Few better days than yesterday to eat a good stew, and more if it is the well-known and traditional one from Floridawhich is held every year in the popular Villa de La Orotava during the last week of January. Those who decided to join the tradition enjoyed that feeling of well-being that only eating this delicious traditional dish provides on what was, without a doubt, one of the coldest days of the year.
The activity, which falls within the festivals of tourist interest in Canary Islands in honor of San Antonio Abad, brought together a whopping 5,000 people in the town.
In addition, the attendees and the organization celebrated that the stew finally returned to its traditional format after two years, specifically in 2021 and 2022, in which it was necessary to limit itself to the distribution of boxes with vegetables for the preparation of the stew in the houses of the neighbors.
Last year, 450 boxes with the ingredients were distributed among the inhabitants of this Orotava neighborhood. Once the times of restrictions have been overcome, this year it has been possible to return to the large pot made in the street with a thousand kilos of pumpkins, a thousand kilos of chayotas, 600 kilos of cabbage, 100 kilos of chickpeas, 70 kilos of beans, 70 kilos of carrots, 60 kilos of corn, 60 kilos of sweet potatoes, 60 kilos of leeks, 60 kilos of bubangos, 25 kilos of garlic, 18 sacks of potatoes, four sacks of onions, 25 kilos of parsley and 110 chickens. In addition, 300 kilos of gofio were used to prepare scallop.
In those early years the traditional stew was cooked in the surroundings of the cattle fair. Over time, it moved to the farm where the current La Florida school is located, having to change its location, to the sports center area, since work on the new school began. From the inauguration of the Neighborhood Association, the preparation of the stew is carried out in its facilities.
The family of Leoncio Trujillo, who died in May 2022, has maintained this year the tradition of giving up the use of the land where the stew is made. Faced with the possibility that the land may not be available in future editions, the town council is already working on preparing a plot of land next to the neighborhood school so that it can house the preparation, so that the distribution is transferred to the sports center. Another alternative is the conditioning of the parking plots near the field of football.
Authorities were not absent from yesterday’s pot, among them, the mayor of La Orotava, Francisco Linares, and more members of the local Corporation; the president of the council of TenerifePedro Martín, the vice president of the Island Corporation, Enrique Arriaga, and other members of the Island Institution and the senator and former president of the Government of the Canary IslandsFernando Clavijo.
Today Florida celebrates its pilgrimage in honor of San Antonio Abad and the Virgin of La Esperanza, who is turning 40 years old.
The tour will begin at 2:00 p.m. and the day will conclude with a festival in the square of the neighborhood association.
