Hoteles Escuela de Canarias (Hecansa), the Canary Islands government’s public training company, is holding a food event today at the Hotel Escuela Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with a programme running throughout the day, featuring Los Finaos . The programme includes a pâtisserie demonstration at 12.00 and a set-price tasting menu from 13.00 for €25, including IGIC, the Canary Islands’ sales tax. The pastry chef Betsy Alfonso will lead the demonstration, which draws on the tradition of Los Finaos.
According to the announcement, the menu begins with a choice of salad with nuts and dried fruit or watercress soup with fresh cheese and crunchy corn. The main course options are sea bass fillet on white sweet potato purée with green mojo, or braised pork with chestnut sauce and papas arrugadas. The dessert, called “dulce recuerdo”, combines panna cotta with pumpkin glaze, gofio crumble and hazelnut, a crunchy gofio flower, and fig and honey jellies. Reservations can be made through the hotel on 922 847 513.
On Friday 30 October, Hecansa will continue the series at the Hotel Escuela Santa Brígida on Gran Canaria There, lecturer Arminda Granados will give a pastry-making class; a tasting menu will be served from 13.30, prepared with the involvement of five students in the second year of the intermediate-level gastronomy course. Dishes will include pumpkin cream soup with almonds, black pork cheeks in chestnut sauce with baked sweet potato purée, and “cuento de las ánimas” for dessert. The price is also €25 including IGIC, and reservations can be made on 928 478 421.
The events bring together training and the preservation of regional culture: Los Finaos, a Canary Islands tradition of remembering the dead, provides the theme for dishes featuring products such as gofio, chestnuts and sweet potatoes. At the same time, students gain practical experience of service and kitchen operations in real-world conditions. According to Gobierno de Canarias the times, menus and prices listed have been confirmed for both locations.
The immediate occasion is today’s programme in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the follow-up event on Friday in Santa Brígida. Earlier background is included solely to explain the regional tradition. No predictions about further events were given.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).