Rebanadas de Carnaval (French Toast)

Rebanadas de Carnaval or Torrijas

In much the same way that the British traditionally eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to use up items before Lent begins, possibly the most popular in the Canary Islands are Rebanadas de Carnaval also known as Torrijas.

Ingredients:

1 'yesterday's' Canarian loaf (pan normal) - any stale crusty white bread like a French stick or baguette will do just as well

1 egg

1 cup of milk 

Sugar 

Ground cinnamon.

Method:

Slice the bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices and discard the ends. Beat the egg, milk and cinnamon together in a bowl then soak the bread slices briefly in the mixture. Lift them carefully and fry gently in oil in a shallow frying pan, turning once. Remove when golden, arrange on a plate and sprinkle with sugar.

This a great way to use up stale bread at any time.

More Flavours of Carnival:

• Sopas de Miel (Literally, Honey Soup)
• Assortment of Carnival Biscuits
• Tortitas de Carnaval (Carnival Pancakes)
• Buñuelos de Carnaval (Carnival Fritters)
• Tortilla de calabaza (Pumpkin omelette)

Tortitas de Carnaval (Carnival Pancakes)

Tortitas de Carnaval

Whilst I've made Torrijas or Rebanadas de carnaval (basically French Toast), those are only one of a whole range of carnival delicacies in the Canary Islands designed to use up those last bits of "naughty food" before Lent. 

And one dish that is quite close to the British tradition of making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday are these Tortitas de Carnaval (Carnival Pancakes). 

Despite the name, this dessert is not made only during carnival, but the recipe is rooted in the days when, for carnival, people dressed in old clothes (men as women and women as men) and went from house to house where they were offered carnival tortitas and arroz con leche (rice pudding). The children disguised themselves during the day and went knocking door to door to ask for eggs to make the famous tortillas, a tradition that is still maintained in some villages of the islands. The pancakes, like many products of Canarian cuisine, don't have just one single recipe and different cooks will add different ingredients to give them a different flavour. These pancakes arrived in La Laguna with students in the 60s and are typical of the Carnival in Gran Canaria.

Ingredients:

(12 portions)

6 eggs
1/2 kg of sugar
400 gr of flour
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 l of milk
100 ml anise
3 tablespoons of honey
olive oil
1 cinnamon stick

Method

Separate egg whites and yolks.

Beat the whites with a stick blender. When they begin to form peaks, add the rest of the ingredients, little by little while continuing to beat. First add the sugar, then egg yolks, flour, anise and milk. Add the lemon zest and let the batter rest.

To make the tortitas, pour small portions of batter into a pan with plenty of hot oil. When they are done on one side, turn them over so they cook on the other.

Add the cinnamon stick to the honey to infuse it and warm slightly. Mix the honey with a splash of olive oil and pour it over the tortitas. Serve.

La Laguna Ahora con la Cocina del Carnaval a la Cuaresma: Tortitas de Carnaval

The Trigger's Broom of Tenerife Carnival

The City Council presents the new sceptre of the Carnival queen

Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, through the Autonomous Organism for Festivities and Recreational Activities (OAFAR), presented this Wednesday the new sceptre of the Carnival queen. An exclusive creation for Santa Cruz carnivals that will replace the current one, which dates from the second half of the 1960s. The new piece made by jeweller Juan Gil, luthier David Sánchez and wood turner Rubén Expósito, is made up of various stones that have been part of the costumes of the Carnival queens between 1979 and 2020.

The act was presided over by the mayor of the city, José Manuel Bermúdez, who was accompanied by the Councillor for Fiestas, Alfonso Cabello; the director of the Carnival, Enrique Camacho; and the craftsman Juan Gil and his team.

In his intervention, the mayor recalled that "tonight the Queen's Gala would have taken place if we had respected the traditional dates of our Carnival before omicron appeared and to replace it, in a modest way, what we have done is present a new sceptre. Carnival is our sign of identity, it is a feeling that is deeply embedded in the hearts of our people. For me, one of the most beautiful things that there can be as a chicharrero is to deliver the sceptre to the queen of the Carnival”. "Linked to the Carnival is the largest associative movement that this city has, almost 10,000 people, who need their performances, so it is key that they can have an objective such as rehearsals and competitions," added Bermúdez.

The Councillor for Festivities, Alfonso Cabello, stated that "it is a privilege to be able to have an exclusive artisan element that will be delivered for the first time at the Election Gala to be held this June." According to the person in charge of OAFAR, "the sceptre perfectly represents the idiosyncrasy and the feeling of the Santa Cruz festival".

Juan Gil, creator of the new carnival baton, acknowledges that "from the first moment this piece has been a real challenge, in which I have tried to capture the Santa Cruz festive heritage, combining the brightness and illusion that this celebration exudes". He also referred to the "multidisciplinary work with the craftsmen David Sánchez and Rubén Expósito, essential to have made the creation of this unique piece possible".

The sceptre has a length of 42.3 cm and is formed in its upper part by an element reminiscent of the añepas, a symbol that represents the power of the Mencey (Guanche Kings). This element is made up of 7 pieces with 6 welds made of sterling silver with sheets between 0.7 and 1.2 mm thick. The central body is a cold fusion by casting high-density epoxy resin on an African Makassar ebony support that brings together the stones of the different carnival reigns. The lower part is made up of 5 pieces joined by 4 welds, also in sterling silver with 0.6 and 1.2 mm sheets that show a design inspired by the traditional Canarian ring. Both this section and the central body show a turning to the axis and another eccentric that allows you to achieve a transition from circular to oval section.

The costumes that have contributed an element of their precious stones to the new sceptre are: “Tangerine Dream” (1979) by Justo Gutiérrez and Leo Martínez; “Frivolous Paris” (1983) by Miguel Ángel Castilla; “Tajaraste” (1987), “Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile” (1988), “Miss Dior” (2007), “Bewitched” (2009), “In Wonderland” (2010), “One Hundred Years of History” (2011) by Leo Martínez; “Pim, pam, pum… fire” (1993), “Diva” (1994) and “Palabras Mágicas” (1995) by M&M; “Manila Yerichana” (2000) “Wednesday of the full moon” (2004), “Touching the skin of the sky” (2005) and “The Chariot of Glory” (2006) by Juan Carlos Armas; “Láchesis” (2003), “The Golden Age” (2008), “Empire” (2012), “Volare” (2013) by Santi Castro; “Powerful Amazon” (2014) and “White Sand of the Desert” (2016) by Daniel Pages; “Áurea” (2015), “Madame Soleil” (2017) and “Renacida” (2018) by Jorge González; “La Nuit” (2019) and “Sentir” (2020) by Sedomir.

El Ayuntamiento presenta el nuevo cetro de la reina del Carnaval (Via)

Lovely as it is (better picture here) - no detraction is intended and the symbolism and re-use of elements is inspired - HOWEVER, as there was no carnival and no new carnival queen in 2021, Santa Cruz instead elected three Guardians of the Sceptre at the virtual only gala. So as the sceptre that the Guardians of the Sceptre have been elected to guard until a new queen can be chosen in 2022, isn't the sceptre that will be presented to the new carnival queen in June, doesn't this (presumably accidental irony) make it into something of a Trigger's Broom Paradox (Ship of Theseus for the academics)?

Buñuelos de Carnaval (Carnival Fritters)

Buñuelos de Carnaval - Carnival fritters

Buñuelos de Carnaval (Carnival Fritters), which we'd like to think are full of carnival flavour, or it might be just alcohol. "Carnival fritters are an essential recipe for these dates," we're told. "It is a traditional Carnival sweet that has a number of incredibly good properties. The joy of the party will be translated into fried donuts that will delight everyone, with very simple ingredients. One of the great "secrets" of this sweet is the two tablespoons of cognac or other liquor that we are passionate about gives it. [Personally, I'd say rum would be more typical of the fiestas.] It will seem they are taken from another dimension."

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

250 ml milk

150 gr of flour

90 gr of white sugar

2 tablespoons brandy [or rum, or whatever]

1 teaspoon yeast

Sunflower oil

Icing sugar to decorate

Method:

Separate the egg yolks from the whites and beat the whites until stiff. Place the egg whites in the fridge to rest for about 10 minutes.

Add half the sugar to the egg whites, little by little. The idea is to not decrease the volume.

In another bowl, mix the egg yolks with the milk. Add a splash of cognac or other liquor (anise is also an option that will give a very traditional flavour).

Add the other half of the sugar, the sifted flour and yeast to this mixture and beat well. There should not be any lumps, to achieve a light and uniform dough.

Fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture with care and enveloping movements so that it maintains the maximum possible fluffiness. Let this dough rest for about 30 minutes before starting to create the fritters.

In a frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. With two spoons, shape the fritters and drop them into the oil to fry them (best done in small batches so as not to cool the oil).

When they are ready, remove from the oil and place them on absorbent paper to remove the excess. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve. 

Buñuelos de Carnaval

Buñuelos de Carnaval

Tortilla de calabaza (Pumpkin omelette)

Tortilla de calabaza (Pumpkin omelette)

Pumpkin omelette is prepared in practically the same way as the traditional potato omelette Tortilla Española (Spanish Omelette), simply substitute the potato for the pumpkin, which gives a rich touch to this omelette and it is spectacular. 

Apparently popular around carnival time, as pumpkin or squash is also one of your 5-a-day, that probably makes it the only healthy dish of the season.

Ingredients

• 600 gr of pumpkin
• 5 eggs
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Pimentón dulce (Sweet paprika)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt

How to make pumpkin omelette

1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes and put them in a microwave-safe container. Cover and cook the pumpkin in the microwave for 3 minutes at maximum power.
2. Beat the eggs in a bowl together with a pinch of salt. 
3. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and add the previously peeled garlic. When the oil warms up, add the pumpkin, mix and add salt to taste.
4. Sauté the squash for a few minutes until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and remove the garlic cloves. Add the pumpkin to the beaten eggs and mix it well.
5. Continue heating another tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the pumpkin and beaten egg mixture, spread the pumpkin over the pan.
6. After a few minutes and when the base of the tortilla is set, turn the tortilla with the help of a plate or lid with a smooth surface. Slide the tortilla back in the pan and continue cooking until it is to your liking. 

Receta de tortilla de calabaza

PUMPKIN OMELETTE | The Most Juicy and Delicious Omelette!

Batatas asadas rellenas de champiñones (Mushroom Stuffed Roasted Sweet Potatoes)

Batatas asadas rellenas de champiñones (Mushroom Stuffed Roasted Sweet Potatoes)

The batata (sweet potato), also known as boniato, is a tuber similar to the potato but that has nothing to do with it in terms of flavor. The sweet potato is sweet and orange in color. Its color is due to the large amount of carotenes it contains, which makes it a great antioxidant. Its glycaemic index is moderate, so it can be consumed regularly. Despite being rich in carbohydrates, it has very few calories. Sweet potatoes are used in both sweet and savoury recipes. This time they will be roasted in the oven, with a mushroom filling.

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes

1 red onion

1 clove garlic

1 leek

150 g of mushrooms

Herbes de Provence (thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil)

Salt

Black pepper

1 egg

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180º. Choose two sweet potatoes that are about the same size and shape. Place them on parchment paper on a tray and roast until tender. The time will depend on the size you have chosen. Those of a medium size and take about 25 minutes. Prick them with a knife to check that they are done inside.

While they are roasting, prepare the filling. Finely chop the onion, leek, and garlic clove. Sauté them in a pan with a little olive oil.

Also chop the mushrooms until they are very small, add them to the pan. Sauté a few minutes until they are done. Remove from heat and reserve.

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and open them in half lengthwise.

Remove the flesh of the sweet potatoes, taking care not to break the skin.

In a bowl, mix the flesh of the sweet potatoes with the sautéed mushrooms. Add a little salt, ground black pepper, and sprinkle with a mixture of Provencal herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil. To give it a creamier texture, beat a small egg and add it to the bowl. Mix well.

Fill each skin of the sweet potato with the mixture that you have prepared and before serving, place them in the oven for 10 minutes so that they are warm. Also if you wish, sprinkle with a little cheese on top and gratin in the oven or under the grill.

Batatas asadas rellenas de champiñones

Winston Churchill in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Winston Churchill with Aristotle Onassis in Tenerife in 1959

On February 21, 1959, at half past eight in the morning, the yacht Christina, owned by the Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis, arrived at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. And a large number of onlookers came to the South Pier to see one of the best vessels of this type that had arrived at the port. 

She was 99.06 meters long and had a seaplane and a car on board. This luxurious yacht had cabins to accommodate 14 guests, in addition to her owner, those for his secretary, a sergeant from Scotland Yard, who served as his escort, and the 42 people who made up the crew. The billionaire was so cranky that the boat, the seaplane, and the car all shared the same colours: white and blue.

While the Greek tycoon was in Casablanca, along with his wife Athina and other companions, he learned that Winston Churchill, 84, was on holiday at the Mamounia hotel in Marrakesh, with his wife Clementine and their eldest daughter, Diana Spencer-Churchill. Onassis took his seaplane and flew to the beautiful Moroccan imperial city to meet the former British prime minister. During the meeting he suggested that he accompany him on the trip that he was going to make to the Canary Archipelago, since in Tenerife he had to deal with certain issues regarding his fleet, Olympic Maritime S.A.

Churchill gladly accepted the invitation, for the Islands were familiar to him because his mother had been here on holiday and had told him of their beauty; furthermore, in 1941, when he was prime minister, Churchill had been the main protagonist of Operation Pilgrim (to occupy the Canary Islands if Franco allied himself with Hitler).

On February 18, the two families left the port of Safi, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, arriving at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the 21st, at 8:30 a.m.

Sir Winston Churchill, after taking a look at the city, preferred to remain on board and said only to the reporters: "I am not in the mood for an interview with the press, but I greet this beautiful island and the Spanish people very cordially through the journalists". Onassis went ashore, heading to La Marina street, to meet with Mr. Willian Lucas, director of Cory Hermanos S.A., the consignee of his ships in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

As William Lucas had known Churchill since 1949, during a trip in which they coincided on the Queen Mary, returning from the US, the president sent him a letter from London thanking him for the hospitality received in Tenerife.

The two ladies, accompanied by Mary Lucas, wife of the consignee, after touring Anaga Avenue and Rambla de Santa Cruz, headed to Puerto de la Cruz to enjoy that tourist spot and contemplate the beautiful valley of La Orotava.

As the ladies commented to their husbands on returning to the yacht about the beauties of the places they had visited, the illustrious visitors headed to Puerto de la Cruz in their Fiat 500 convertible, driven by Onassis. A white panama hat covered Churchill from the sun.

During the tour of the North Tenerife road they stopped several times to admire the landscape and the wonderful views of Mount Teide and the Valley of La Orotava. Upon arriving in Puerto de la Cruz, they were received by the mayor, Isidoro Luis Carpenter, who invited them to sit on the terrace of the Lido San Telmo pools, where, while they drank some whiskeys, Churchill smoked one of the cigars specially made for him by J. Cuesta in Havana. Onassis paid for the drink, leaving 1,000 pesetas as a tip for the waiter, an amount that tripled his salary for the month. Upon leaving the swimming pools, where Lago Martiánez is located today, a large number of English tourists were waiting for them on Colón Avenue, offering them an affectionate tribute in the form of applause, to which Churchill responded with a smile and with his fingers making the Victory vee.

They returned to Santa Cruz in the official car of the Civil Government, because the temperature had dropped at that time of the afternoon in the North of Tenerife. By nightfall they were back aboard the Christina. At 9 pm that night they offered a dinner to the local authorities, who were accompanied by their respective wives. The civil governor of the province, Santiago Galindo Herrero; the president of the Island Council of Tenerife, Juan Ravina Méndez; the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Gumersindo Robayna Galván, and the assistant to the British consul, Eric Lionel Fox. It was a pleasant evening, in which there were typical songs and dances, by Los Huaracheros and the Flores del Sur group. The event ended with a toast to the good relations between Britain and Spain. They also visited La Palma and Gran Canaria.

La estancia de Winston Churchill en Santa Cruz de Tenerife

The Monument to Franco, the last of the recognitions to the dictator in Spain

The contentious Monumento a la Victoria or Monument to Franco

On February 19, 1966, the inauguration of the Monument to Franco in Santa Cruz de Tenerife took place. This was reported in the edition of DIARIO DE AVISOS of February 22 of that year, in which it is detailed that, "at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon a brilliant and emotional ceremony took place in Santa Cruz on the occasion of the delivery, by part of the commission appointed for this purpose and chaired by the Civil Governor and Provincial Head of the Caudillo Movement, to the City Council of the capital”. The article continued, “the aforementioned Monument, the work of the sculptor Juan de Ávalos, as is known, presented a brilliant appearance with all the fountains fully operational…” 

Fifty-six years later, the sculptural ensemble is still standing, defying the passage of time, and awaiting a final report certifying that it also contravenes the Ley de Memoria Histórica de España (Historical Memory Law), which will mean its removal from the streets of Santa Cruz, the last in Spain in which recognition of the dictator is maintained. Santa Cruz City Council recently reignited the controversy by announcing its intention to reinstate water to the monument's fountains after they'd been out of action for 20 years, but now that the monument has been declared illegal is it expected to be removed.

El Monumento a Franco, el último de los reconocimientos al dictador

If you've approached the city from the north, you may have seen the Victory Monument, located in a space adjacent to the (Museo Histórico Militar de Canarias) Military History Museum of the Canary Islands, at the junction of the Rambla de Santa Cruz and Avenida de Anaga. Called variously Monumento a Su Excelencia el Jefe del Estado (The Monument to His Excellency the Head of State), "Monument to Franco", "Monument of the Angel" and "Monument to Victory", it is the work of Juan de Ávalos. The Juan de Ávalos Foundation refers to the sculpture as a Memorial Monument to Peace. 

The sculpture is made of patinated, cast bronze on an iron frame. The angel flying with outstretched wings, is said to represent the Dragon Rapide flight in which Francisco Franco left to initiate the military coup that would unleash the Spanish Civil War. On the back of the angel is a male figure representing Francisco Franco holding a sword in the form of a Christian cross whose tip points downwards. It resembles the Cerro de las Aguzaderas or Angel of Peace, a work Ávalos made two years earlier at Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real).

During 2010 the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife modified the name of the fountain to Monument to the Fallen Angel, although the work does not represent a fallen angel nor had it been considered as such previously. This generated the criticism of several political and social groups (still ongoing), who opine that the City Council resorted to this change of name to avoid the Ley de Memoria Histórica de España (Historical Memory Law). After the municipal elections of 2011, the new government eliminated the modification, calling it Monument to Victory and recognizing its Francoist origin and symbology.

The work is in a poor state and it looks as if the city council is letting the ravages of time, elements and vandalism erase it, rather than demolish it.

Inauguración del monumento al dictador en Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1966)

Papas rellenas de carne a la lagunera (Stuffed potatoes La Laguna style)

Papas rellenas de carne a la lagunera (Stuffed potatoes La Laguna style)

These La Laguna-style stuffed potatoes are a very simple dish.

Ingredients:

(For 4 servings)

• 8 medium potatoes
• 600 gr. minced lean pork meat
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• Salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs

For the sauce

• 75ml Of olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 glass of white wine
• 2 cloves of garlic
• parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• saffron
• Water

Method:

Mix the minced meat with the garlic and parsley very finely chopped, the eggs and salt and pepper. Knead well so that everything is mixed and let it rest while we prepare the potatoes.

Peel and wash the potatoes. With a corer or a hollower - melon baller perhaps - remove the central flesh from the potatoes, until they form one cm thick 'bowls'.

With a teaspoon fill the potatoes with meat.

(If you have meat left over, form some meatballs with it to serve alongside, or reserve for another meal. The potato balls that you remove with the hollower can be reserved to fry them and accompany another dish, or add them together with the stuffed potatoes.)

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and seal the potatoes on the side where the filling was introduced, so that in this way the meat does not come out when you cook them. Reserve.

In a mortar, crush the garlic and parsley.

Finely chop the onion and brown in the oil where you had sealed the potatoes, add the white wine and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add the saffron, the bay leaf and add back the stuffed potatoes, cover them with water, at which point add the crushed garlic and parsley.

Leave to cook until the potatoes are tender, if necessary adding more water. Check the seasoning halfway through cooking in case it is necessary to add a little salt.

Papas rellenas de carne a la lagunera 

The nun and the pirate: Amaro Pargo and Sister María de Jesús The Servant of God

Amaro Pargo (1678 – 1747), one of the most renowned corsairs of the Golden Age of Piracy, was a great devotee and later benefactor of Sor María de Jesus - the incorrupt nun known as La Siervita - of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina de Siena de La Laguna. This Don Amaro, a famous character from La Laguna, for his pranks as a boy; his maritime prowess and great wealth, was one of the greatest admirers of the virtues of Sister María de Jesús, La Siervita. This veneration for the nun was inherited from a relation - reputedly either his sister or niece - who was also cloistered in the same convent, and she was the one who inspired those feelings. 

He never undertook business, expedition or entered into a contract without first consulting with the nun and obtaining her approval. 

The prophetic announcements that the nun offered proved to be very useful to the corsair, as well as to the rest of his family, as in the case of Amaro's brother, to whom she prophesied that he would not return from a trip.

They say that while he was on one of his pirate raids sailing the seas and returning to the islands, a horrible storm put the boat he was commanding in the process of being shipwrecked, and remembering Amaro Pargo, who was bringing some objects from Sor María de Jesús that he considered as relics, he threw them into the sea imploring the remedy that was not long in coming and that abated the storm. 

On another of his trips aboard one of his most famous corsair ships, the "Fortuna", he encountered a Turkish-flagged pirate ship that attacked him, and on boarding he had to beat a retreat, and close to surrendering, he heard a voice that told him: "Cheer up, don't be afraid, God is on your side", defeating the pirate, after which he was able to triumphantly enter the port of Santa Cruz with the seized boat on Holy Saturday of that same year.

In gratitude, Don Amaro endowed the cost of exhibiting the Blessed Sacrament on Monday and Tuesday of Easter each year in the church of the Convent of Sta. Catalina, attributing this victory to the intervention of María de Jesús, who had a revelation of the event.

Another episode recounts that while Don Amaro was in America, one night he was attacked by a man with a dagger, from which he emerged unharmed, the aggressor having to flee. After he arrived from his trip, he went, as he always did, to La Laguna to visit his protector, and telling her about the event, she showed him a blanket full of slashes. Don Amaro kept the blanket in great esteem because he always took it wherever he went.

Finally, it should be noted that upon the death of La Siervita, Amaro Pargo, not content with endowing his assets on an anniversary for the soul of the nun, wanted to give her precious remains a more dignified resting place than the earth. Three years after her death, in 1734, he requested the necessary permits to exhume the corpse and bury it in a box. Being a personal witness to the wonder he observed regarding the preservation of the body, and which motivated him to dedicate not only a box, but a very expensive sarcophagus, which is the same in which the corpse of the nun still remains incorrupt.

There are verses written on the sarcophagus, of which the first letter of each line spell out the word PARGO, in clear allusion to the corsair.

The sarcophagus is a work of craftsmanship made of carved wood, decorated in red, blue and gold leaf, which can be opened using three keys, removing its front part, behind which there is a wood and glass compartment in which the nun lies, that is used every February 15 (the anniversary of her death) to exhibit the incorrupt body to public worship.

Amaro Pargo y Sor María de Jesús La Sierva de Dios

Tetas de Santa Águeda (Saint Agatha's Tits)

Tetas de Santa Águeda (Saint Agatha's Tits)

So, this week we've had Saint Anthony Buns and Saint Blaise Bread and now today, February 5, for Santa Águeda de Catania (Saint Agatha of Sicily), we get Tetas de Santa Águeda (Saint Agatha's Tits). She is also the patron saint of breast cancer patients, owing to the form of torture this virgin martyr underwent. These buns have also been somewhat more delicately described as Las Reliquias de Santa Águeda (Saint Agatha's Relics). 

Ingredients:

Orange blossom water 

400g of flour

milk

yeast

200g sugar

3 eggs

100g of oil

50 g of anise or rum

1/2 l of whipping cream 

jelly/jam

dark chocolate

Glace cherries to decorate

Method:

Dissolve the yeast in warmed milk and mix with 50 g of flour. Make a ball and leave it in a bowl of hot water until the ball rises to the surface.

Put the rest of the flour in a food processor with the sugar, 2 eggs, the oil, the anise/rum and the orange blossom water: mix everything well. Add the yeast dough, and continue mixing. Once the dough is made, let it rest for a few minutes, covered or brushed with a little oil so that it does not form a crust.

Weigh pieces of the desired size (25 or 30 g is sufficient) bearing in mind that, after fermentation (proving), for 30 minutes, these will double in size. Roll the dough into a ball and place on an oven tray previously brushed with a little oil or butter.

Placed in a warm and humid place to prove, such as the oven at a maximum of 30-40ºC with a container with (hot) water inside so that the dough does not dry out and can rise well.

When the dough has doubled in size, brush with egg or milk (or a mixture of the two).

Bake at 220º C for 6 or 7 minutes.

Once cooled, open the middle with a serrated knife and fill with whipped cream.

For the decoration, each pastry shop does it in a different way, you can paint with apple jelly or hot apricot jam to give it shine and sprinkle with chocolate vermicelli. Or decorate with melted dark chocolate. Of course, these must be finished with glace cherries.

Tetas de Santa Águeda

Pan de San Blas (Saint Blaise Bread)

San Blas (Saint Blaise)

The folks from the Mercado Municipal in La Laguna bring us yet another fascinating foodie story: Apparently, February 2nd, La Candelaria, February 3rd, San Blas (Saint Blaise) and two days later Santa Águeda (Agatha of Sicily), are dates, which together, in the folklore of the Iberian Peninsula, are related to the end of winter that heralds the rebirth of life in the countryside, which the church transformed into festivals for Christian saints. And no party escapes celebration with food.

So we come to San Blas Bread, which has no effect if it is not distributed: Tradition has it that San Blas saved a child from choking on a fish bone that was stuck in his throat. He was a doctor - in addition to being a bishop and dying a martyr - and it's possible that he knew how to extract the bone from the child's throat and prescribe some remedies to reduce the infection and fever. Since sore throats were and are so common, especially in children, and without penicillin one had to rely heavily on miracles, his popularity spread rapidly in both the Eastern and Western churches.

The bread that bears the name of San Blas, a kind of bun, is distributed in order to work the miracle of curing or preventing throat infections in whoever eats it after praying an Our Father (Lord's Prayer), and provided that it has been blessed beforehand at the mass that is celebrated in honour of San Blas. All this superstitious ritual is already being forgotten and only in certain houses the custom remains of making San Blas bread and distributing it among the relatives.

Apparently it's a very bland and unappetising bun, so reproducing the old recipe is only to prevent it from ending up in oblivion. In case someone dares to make the Pan de San Blas (Saint Blaise Bread), here's the recipe.

Ingredients

500 grams of strong flour

1dl olive oil

150ml of whole milk

50 grams of fresh yeast

1/2 teaspoon of salt

4 egg yolks

150 grams of sugar for the dough and 50 gr. more for dusting buns

the grated rind of a lemon

Method

Warm the milk and dissolve the yeast in it.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites, reserving at least one of the latter to brush before putting the buns in the oven.

Put the egg yolks, oil, lemon zest and sugar in a large bowl and mix well with a whisk or fork. Then add the milk with the yeast. Once all this is mixed, pour in the flour and salt and knead until you get a homogeneous and compact dough that allows you to form balls, 5 cm in diameter, more or less.

Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes.

Knead again a little and place the balls, separated from each other so they have space as they grow, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and keep them at 50º for a long time so that they rise and increase in size.

When they have reached the right rise, increasing their initial volume by at least a third, brush with the egg white and sprinkle with a little sugar. Raise the oven temperature to 180º and cook until golden brown, 12-15 minutes more or less.

There are variations on this recipe, adding anise or substituting the milk for orange juice, and Pan bendito de San Blas (Blessed San Blas Bread) typical of the Murcia region in southern Spain, its decorated form can be seen here and here.

Pan de San Blas (Via)

Anniversary of Agustín de Betancourt

Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (1758 - 1824)

In the church square in Puerto de la Cruz, is this statue of Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (born February 1st, 1758), who along with Tenerife and Guatemala's shared Saint, Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt (born in Vilaflor in 1626), as well as others of Canary Islands descent still bearing the surname, can trace his ancestry back to French explorer and conqueror of Fuerteventura and Hierro, Jean de Béthencourt, who first landed on the island of Lanzarote in 1402.

Father of Modern Engineering

Betancourt was a prominent Spanish engineer, considered to be "the father of modern engineering" in both Spain and Russia, with work that ranged from steam engines and balloons to structural engineering and urban planning. Betancourt founded and managed the Spanish Corps of Engineers and the Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers. As an urban planner and construction manager, he supervised planning and construction in Saint Petersburg, Kronstadt, Nizhny Novgorod and other Russian cities and was involved in significant projects, including the Moscow Manege and The Saviour Cathedral in Nizhny Novgorod. He reached the rank of General in the Russian army of Tsar Alexander I and was the first director of the Madrid School of Civil Engineering. He also visited England where he met Scottish steam engine pioneer, James Watt.

Holidays for Modern Engineers

You can stay on the spot where Agustín de Betancourt was born, because the Hotel Monopol, which the bust is opposite, is built on the site of his birthplace.

Tenerife in February 2022

Barraquito coffee in a bar in Santa Cruz, during Carnival in 2019

Forty days after Christmas Candelaria (Candlemas) is celebrated, which officially marks the end of the Christmas period and in the Vatican, Christmas decorations are kept until that day. In Medieval and Tudor times too, the Eve of Candlemas (1st February) was when Christmas decorations and greenery were removed from homes and churches in Britain. February 2 - Virgen de la Candelaria (Candlemas), is a public holiday in Tenerife.

There are no municipal holidays in February this year.

Under normal circumstances, February would be the busy month of carnival in the capital, but Santa Cruz Carnival 2022 is to be held in June.

La Orotava Council presented the program and poster announcing the town's 2022 Carnival festivities. "It is an austere but worthy program for the townsfolk to enjoy," stressed Mayor Francisco Linares, who pointed out that, despite the health situation that we have been going through since 2020, the objective is to keep these traditional celebrations alive and support all the groups related to carnivals and that have miraculously survived. The programming will be face-to-face and virtual through the carnival website and social networks. Among other things, there will be festivals, contests and exhibitions.

The face-to-face events begin on Friday, February 25, at the Teobaldo Power Auditorium, with the gala "Around the world in Carnival, you choose the destination", dedicated especially to designers who will present costumes with the theme of the world's carnivals, and which will then be exhibited, from Sunday February 27 to March 6 at the Sociedad Cultural Lieco de Taoro, and be voted on electronically. The gala will also feature various performances and can be followed live on social networks and television.  

On Saturday, February 26, the photo exhibition of the Piñata Dance will be inaugurated at the Casa de la Cultura de San Agustín, organized by the cultural group La Escalera and the town council.

Programa del Carnaval 2022