For the second consecutive year, the COVID-19 pandemic prevents the Orotavense neighborhood of La Florida from celebrating one of its most popular and massive events: the traditional stew that the neighbors prepare with vegetables sown and harvested by themselves and that they cook over low heat with dried broom from the Teide National Park on the occasion of the festivities in honor of San Antonio Abad and the Virgen de La Esperanza.
The act declared Festival of Tourist Interest of the Canary Islands in 2019, is organized by the San Antonio Abad Fiesta de las Tradiciones Association, which this year has once again opted for this typical dish of Canarian cuisine to be cooked and eaten at home on the day it is time to enjoy this celebration, which this year will be the saturday january 29.
To do this, the two previous days, boxes with the ingredients will be distributed: cabbage, chayotas, bubango, beans, potatoes and gofio, among others. Those in charge of this task will be the members of the aforementioned association. Two of them, Patricia Pérez and Loida Pacheco, went to the City Hall to show the format of the boxes and explain the details of the festivities to the mayor, Francisco Linares, and to the neighborhood councillor, Delia Escobar.
Thus, the events will begin on January 25 and 26 with talks about liqueurs and old potatoes from the Canary Islands. They will be at the headquarters of the neighborhood association and with capacity control.
wine contest
On Thursday 27th the XLII “San Antonio Abad” Wine Contest will take place, organized by the Regulatory Council of the Valle de La Orotava Denomination of Origin, the Consistory and the Cabildo de Tenerife.
The last face-to-face ‘great’ stew was held in January 2020 and more than 5,000 portions were served to residents and visitors, as it is one of the most popular events in Tenerife. On that occasion, about 70 large, stainless steel cauldrons weighing more than 125 kilos were needed to prepare this exquisite dish. The ingredients exceeded 4,000 kilos: 650 cabbages, 75 kilos of pineapples, 125 chickens, 700 potatoes and 60 kilos of sweet potatoes, more than 1,300 kilos of pumpkin, more than 1,000 kilos of chayotas, 90 kilos of chickpeas, 70 kilos of beans and another of carrots, almost 1,000 kilos of bacon and ribs, 60 kilos of leeks, 25 kilos of garlic, 100 kilos of onion, 45 kilos of parsley, 75 kilos of bubangos and 250 kilos of gofio.
Once again it will be a festival without a livestock fair, without a magician’s dance and without a pilgrimage, but the residents of La Florida will not lack the desire to cook the traditional Canarian dish in their homes, so the neighborhood will once again smell like a stew last Saturday of the month.
Changes and suspensions in the acts of San Antonio Abad in Tacoronte
The Tacoronte City Council, the Cattle Drag Federation, and AGATE, have decided to suspend the program of scheduled events on the occasion of the San Antonio Abad festivity. The measure is due to the increase in COVID-19 infections in recent weeks and the declaration of Level 4.
However, it is planned to maintain some appointments that are not massive, such as the blessing of the cattle, changing the popular act that brought together animals from all over the municipality, for a blessing of the animals of those ranchers in the municipality who request it, so that it is carried out by the parish priest around the date of the celebration of San Antonio Abad.
Cattle dragging remains on January 22 as it is a federated sport, but it will take place with controlled capacity at the Casa del Ganadero, in the municipality of La Laguna, just as it happened last year.
