More than 125 people gathered yesterday at the premises located on the ground floor of the church of San Antonio, a new place for the preparation of the big Florida potbecause the headquarters of the neighborhood association is already too small to accommodate all the people who are involved in the previous day.
The elaboration of the traditional dish, which some 5,000 people will taste today, is one of the most popular and expected acts within the framework of the festivities in honor of San Antonio Abad and the Virgen de La Esperanza. Due to the popularity it has acquired on the Island, the public transport company Titsa is reinforcing today the services of lines 345 and 373.
Declared a Festival of Tourist Interest in the Canary Islands in 2019, the event is organized by the San Antonio Abad Fiesta de las Tradiciones Association, although all the residents, from the youngest to the oldest, participate in its preparation.
Since nine in the morning yesterday, all of them dedicated themselves to peeling and cutting 1,200 kilos of pumpkin and chayote; 700 of potatoes, and the same amount of cabbages; 100 sweet potato; 75 of pineapples; 600 of meat, between bacon and ribs; to chop up 150 chickens, and wash about 25 kilos of parsley, ingredients mostly provided by the neighbors, since they have farms.
The hardest thing to get has been the zucchini and carrots, due to the time of year, but they were bought by those who don’t have gardens, just like the chickpeas. The City Council of La Orotava also collaborates with part of the vegetables through the Farmer’s Market.
This year it was also difficult to acquire millet pineapples and green beans, “because the prices are prohibitive. There are, but in less quantity”, points out the president of the festival commission, Toya Hernández.
Another is the leaf litter cabbage, very typical of the agricultural areas of the upper part of the municipality. There was a man, Leoncio Trujillo, who voluntarily made the seedbeds and planted them in the Mamio area. “His children continue to contribute the land, but the problem this year has been that the rabbits ate the shoots, because they are tender shoots. Leoncio was at the foot of the canyon every day watching over the land,” says Toya.
There is no need to notify anyone or leave anything organized. The people of Florida know that on the last Sunday of the month they have to go to prepare the stew and as they arrive at the hall, they organize themselves. In addition to peeling, chopping and placing the vegetables in the large cauldrons, there are those who have the task of cooking for lunch, and there are those who make coffee and chocolate to alleviate the cold. All between talks, laughter, anecdotes and plans for the next day.
Yesterday they especially missed Vicenta, the baker, who was not present because she has just had surgery. She was the person who always made the broth for everyone who was working. The other absence was that of her brother-in-law, Elacrio, who is going through a difficult moment of health.
The cauldrons filled up quickly on the day. “I don’t know if it’s because people really wanted to party,” jokes Hernández, who hopes that time will accompany this return to normality for parties. “In my life I have looked at the sky so many times, at the horizon, the Aemet forecast, every day at all hours in the last week, although whatever it is, it will be. I just hope it lasts us through the first part of the day so we can put the cauldrons on the fire and it doesn’t go out in the rain,” says Toya.
