Arafo It is still a small town, but it houses in its bosom, apart from the beauty of its natural and cultural surroundings, small touches of which it is very proud, such as music, bread and chestnuts. With these three ingredients, without missing the wine from the Regional Winery, some three hundred Araferos enjoyed again, after the pandemic that comes to an end -or so it seems- a traditional dish on the day of the Finados or All Saints’ Day. , the chestnut fritter, a dish that at this time has always been present in many Arafo dining rooms.
Organized by the Arafo City Council, since Thursday, municipal workers and the mayor himself, Juan Ramón Martín, moved to the top of the municipality to collect almost 80 kilos of chestnuts from the trees themselves, now that they are loaded with the best variety of the island. The chestnuts, donated by the owners of the farm, were peeled and toasted on Saturday to be prepared with the fritango – onions, peppers, garlic and meat, among other ingredients – throughout Sunday, until it arrived at the tables at night. installed in the Plaza de San Juan Degollado, where the Araferos could also enjoy some other dishes that they brought in a private way, the good wine of the region and the live music of the singular singer from Gran Canaria Arístides Moreno and his group 101 Brass Band. All attendees also paid 5 euros, money that was deposited into the account that the Cabildo de La Palma has opened for those affected by the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
The Arafero mayor, Juan Ramón Martín, a lover of traditions like nobody else, was proud of his people, for “the good behavior and the supportive participation that they had with this collection for those affected by the La Palma volcano”, committing to continue organizing the traditional fritango “in the following years” as long as “we leave the pandemic behind.”
