49ISLAND CONNECTIONS :: EDITION 651 :: 09/09/2011 - 22/09/2011 FoodforthoughtFoodforthoughtFoodforthought

CateringFar from the new fangled electric ma-chines of the same name, these chefs are very much flesh and blood and offer to come to your home or workplace to make your occasion very special in-deed.

It’s not a new idea, it’s some-thing that’s been running in major cities in Europe for some time, but it’s now available in Tenerife and the smaller islands of the province.

Cocineros a domicilio cre-ate a unique and personalised menu for you for any occasion, to delight even the most de-manding palate and to suit any pocket. Chefs of many years experience, some of whom are moonlighting from some of the island’s top hotels, arrive at your premises with everything they need to make your event special and very memorable.

When you make your enquiry you are asked to answer a series of questions about your tastes, that of your guests, what you would like, any allergies or dis-likes, needs, budget etc. Then the company’s team of experts put together a proposed menu for you based on your answers, the type of service you require, the seasonal prime ingredients available, the number of guests etc. The food is creative and traditional, a fusion of flavours, using always the best and healthiest products in the mar-ket, ecological vegetables, meat and fish in season from the local farms - ingredients which are obtained in a natural way, without the use of chemicals or, for the animals, industrial dried pellets.

Their style and menus are in continuous evolution and created to satisfy concrete re-quirements. Which is why they can adapt themselves to any size of occasion and any budget

We asked Cocineros a domicilio to prepare a fictitious proposal for 12 friends between 30 and 55 years old. Medium income, no allergies, with a preference for fish and shellfish, fruit, vegetable and sweet flavours.

No vegetarians present. A lunch in summer to be served outside in an area with garden and pool from 12 noon to 3pm and a cocktail session to follow from 3pm to 8pm.

In the last century, Tejeda’s plum jam was rightly famous.It was a time when people still lived off the land and, trying to make sure that nothing went to waste, got the most out of their products by serving and preserving them in various ways. the local council, who want to support and promote the products of the upper hills, have managed to bring this nectar back onto the market.

Necessity is the mother of invention and the new mayor of tejeda, Francisco Perera, seems to have this quite clear in his mind. to countermand the flow of population from the interior and hills of his borough and to try and interest the youth of today in farming, there have to be new job alternatives available. the mayor and his governing group are creating projects with this in mind, one of which is the making of jam from the tejeda plums. According to Perera, “we are backing the development of all the wealth that the borough can generate, traditionally and with new formats and that is why we decided to invest a quantity of money trying to revive one of our grandparent’s customs, which in its day gave life to tejeda, making plum jam. We spoke to the farmers, we paid them €0.70 per kilo for the fruit and we brought about 700 kilos which has now been made into Dulcería Nublo jam.”

Home chef

and they can prepare anything from famous dishes to menus of edible flowers or dishes made with liquid nitrogen.

Cocineros a domicilio want to make every dinner or lunch special and unique. The magic of the idea is that they come to you, you can see how each dish is prepared and the chef will explain to you what you are tasting, you can ask for your meat cooked or salted exactly to your taste. In short what you will have is a luxury restaurant – in your own home.

Cocktails and winesVarious levels of ser vice

exist within each category, for example with the Cocktail premium ser vice, you can choose on the day from a wide range of cocktails including the ‘frozen’ variety. The service includes waiters and all the equipment necessary for the best presentation of the differ-ent styles of cocktails. They will be there to serve as long as the client deems necessary without additional charges and there is a set price per cocktail. Meanwhile, with the standard service, the type of cocktails

to be served are agreed in advance, waiters, glasses etc. are not included, service is available for a maximum of three hours and the drinks are served in litre jugs with a set price per jug.

Similar distinctions are made in the service of red, white and rosé wines and Spanish sparkling wines (cavas) and champagne.

If you wish they can take care of floral arrangements or decorate your home to any style you wish with complementary lighting settings. Choose the colour, the style, the ambience you wish to create and their design team will take care of the rest.

Music to your taste can also be arranged whether classical, jazz, pop, chill out, rock or whatever so that you and your guests can enjoy all the enchant-ment of a private concert. If you want to bop the night away they can also offer the services of some of those DJs currently most popular on the island’s night scene. Magicians and jugglers are also on offer for those who like to be beguiled or personalised performances

by dramatists can be arranged if you wish.

All in all, a special proposition for your special event, whether it be a wedding banquet, a first communion, a formal business dinner with full protocol, a gath-ering of friends and family or a romantic dinner for two.

Take the headache out of catering and you can enjoy yourself too. Contact www.cocineroadomiciliotenerife.com for more information.

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Home made

Grandma’s jam

This is the menu they suggested for us:

Chilled mango soup with papaya purée and banana syrup

Gazpacho AndaluzGrilled goats’ cheese with three honeys and

Macadamia nutsWarm green salad with wild mushrooms, dried fruit

and nuts, edible flowers and palm tree honeyAvocado salad with salmon shashimi (thinly sliced,

raw, fresh fish) Cherry tomatoes, olive oil from the famed Arbequina olives and balsamic vinegar

Canapés of sweet potato with Vizcaína style salt cod, drizzled with Canarian saffron mojo sauce

Shellfish kebabs using Maldon Sea Salt, cooked on the barbecue with wrinkled potatoes (in this case a local special variety called papa bonita cooked in highly salted

water which raises the temperature and in their skins so they cook more quickly and retain all of their flavour)

served with hot and spicy red mojo picónSmall rolls of free range chicken breast filled with

slim, new season, triguero asparagus on a bed of crispy spinach with soy sauce and Dijón mustard

A giant muffin with mixed wild red and black berries and a liquid heart of peach creamSemi frozen home-made bombons.