The possibility of tasting the delicious flavor of all kinds of cheeses from the Islands, accompanied by wines or craft beers; to admire native breeds; or to learn the art of milking a goat. This is what is offered in Pinolere (La Orotava), and among many other activities, the XI Canary Islands Cheese Fair, inaugurated yesterday and today, until 8:00 p.m., will once again highlight the importance of the livestock sector.
“The first thing we have to do is make love to her udder, and then get the milk out.” With these words, and gently caressing the animal, Domingo González, a rancher from Benijos, began to teach the traditional goat milking workshop, before the attentive gaze of numerous children and adults, who were anxiously waiting to be able to taste the freshly milked milk and to , even try to carry out the work of the rancher. This was one of the many activities that took place this Saturday during the first day of the XI Canary Islands Cheese Fairinstalled in Pinolere, in the municipality of La Orotava, and that this Sunday, April 10, it will also open its doors, until 8:00 p.m..
Hundreds of people came this Saturday to the Pinolere Ethnographic Park and Museum to enjoy this regional exhibition dedicated, fundamentally, to the livestock sector and, specifically, to cheese. In its 60 stalls, distributed throughout the enclosure, visitors have the possibility of tasting, and buying, all kinds of artisanal cheeses from the Islands; numerous traditional gastronomic products; and wines from the Valle de La Orotava Denomination of Origin, as well as craft beers from the Canary Islands. Likewise, during the walk, different and curious workshops are also given, such as the one on milking goats; cheese tastings are held; encounters of species take place, such as the Garafiano shepherd dog and the “lobito herreño”, and you can admire numerous specimens of other native Canarian breeds, such as chickens, sheep, cows, black pigs or donkeys.
During the opening of the fair, the Minister of the Presidency of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Berta Pérez, highlighted the “importance that the primary sector has for the Island and, within it, the livestock activity”. “It is a relevant sector, which maintains our landscape and sustains family economies, which generates employment and contributes to boosting the economy,” she added. Hence the need, she commented, to carry out this type of fairs and activities. In this sense, and with regard to cheese, the second vice president also highlighted the “indisputable quality of the cheeses produced in Tenerife, highly valued inside and outside the Archipelago.”
For his part, the mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, who was accompanied by numerous authorities, valued the fact that the northern municipality once again becomes the “cheese capital of the Canary Islands through this regional sample, which has already been consolidated in the time, and which has become one of the most anticipated due to its quality and the influx of public it attracts”. He insisted on the importance of the primary sector, and especially the livestock sector, highlighting the role of dairies, which “have been through and are going through very difficult times.” “It’s important that they have everyone’s support. We must bet on our local products, which are also extraordinary and highly prestigious”. He regretted that some supermarkets do not bet on local cheeses.
Precisely, in relation to the quality of Canarian cheeses, yesterday, during the fair, the winners of the ninth Insular Contest of Cheeses of Tenerife Pinolere 2022, in which 32 dairies participated that year with a total of 91 products, thus registering the largest number of participants in the history of this event. In the category of traditional cheeses, the gold medals went to the cheese factories El Isorano (Guía de Isora), José González Meneses (El Tanque), Benijos (La Orotava), Montesdeoca (Adeje), Pinolere (La Orotava), La Florida (La Laguna), Cunygan (Candelaria), and La Pedrera (El Rosario); and in the category of non-traditional cheeses, the gold medal went to the Graja Ara cheese factory (Santa Úrsula), which also won the special Grand Gold Medal award.
Melquiades Expósito is the creator of this last cheese. He is one of the few cheese artisans on the Island who use lactic coagulation and, in addition, his cheese is covered with pine ash. “I think the secret of our success is in the creaminess and the intense flavor, it is strong, ideal to accompany it with a little wine,” Expósito told THE DAY. “To make it we take three days and then it has to be in the maturation chamber for another 10 to 15,” she pointed out.
For this cheesemaker, this type of fair “represents a real boost and help for our work”, but he considers that “more should be done throughout the year”. Likewise, he points out that the primary sector should receive more aid from the administration.
In the same sense, the rancher Domingo González, in charge of teaching the goat milking workshop during the fair, manifests himself. “Livestock is in danger of extinction. We are having a very bad time. We have less and less aid and everything is more expensive, like fuel. People should buy more local product. If not, we will end up disappearing », he pointed out.
