The fact of seeing myself sitting in front of my pages with the illusion of writing about gastronomy again and what it means for the undersigned, passionate about enjoying the yantar and that wonderful world that surrounds it, means a lot, it makes me happy.
I have the feeling, now that things seem to be somewhat calmer. It has been more than two years since the light of life and tables went out on March 11, 2020, when the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic due to the bug that has done so much damage, and, with which today We live like one of the family. He goes in and out “like Peter through his house…”
In recent years, understand the previous two, in the islands, the Canary Islands in general and Tenerife in particular, the world of gastronomy has suffered the effect of the measures taken to alleviate an unknown problem. These forced us to lock ourselves up at home, not allowing us to share our beloved common spaces.
But art always lives, it is a mobile being, which never stops searching to discover, create and surprise. These have been times of suffocation for everything culinary, and for many aspects of daily life too, more than desired. Although, creativity, as far as this columnist is concerned, has been exponential thanks to the enormous effort of the field in all its facets. Thinking and dreaming were the tools that replaced the daily chore between its classic utensils and its human teams, which are the ones that give us satisfaction when we enjoy the art of its pots and pans.
The result of so much effort has given us a great evolution, in which the surprises have shone remarkably. I dare to predict that once the difficulties arising from the pandemic, which have affected the hospitality industry so harshly, have been overcome, the path marked out by countless chefs who created what we are enjoying today will continue.
They knew how to combine the recipes of traditional cuisine with other innovative and creative ones based on our products and on the genre of our land, which over time for reasons that are not foreign to us, are called «Km 0».
We have excellent wines. In practically all the islands, magnificent cheeses are made that in terms of variety place us in second place among the Spanish autonomies after Asturias. Potatoes, what to say about our potatoes? Old or colored that came from Peru, and adapted to our territory like a fish in water, one of the culinary jewels that our chefs have been able to promote in forms and ways that live among us, delighting those who visit us and they enjoy the delicacies of this land that have also been able to unite with the tricks of other places. I can’t forget we’re in the middle.
We also have subtropical fruits such as mangoes and avocados that have been incorporated years later into the modern menus that we enjoy today. Not to mention our chromatic palette of fish, from the smallest to tuna and swordfish, a wide range that lends itself to all kinds of experiments with tasty and appetizing results.
Being realistic, after the experience lived, I have to congratulate all the people who have to do with the world of gastronomy, including all those who patiently and disconsolately have been waiting for the ban to be lifted in order to go out with desire and despair to enjoy one of the things that we enjoy the most and that we like the most, good food, and the company that surrounds it. From the most humble to the most complex, the truth is that as the wise teach us; the good work, the seriousness and the quality of the genre are the key in this immense world of cuisine, and if we add all kinds of accessories to this, starting with the wines, the equation becomes infinite. Hence the wonder of this art.
We fans have waited actively, encouraging our friends and acquaintances of this tasty world of cuisine as much as possible, sometimes looking for solutions for the enjoyment of their premises, in others transferring the wish that normality would return sooner rather than later.
And, in my opinion, perhaps what encouraged them was that we asked them not to stop rehearsing so that when we came back we could enjoy their «rich» profession again.
As I have already indicated, we have a considerable number of excellent chefs, whose list I understand is not for me to make in this article. That they are around here delighting us with their work is a luxury, and the most important thing is that like them there is a plethora of chefs from all corners and places of this land, from our beloved guachinches to the most exalted.
Gastronomy is culture and heritage, in short, it is a claim for the enjoyment of the local people, but if I may be allowed, it is of immeasurable importance in an economy that lives largely from tourism, visitors who demand other alternatives to the sun every day and the beach. I am not going to write about our landscape, but I am about the importance of counting, improving and exploiting the charms of this curious and tasty material that is gastronomy in all its aspects.
It is important because it improves the lives of citizens, creating jobs from the places where it is enjoyed, but we must not lose sight of the world that complements and lives around the hotel industry; agriculture, livestock, fishing, etc., and in all these facets its variables and manufactures, which undoubtedly enrich our gastronomic geography more and more every day.
The academy that I have the pleasure of presiding over is making a firm commitment to gastronomy in all its aspects. Understanding it as an economic component supported by leisure and local enjoyment, without losing sight of the importance of tourism, which not only needs food as a physiological need, but as a product that allows living experiences in consumption around good food that is not found in Your place of origin. It has been proven that those considered gastronomic travelers do not consume food and drinks to survive, but travel to consume new and tasty experiences in body and soul.
Among other experiences we have experimented with a menu called «Km. 0”, understand the attempt to enjoy the closest, without ever losing sight of the importance that gastronomy has for the islands.
I wish and predict a great future for Canarian gastronomy.
