchen.
• Pears: The pear is a comm:on fruit in every home. Although you can buy pears at any time of the year, their best time is in the autumn. Pears are a good source of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, and vitamin E.
• Kiwis: The kiwi is a fruit very rich in vitamin C with which it can be made canned, drinks, baked goods or eaten fresh. 
• Berries: The blueberry is a fruit that is at its best in September. Out of season they are only frozen, packaged or dried. Raspberries are at their best from late summer through to October. The rest of the year it is only possible to buy them frozen, canned or in syrup. Blackberries ripen in late summer and early fall, although they can be easily frozen for year-round enjoyment.

Walnuts for sale in a north Tenerife supermarket

Nuts:

Autumn is the season for nuts, rich in antioxidants and a good source of energy. In addition, nuts stand out for their ease of preservation.

• Chestnuts: The chestnut is a dry fruit typical of autumn and is usually associated with Christmas. Because they are easy to keep, they can be found until the end of winter.
• Hazelnuts: Hazelnut is a dried fruit that can be found fresh in autumn, although its greatest demand occurs during the Christmas holidays.
• Walnuts: The best season to buy walnuts is the month of November, as that is when they are ripe and dry.

Cruise ships expected to return to Tenerife at the end of October

Cruise ships in port in Santa Cruz de Tenerife Hajotthu / CC BY

Cruise ships will return to the ports of Tenerife at the end of October at 60 percent capacity, as required by health regulations, which means an average of 1,500 passengers per week.

The president and director of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Carlos González and Aitor Acha, held a meeting on Friday with municipal representatives and two consignees to establish lines of collaboration for the new cruise season.

Present at the meeting were José Manuel Bermúdez, mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Evelyn Alonso, councilor for Economic Promotion; Alfonso Cabello, councilor for Festivities and Recreational Activities; Gabriel Cabrera and Guillermo Ponte, representatives of the consignees Pérez y Cía y Hamilton, and Elisa Zamora, commercial manager of the Port Authority. Juan José Cabrera and Adasath Reyes, councilors of Santa Cruz de La Palma and San Sebastián de La Gomera, respectively, were present via virtual links.

At the beginning of the meeting, both González and Acha presented the current situation that the new cruise season is expected to face, where the Merchant Marine must receive a report from the Canarian Ministry of Health that guarantees the viability of the routes of cruise ships. Once issued and the approval of the Ministry is obtained, 45 days will elapse for it to begin, so it is estimated that the start date will be at the end of October.

Currently, it is hoped to start with the TUI company ships, which it will do so at 60 percent capacity, attracting about 1,500 weekly passengers.

The main doubts on the part of the municipalities have been directed to security. The consignees have discussed the tests carried out with cruises in Greece, so it is likely that cruise passengers will be prevented from leaving the ships autonomously, proposing excursions and 'bubble activities' only. José Manuel Bermúdez has offered public spaces to develop proposals for visitors, "due to the importance of the presence of cruise passengers in our city for the capital's business fabric."

The Health Department has emphasized that there must be no infections, so a protocol has been developed, for which Puertos de Tenerife has requested collaboration, to provide residences to house any possible infected person. Bermúdez, Cabrera and Adasath have promised after the meeting to collaborate with the port authority to locate spaces that could be used for this purpose. Everything indicates that, although with restrictions, the cruise season is going to resume in the Canary Islands after the health crisis, with bases in Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Los cruceros regresarán a Tenerife a finales de octubre

[ED: Can't help thinking that there is a lot of wishful thinking here.]

La Laguna to remember the victims of the Los Rodeos plane crash in the San Juan cemetery

Cementerio de San Juan Bautista, La Laguna Mataparda / CC BY

The City Council will place a monolith and a plaque in the place where those people who died in the worst accident in the history of aviation rest and who could not be identified.

The Department of Cemeteries of the City Council of La Laguna, led by Cristina Ledesma, has started the process to place a monolith and a plaque in the Cementerio de San Juan Bautista in tribute to the 583 people who lost their lives in the largest plane crash in history, which occurred 43 years ago at the Los Rodeos airport. These recognitions will be located in the place where the remains of many of the victims are located, who also have a sculpture in their memory in the municipality on the Mesa Mota mountain.

“It is an act of justice to preserve the memory of the victims of that accident who were buried in a grave in the San Juan cemetery, without being able to be identified, with the future monument and the plaque, but also by sprucing up the plot where these remains can be found”. "All of them are part of history for this terrible event and we want to carry out this initiative out of respect for them and their families, who lost their loved ones without having the opportunity to say goodbye in an appropriate way," she adds.

The event took place on March 27, 1977 and was caused by the collision between two Boeing 747 aircraft. The accident has the highest number of fatalities in aviation history, with 583 passengers losing their lives and just 61 surviving.

La Laguna recordará a las víctimas del accidente aéreo de Los Rodeos en el cementerio de San Juan (Via)

Cementerio de San Juan La Laguna Tenerife

Güímar Hillclimb 2020 Suspended

Another event on the Rally Calendar, the Güímar Hillclimb, that was to have taken place this weekend, has now been suspended.

In a statement, organisers said that, given the current health situation, as well as the requirements imposed by the Government of the Canary Islands in terms of the prevention of contagion of COVID-19, they have made the decision to SUSPEND the 47th Ascent to the Mirador de Güímar - Tenerife Island. 

The event had already been postponed from July and, additionally, their efforts were truncated by not being able to find the necessary financial support to be able to celebrate with all the demands that are required today. 

We can merely bring you a little snippet of the action from last year.

46º SUBIDA A GÜÍMAR 2019

The City of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is left without its "usual" Carnival in 2021 after eliminating dances and contests

Carnival Parade in Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2019

The Councillor of Fiestas indicates that only the election of the Carnival Queen and group exhibitions would be held, which will last throughout the year for tourism

Santa Cruz de Tenerife will be without Carnival "as we know it" in 2021. It will not have dances at night in the streets, nor Daytime Carnivals, nor the fair, nor contests. Although it's expected that there will be a gala for the election of the carnival queen, it would be the only contest that would take place and this would be outdoors. The program would be completed with some group exhibitions. This "Carnival experience" will last approximately a week.

Faced with the uncertainty caused by the Covid 19 coronavirus pandemic, councilor Alfonso Cabello affirmed that next year, Santa Cruz will not be able to enjoy its Carnival "as usual, unless the situation changes a lot and we have a vaccine." "Hopefully I can see our Carnival again in this mandate as it has always been," he added.

Regarding the dates, he also clarified that it is not yet completely decided if this "Carnival experience" will take place in April or July, although the Councilor anticipates that it will be held after Easter. "Companies in the events sector prefer April and Carnival groups, July. The final decision will be made between September and October," he said.

What is clear, he added, is that "it will not be a traditional Carnival, because, in principle, there will be no dances in the street, neither night or day; no mass performances; no fair; nor contests." "We have to think that it will be a different party, that it will last approximately a week and in which there will be no crowds. Our intention is that the Queen can be chosen and that there will be a stellar performance at the gala. The rest of the program will be formed of exhibitions led by the groups," he said.

Responding to a request by Ashotel (Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro), these exhibitions will continue throughout the year for tourists so that carnival may generate revenue during the 365 days of the year. "We will create a brand so that this lasts beyond a week. The economic amounts that we give to the carnival groups (murgas, comparsas, groups and rondallas) correspond to the performances they carry out. As in 2021 there will not be contests, we can take advantage of exhibitions, for example for cruise passengers when they arrive at the port, throughout the year," explained Cabello.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife se quedará sin su Carnaval "de siempre" al eliminar bailes y concursos

[NB: Parades are not mentioned, but if there are to be no crowds, then we should probably assume that there will also not be any of the parades in the streets next year either.

Concern in the Canary Islands about the five hurricanes moving across the Atlantic

Five hurricanes (stock image)

The hurricanes that are currently active - the 5 tropical cyclones in the Atlantic at the same time for only the second time in history - will not affect the archipelago, but AEMET does not rule out the arrival of a cyclonic episode before the end of October.

The delegate of the State Meteorological Agency in the Canary Islands, Jesús Agüera, has made an assurance that the hurricanes that have formed in recent days in the Atlantic will not reach the archipelago, although the agency has not ruled out that, before the end of the season, the islands may be affected by any of these phenomena.

Preocupación en Canarias por los cinco huracanes que se desplazan por el Atlántico

[ED: Could 2020 get any worse? No, DON'T answer that!]

UPDATE: HURRICANE PAULETTE STARTS HEADING TO THE CANARY ISLANDS

Comparsa Danzarines Canarios 2020

Comparsa Danzarines Canarios 2020

The comparsa groups epitomise the spirit of carnival with all they impart in their 'colour, joy and rhythm [...] with exuberant costumes and sonorous drums.' This is Comparsa Danzarines Canarios' performance at the Comparsas Contest in 2020.

Carnival 2021: Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been postponed to the second quarter of 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The city council will choose the final date in September 2020 and in consensus with the carnival groups. Three options are currently being considered: April, May or July 2021. New dates will be listed here.



Los Danzarines Canarios | Comparsas Adultas | S/C Tenerife 2020

Carnivals of the World: La Palma

The quintessential character of this festival is La Negra Tomasa whose arrival triggers the celebration of the Los Indianos festival was devised by Victor Lorenzo Díaz Molina, better known as Sosó.
Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de La Palma / CC BY-SA

For this excursion to the Carnivals of the World - the theme chosen for Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival in 2021, we need only go as far as the neighbouring island of La Palma, where the biggest event of the carnival in the capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma is Los Indianos, normally held on Carnival Monday, the day before Shrove Tuesday. 

The figure of La Negra Tomasa, possibly the most emblematic character of this festival, is certain to offend some people, being a character who is blacked up and in drag, so a little context and history is required to attempt to explain this unique tradition.

Los Indianos is a traditional festival on the island of La Palma that attempts to poke fun at the islanders who had emigrated to Las Indias, that is the West Indies, more specifically to Cuba, and who, on their return, flaunted the wealth they had obtained in those lands. These islanders who had emigrated and returned to the island were labeled "indianos".

In the middle of the afternoon, the parade begins from the Avenida de los Indianos, next to the port, to the Plaza de La Alameda, where the party will continue until the early hours of the morning. The Indianos carry luggage; leather suitcases and trunks, maybe filled with Monopoly money, cages with tropical animals and some even a retinue of black servants, all accompanied by Cuban music and tastings of sugar cane, molasses and mojitos.

Traditional dress for this festival consists of a guayabera (a.k.a. Beach wedding shirts) traditionally associated with Cuba and white pants or a linen suit, as well as a Panamanian hat. Women dress in equally white period dresses and lace parasols. As can be seen, the festival has a strong Cuban flavour, this is so because it was one of the main sources of emigration for many people of La Palma, so the two islands were strongly linked.

Tons of talc are used in the battle Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de La Palma / CC BY-SA

The battle of talcum powder, according to popular belief, has its origin during the 19th century, when a ship left a cargo of flour in poor condition in port, becoming an element of fun at the carnival that was celebrated at that time. This belief was discarded because 17th century documents have been found that speak of "powdering" on Carnival Monday. It is believed to be a custom inherited from Cuban rituals of bleaching the skin. At the beginning of the 20th century, this tradition was repressed, as "it disturbed public order too much", but from the second half of the century it began to recover, replacing the flour with talc.



Los Indianos de Santa Cruz de La Palma 2020

Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been postponed to the second quarter of 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The city council will choose the final date in September 2020 and in consensus with the carnival groups. Three options are currently being considered: April, May or July 2021. New dates will be listed here.

Magic and Mythology the winning theme for Carnival 2021 in Puerto de la Cruz

Magic and Mythology the theme of Carnival 2021 in Puerto de la Cruz

Winning with just one vote, Magic and Mythology has been chosen to be the theme of Carnival 2021 in Puerto de la Cruz, which currently, the town hall and organisers are hoping to hold on it's originally planned dates of between 11 and 20 February 2021.

The 1,375 votes were distributed as follows: Magic and Mythology: 433, My Pretty Cuba: 432, The World of TV: 298, Pop Art: 114 and A Carnival of Toys: 98.

Carnival in Puerto de la Cruz