The hospitality of a neighbor, who in 1977 decided to invite a cauldron of stew to the ranchers who came to the Livestock Fair of the festivities of San Antonio Abad in Florida, was the origin of a party that has come to feed more than 5,000 people for free. The collaboration of the residents of this neighborhood of La Orotava, organized through the San Antonio Abad Association Festival of Traditions, has made it possible for this enormous show of generosity to continue despite the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. coronavirus. As happened in 2021, the ingredients of the stew have been distributed at home. A total of 450 boxes with vegetables, gofio and eggs that will make it possible for La Florida to smell like a stew again, kitchen by kitchen, this Saturday, January 29.
Victoria Hernandez, better known as Toya, is the current president of the group that fights to keep the tradition alive despite Covid-19. They have been working for days selflessly to prepare and distribute the boxes that will carry the key to this party to “practically all the families of La Florida and some collaborating partners who help us throughout the year even though they live in other neighborhoods of La Orotava, Puerto de la Cruz, Los Realejos, Santa Úrsula, La Laguna and even the South of Tenerife».
“Each box contains one cabbage, so we have managed to collect more than 450, at least four or five carrots, onions, leeks, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bubangos, pumpkin, gofio, and half a dozen eggs donated by the La Florida Poultry Farm (GAF)», details Toya Hernández. More than a week ago the work of collecting pumpkins and chayotas began, and the work has continued with the cutting of the largest vegetables and the preparation of the boxes.
Organize a day like traditional stew It takes a lot of work, but after experiencing the two versions, I think this one gives more headaches, “acknowledges Hernández. Especially since it is not possible to mobilize so many people. You have to have everything perfectly prepared and deliver street to street, door to door. And when someone is not at home, the volunteers try to come back another time. The goal is to reach all families, “in one way or another”, and also have a detail with the people who are having the worst time.
The Councilor for Tourism, Citizen Participation, Historical Heritage, Archives and Museums of the City Council of La Orotava, Delia Escobar (CC), is a regular collaborator. These days she takes off her political stripes and acts as one more neighbor to facilitate the distribution. On the afternoon of this Friday, January 28, 2022, he refilled his van with boxes to end the distribution already at night. “This is a way of maintaining tradition and making the neighborhood smell like a stew, despite the restrictions. And we also managed to keep people from losing the habit of donating vegetables for the party. This year, practically all the cabbages, pumpkins and chayotas were selflessly donated by the neighbors,” he explains.
Escobar encourages people who prepare their stew today at home to share images through the social media profiles of the San Antonio Abad Association Festival of Traditions, with the motto pout at home.
The students of the neighborhood public school, the CEIP Leoncio EstevezThey have also collaborated again. Last year they planted cabbage in a piece of land in Mamio, in Aguamansa, and their work has served to contribute more than a hundred of these vegetables to a party that dreams of returning in 2023.
