Today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow is Christmas. As the Christmas carol says, two important dates, in which most families get together to eat and spend time together. Certain dates and a dinner, that of December 24, which many prepare with care and affection.
Yesterday, from very early, the Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, had a lot of movement. Many residents of the capital came to buy what they needed to cook during these festivals. The stalls were full and people were queuing. Of course, respecting the security measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheese and sweets. This is the most typical and what most people took home.
This is the case of Rosa María Chico, who was queuing to buy meat, her bet for Christmas Eve was rabbit in salmorejo. A typical Canarian food that he said requires “a lot of love” when preparing it and with which he is always right.
“I haven’t seen the price yet, but I imagine it will be more expensive. It is not the food that I usually prepare every year, but it is what you want at home this time. There will also be some vegetables for those who are vegetarians, “Rosa María explained to DIARIO DE AVISOS.
The secret of your recipe? “Leave the rabbit in marinade a day before so that it takes on the flavor. If done right, the next day everything is faster. Then it is fried a little and left to cook until the sauce thickens ”, he explained.
We went to the Juan Pedro Pastry and Bakery. Its manager, María del Carmen Carlos, assured that they have “many orders” and that what comes out the most are “cakes, trout and crab arms.” Grateful for the work, but attending non-stop. So was María del Carmen and her companions. “As we have our own manufacturing, we sell a lot. For example, these days, at twelve in the morning we have already run out of trout “, revealed María del Carmen, who also said she has” all kinds of breads, Lebanese sweets, sponge cake and donuts to sweeten Christmas. “
Fish is another of the star foods for Christmas lunches and dinners. However, in Recova, Patricia Alberto, from Pescaderías Patricia, said that people have left it for last due to the pandemic. “You see movement, but it is not an exaggerated thing. People have been waiting until the last minute to see how many could come together, “he said. What he is selling the most is seafood, squid, tuna, which he no longer has, and hake, foods whose price, he said, “is stable,” except for hake, which is “what comes from the Peninsula.”
Half a chicken, eggs and vegetables is what Modesta Rodríguez took with her yesterday to prepare soup and roast chicken breasts for her family. Foods that, he commented, are more expensive than other years, because “everything has gone up.” And reason is not lacking, since these days it has been known that Christmas and New Year’s dinners have become 10% more expensive in the Canary Islands, thus reaching a historical record. According to the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU), products such as lamb or oysters have risen 22% and 28%, respectively.
Modesta commented that at home “they always used to dine between 12 and 14 people”, but that, “with this virus”, this year there will only be five. In addition, he indicated that he will start cooking today at noon, because his menu is “very simple.” For dessert? A cake and a sponge cake that she also makes herself. And is that his family “is not very nougat.” She said that she always ends up eating them and that she has been doing it since they began to be sold (she laughs when she tells it).
Jokes aside, the important thing, he pointed out, is “whoever we can get together and do it with great caution, despite the fact that everything is expensive. Even the light for cooking ”.
An act, which by the way, will come out, between Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, about 43 euros on average in the electricity bill, according to experts.
