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Anecdotes

One of GOFIO.

Despite having the pleasure of tasting “gofio” (a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals) all my life, when I really discovered its possibilities was during the first encounter on local development in Lanzarote which also focused on rural tourism as a means of promoting this area. The name for the event was „1st Local Development Conference in Lanzarote“ which was held at the „Villa Agrícola el Patio. Tiagua. 27 and 28 June, 1996“.

So as not to confuse our visitors and guests, today it is called “ Museo Agricola de „El Patio“.

Anyway, it was then thanks to Mr. Marcial, when I discovered the possibilities and excellent qualities of “gofio” (a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals). Although this person did not seem to be a cook, I learnt a great deal from his instructions, and cooks are famous for not providing 100% of their recipes!! Like my aunt Maria, may she rest in peace, who took to her grave her magnificent recipes for apple pies and many other dishes. Perhaps it is because of her that I have acquired this early vocation for the culinary arts. I must have been 8 or 10 years old.

Since then, since this working encounter, I have felt the urge to make “Peyas de gofio” (balls of a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals) as best I can, to the general delight of my guests.

The following formula is a „revuelto“ (mixture) of everything that has reached my ears, and perhaps a learned scholar in Canary Islands gastronomy will give me a “revencaso” (slap) for being “tolete” (silly). At the same time, I know that you will forgive me and I accept all your suggestions to improve and better my knowledge… or I will simply learn and abandon my ignorance.

-LAS PEYAS DE GOFIO (balls of a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals)

– INGREDIENTS
– Gofio (a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals), FROM WHEAT, MAIZE (MILLO) or half and half.
– In Lanzarote, the most well-known among housewives is that which is ground in the
Molino de San Bartolome. If you wish to recommend any other long-standing supplier, I would be delighted to include it.
– Lanzarote Bananas, few and far between but they can be found.
– Dried fruits (almonds, nuts, sultanas, dates, dried figs, water, honey, spices, a few drops of banana liquore, sugar). I do not think you you need to be reminded, but if you add almonds do not include nuts, but you can add dried figs, or sultanas or dates… According to your taste.
– PREPARING THE “PEYAS” (balls of a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals):
– Mix the water, honey and a little butter without salt (warm to dilute well), and add in this order:
– Spices, preferably cinnamon.
– The banana, 1/4, in slices and mixed with the “gofio” (a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals) – preferably with a fork-. Add the liquid mixture and the chopped up dried fruits until you obtain a pasty mixture that does not stick.
– If you do not have a “zurrón” (a small round container), make the “peyas” (small balls of a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals) by hand or with two spoons (small balls of a medium-size potato)
– The dried fruits can also be flattened with a roller or mortar
– The sultanas, without any pips and preferably by Corinto, are cut in fine slices
– The salted “peyas” (balls of a stoneground flour made from roasted cereals) can be prepared by mixing the “gofio”, water, several drops of oil (preferably in virgin olive oil), anyway from me it is smoother with “millo” (maize) and salt.
– Add to bread to make tasty snacks.
– If you wish, you can add cured goat’s cheese or semi cured in small pieces. Be careful with the quantity of salt in the cheese, do not add too much.

Note.- Do not miss the opportunity to approach the people in our many festivals and request the taste of our “enyesque” (snack) which I am sure they will be delighted to serve you with: Cheeses, pejin (little and drien fish), gofio, a drop of Canary Island rum or “conejero” wine.

……and bon apetite!

A special thank you to my guests Fionnula and Niamh, without them this contribution would still be locked away in a cell of my brain. (A terminology taken from the computer hard disk).

Casa Rural Finca Uga, in acknowledgement of Tayó. Lanzarote Uga rural tourism.

From Uga, Rural Lanzarote, Pedro Tayó, thank you. Not only for your works of art, not only for being the author of the painting entitled “Pequeño Jardín para la casa de un niño”(A small garden for a child’s house)…
Technique: oil painted canvas, measuring: 73 x 60 cm, year: 2000 – 2005.

This work, which is excellent like all your previous works of art, and those that will undoubted leave your studio in the future, has something very special about it, something you can personally be proud of as can we your fellow countrymen:

The Excmo. Cabildo of Lanzarote, its official representatives, during the Christmas Holidays of 2005 received the distinguished visit of the Crown Prince and Princess of Spain and their daughter, Princess Leonor and In the name of the people of Lanzarote, they honoured you by including your work among the gifts and congratulations on the occasion of the birth of Princess Leonor.

The Royal Family has always been very mindful of their kingdom, they also have among their preferences the island of Lanzarote, for its many virtues, among others: its people, its climate, its unique natural beauty and its tranquillity.

Yes, Pedro Tayó, our sincere thanks for showing us from the humbleness of your work, through your paintings, your literary works, the people who are born and die in this village of Uga, Lanzarote. Thank you for preaching with your example, which is in no way predatory, your neighbours and anyone who wishes to find out about us. Thank you for making the world aware of the quality of life that we enjoy in this enclave, that encourages one to create, to write… to not forget the sometimes hidden sensitivity of its people and Nature “N” quality of Rural Lanzarote with its light and colour, inviting one to open up to locals and visitors such as Saramago, the Nobel Prizewinner, actually another member of our community. (Biosphere Reserve, we have to strive on a daily basis to attain this).

One only has to observe your works and read your poetic prose to immediately realise where the source of your inspiration lies: Your internal peace, supported by your family and the environment in which you are immerse, Uga, rural Lanzarote.

As human beings with feelings, we are also concerned when seeing and hearing about all the calamities that are taking place , one after another, beyond our borders and yet here are rarities, and by Divine Providence we have to go back centuries to recall the last volcanic eruption.
The Fire Mountains, the Timanfaya National Park, on the perimeter of the houses lying in rural Uga, is paradoxically the tourist banner of our Lanzarote .

What was, in principle, thought to be a nightmare that buried whole villages and towns, turned out to be the opposite With the sweat and hard work rendered by the farmers and their animals, dromedaries, by Uga and adjacent villages, so la Geria was created; covered in lapilli, volcanic ash, the outcome of this is an exclusive landscape and an excellent barrier for preventing the sun’s rays evaporating the water in the fields of Malvasia vines that are cultivated there.

Camels, from agriculture to… tourist transport.

Thanks to the sacrifices made by your parents, Pedro and Rosa, pioneers together with a few other families in the skill of camel driving, walking our visitors through the Fire Mountains of LanzaroteWith their early rising and care and attention, to, amongst other things, help a camel give birth to her guelfo ( baby dromedary), other times to saddle and harness up the camels (dromedaries) and lead them to the “echadero de camellos” as is still the custom today, who in reward for enriching the hearts and senses have enjoyed the most beautiful sunrises in the world (Sunrises out of literature? No, unparalleled because they are real. Also their thrift so that you could study, not without some sacrifice, far from your family home, far from our Lanzarote, far from the Uga’s rural Lanzarote sunrises; without your dusks on Mount Bermeja, beyond los Hervideros and before you reach el Charco de los Clicos, depending on which way you go.

They have assuredly enriched your painter’s palette, as well as enriching you as a person. Your descendents display it in their tastes and preferences for their own personal development. Rosa, your illustrious mother, comments likewise on our sporadic meetings“ … I am especially fond of your house; one of its rooms served as a school for me and a couple of other neighbours . What willpower! Working in the fields and at the same time still feeling like going to class!

The day had only just begun to dawn and Rosa and all the other ladies in Uga had raked and removed the dead leaves from around their homes, cleaned the animal sheds …The school from Rosa, Tayó’s mother’s memories is nowadays used for rural tourism, and proudly bears the name of the village…

With the passing of time, this dwelling has shown its “sine” of being a public building: a school, a grocery shop, which sold everything, and lastly a pleasant and simple rural accommodation

Pedro Tayó, painter 1957, Uga, rural Lanzarote … a literary excerpt, also by him and which is the introduction to a catalogue of one of his innumerable exhibitions:

””“””The island look; the look of the little things; he texture of an aged twig; a shade of colour over the cloud; a multishaped pebble; the tiny blossom on the dry Hawthorne tree; the silhouette of the bent mountain; the closed line of the horizon; A transparent fingernail; A footprint in the soil; the gleaming cottages .