Puchero Canario (Canarian Stew)

Plato de puchero canario Image by J Toledo Some rights reserved

Andy Montgomery mentioned that all the vegetable ingredients for puchero were laid out for sale on a special display at her local supermarket yesterday.

In my opinion, puchero is by far the best dish in Canarian Cuisine.

It’s a wonderfully warming stew of meat, vegetables and legumes, which is a perfect dish for a party or family gathering. Indeed one of my recipe books has a version that was used for weddings in the 19th Century. However, it’s also perfectly suited to everyday eating, so here’s a translation of the most typical version used in Canarian home cooking.

Ingredients:

200 grs dry chick-peas (garbanzo beans)

500 grs beef 

500 grs pork or chicken (cheap cuts are best) 

1 kg cabbage

200 grs pumpkin

200 grs French beans

1 fresh corncob

1 sweet potato

1 kg potatoes

30 grs vegetable marrow

1 or 2 carrots

1 leek

1 head of garlic

1 onion

1 tomato

saffron, thyme and salt.

Method:

Soak the chickpeas overnight in cold water, drain well and put in a large saucepan with the meat and cover with water. Add chopped leek, onion and tomato to the pan. Crush the garlic, and mix with the thyme, saffron and salt, preferably in a pestle and mortar, then add these to the pot also. When the meat is cooked add all the other vegetables, cut into large pieces, and then continue at a simmer until all the vegetables are tender but still whole.

To serve, remove the meat and vegetables from the pot with a slotted spoon and arrange on serving dishes. Provide plenty of typical Canarian bread (crusty), local wine by the carafe and you have a very pleasant and relaxed meal for your guests to help themselves to. Buen provecho!

Puchero Canario

Tenerife Carnival Dates for 2011

Carnival 2011 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife

After the Election of the Carnival Queen on Wednesday, 2 March, the main events of Carnival in the streets of Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2011 are:

• Friday, March 4th: Santa Cruz Carnaval takes to the streets, with the Cabalgata Anunciadora (Opening Parade) from 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 5th: Ministry of Sound. 11 p.m. – 6 a.m.
• Tuesday, March 8th: (Carnaval Tuesday): The Coso Apoteosis (Main Parade) along the front at Santa Cruz (Avenidas de Francisco La Roche and Marítima), from around 4 p.m. 
• Ash Wednesday, March 9th: Burial of the Sardine. Where it’s essential for men to dress up as "Widows" to mourn the poor old defunct sardine and generally have a blasphemous night of it. The funeral procession is along the following streets; Juan Pablo II, Méndez Núñez, Pilar, Villalba Hervás, La Marina ending in the Avenida Francisco La Roche, where the sardine is then cremated.
• Saturday, March 12th: Carnaval de Día (Daytime Carnaval) is a new phenomenon to Santa Cruz in recent years, featuring live music and dancing around the city’s squares; Plaza de la Candelaria, Plaza del Príncipe, Plaza de Europa & Plaza Weyler, plus an ear-splittingly noisy tracas/mascletas of firework explosions, in the style of the Fallas de Valencia. The Coso Infantil (Junior Parade) takes place at 6 p.m., with the route as follows: Francisco La Roche, Avenida Marítima ending in Alameda del Duque de Santa Elena.
• Sunday, March 13th: Sunday morning, 10 a.m. begins an exhibition of Automóviles Antiguos (Vintage Cars) which is when these beautiful vehicles gather at the Parque García Sanabria and then parade around the city from mid-day. End of carnival parties.

Public Holidays in Tenerife 2011

2011

The Government of the Canary Islands has approved the following list of the Public Holidays in the Canary Islands for 2011:

• 1 January, Año Nuevo / New Year
• 6 January, Epifanía del Señor / Epiphany
• 2 February, Virgen de la Candelaria / Candlemas
• 21 April, Jueves Santo / Holy Thursday
• 22 April, Viernes Santo / Good Friday
• 30 May, Día de Canarias / Canaries Day
• 15 August, Asunción de la Virgen / Assumption
• 12 October, Fiesta Nacional de España / Spanish National Holiday
• 1 November, Todos los Santos / All Saints
• 6 December, Día de la Constitución Española / Constitution Day
• 8 December, Inmaculada Concepción / Immaculate Conception
• 26 December, Natividad del Señor / Day in lieu of Christmas Day

The two peculiarities in this list are that because Fiesta del Trabajo / Labour Day, May 1st falls on a Sunday, the day in lieu, rather than the next day, has been given as May 30th, for Día de Canarias / Canaries Day instead. Likewise, as Christmas Day in 2011 will also fall on a Sunday, December 26th has been given as a day in lieu. (Boxing Day isn’t a holiday in Spain.) There’s a legal right to days off on public holidays in Spain (there's no such right in Britain), however, you should note that the official working week in Spain consists of 6 days, Monday to Saturday, inclusive. To make up the 14 days public holidays decreed by law, two additional days are added that are specific to each municipal council area.

More information: Public holidays in the Canary Islands

Husband by the hour in Tenerife

We’ve a feeling that there may be a few restrictions to the type of duties that are available for hire (or not), but nevertheless, we applaud the resourcefulness of one unemployed man in the south of Tenerife.

José Antonio Martín is a lorry driver, who, back in July, became unemployed, at which time he started to advertise himself as a “husband by the hour”, an original idea that has allowed him to make enough money to get by. He advertises his services in various shops in his neighbourhood, which is how his neighbours get to know about his services when they need to do some small repairs around the house.

At economical prices and on any day of the week, José Antonio has ensured that the crisis hasn’t been an impediment for him by carrying out whatever domestic labours that present a difficulty for others because of lack of time, etc.

We’d usually call him a handyman, but “husband by the hour” is a much more fun and memorable description to market himself with. Via RTVC.

Fiesta de San Andrés 29th November

Castañada

Delicious roasted chestnuts, succulent pinchos and sizzling sardines are just some of the street food on offer in Tenerife's Puerto de la Cruz as part of its Fiesta de San Andrés on the eve of Saint Andrew's Day each year on November 29th. In Puerto de la Cruz, the events are popularly known as the La Fiesta del Cacharro - Festival of Pots (although cacharro translates to scrap metal) or Chestnuts. Kids drag strings of tin cans, metal pots and pans around the streets to make as much noise as possible (well, more than usual anyway). The "Castañada" (chestnut feast) is held in the Plaza del Charco square itself.

But quite why Scotland's Patron Saint is celebrated on the island (or indeed why the flag of Tenerife is the same as the Scottish flag with a white saltire (or St Andrew's Cross) over a blue field), with Icod de los Vinos' kamikaze "tablas" or this noisy custom, seems to be one of those mysteries lost in the annals of history. Some say it was started as a way to drive away a plague of locusts, others attribute it to the cleaning of the barrels with salt water to remove the acid build up. To do this, in olden times, they would roll the barrels down to the sea and, of course, the metal bands would make quite a racket on the cobbled streets. Despite appearances, which one might derive from the date and naming, the church assures us that these fiestas are not held to honour the Saint. The mere seasonal coincidences with the Saint's day, the time the new wine is ready and the harvest of the chestnuts - and the general habit of tacking celebrations onto the nearest Catholic feast - seem to be the simple reasons for these customs.

Arrastre de las tablas

Meanwhile in Icod de los Vinos, the principal events of the fiesta, starting with the symbolic uncorking of the first bottle from the annual vintage and the tasting of the first wines of the year from the Ycoden-Daute-Isora region, usually take place at the Casa de los Cáceres in the Plaza de la Pila from 8.00 p.m. The Arrastre de las tablas, will be hurtling down the streets; El Plano, San Antonio, Hércules, El Salto, El Sol, Los Coches, San Andrés and others, throughout the day & night.

Photos by Jack Montgomery

Pimp My Ride, Tenerife Stylee

Rusty Motorcycle

It’s difficult to decide whether the protagonist of this tale should get a reward for his resourcefulness, or be considered for a future Darwin Award. Whatever, he may possibly already have set some sort of world record for the most number of motoring offences committed at any one time – while still a minor.

What is is about moped users in Tenerife, for heaven’s sake? We’ve previously had a goat on a moped, wearing a crash helmet and then there was the snake on a moped, without a helmet. This time there are no strange animals involved, you’ll be glad to hear, unless you count the reckless two-legged rider, of course …

In this latest report, the youngster was apprehended by the Civil Guard’s Traffic Division in Tenerife after he’d been observed circulating on his moped, on the hard-shoulder of the TF-5 highway, in sentido contrario (going the wrong way.)

The lad explained to the police patrol in Icod de los Vinos that he was on his way to the petrol station to fill up and inflate the tyres. (As you do, I guess!)

The report states that officers found him riding without a helmet, with no driving licence, no insurance, nor documentation for the vehicle, which also didn’t have a registration plate. The motorcycle didn’t have the necessary registration or documentation, as it had been assembled out of pieces of various others.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Carnival Queen 2010

Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2010, Alicia San Juan McNulty

Carnival Queen in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2010 was Alicia San Juan McNulty, with, "En el País de las Maravillas" (In Wonderland) - her name is Alicia (Alice), after all - designed by Leo Martínez and representing newspaper El Día.

In 2010, the court consisted:

1. 1st Maid of Honour: Estefanía Ruiz Sabina, with a costume entitled "Aromas de sándalo" (Sandalwood scents), representing Centro Comercial Meridiano and designed by Saliarca Creativos.
2. 2nd Maid of Honour: Milagros Jerónimo Fumero, with a costume entitled "Lágrimas de luna" (Tears of the moon), representing Tranvía de Tenerife (Tenerife Tram) and designed by Santi Castro.
3. 3rd Maid of Honour: Verónica Rodríguez Díaz, with a costume entitled "Por ti volaré" (For you I will fly), representing NTM Digital, Electronics store in Puerto de la Cruz and designed by Alfonso Baute and David Hernández.
4. 4th Maid of Honour: Nazaret González Martínez, with a costume entitled "Mundos diferentes" (Different worlds), representing Grupo Número 1 and designed by Miguel Ángel Castilla Abreu.

The theme of Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2010 was "Tenerife, the history of a Carnival". Sergio García, returned as director of the galas. The stage in the International Fairs and Congress Centre, had special decoration dedicated to the 400-year history of Carnival. Large mirrors were installed, so that the public could be present on the stage, and together with these were several images of the representative posters of the carnival. 

Coronación Reina del Carnaval S/C de Tenerife 2010