The third edition of the International Cheese Forum will be held on the 8th and 9th of this month, at the Infecar facilities, in the capital of the Island
Antonio Morales praises the work of the island's ranchers and master cheese makers, which enhances the primary sector, improves the economy, protects the environment and promotes gastronomic tourism.
Prestigious livestock and cheese producers, top-level chefs and sales and marketing technicians participate in the event's extensive program of activities.
The Cabildo of Gran Canaria once again converts the Island into the world capital of artisanal cheese, with the celebration of the third edition of the 'International Cheese Forum, Gran Canaria', promoted by the Island Corporation through its Primary Sector councils, Food Sovereignty and Water Security, and Tourism, coordinated by Miguel Hidalgo and Carlos Álamo, respectively, which will take place on April 8 and 9, at the Canary Islands Fair Institution (Infecar) in the capital of Gran Canaria.
“This meeting, which is biennial in nature, is an unbeatable opportunity to highlight the work carried out for decades by ranchers and cheese masters who, with their effort, dedication and passion, have managed to enhance the primary sector, improve the economy of the areas rural areas and protect the natural environment, as well as making Gran Canaria a great tourist destination in the gastronomic field, which has been strengthened in recent years and has made us today, without a doubt, occupy a leading place in the entire territory. Spanish,” said the president of the Cabildo, Antonio Morales. “Essentially, we intend to turn the great variety of cheeses produced on the Island into another attraction for tourists, and make visible the quality and artisan work of those who produce them.”
President Morales, who was accompanied in the presentation of this event by councilors Miguel Hidalgo and Carlos Álamo, stressed that “Gran Canaria is one of the island territories in the world that produces a greater number of different cheeses,” he stated. “You have to take advantage of this powerful and differentiating asset in a world in which tourist destinations are increasingly standardized, competing more and more among themselves. And it is very important, therefore, that it makes us unique, that we look for what identifies us, what distinguishes us and I believe that cheese is one of those differentiating, extraordinary elements that we have to enhance and singularize.”
In this scenario, he highlighted “the clear and determined commitment” of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria in the valorization of the primary sector and its products, “aware that it works as a lever of push in the rural world, making it more sustainable, avoiding its abandonment, stopping large fires and preserving the great biodiversity that these spaces house.” And it is that actions like this, like the official cheese competition of the Island, the support for cheesemakers to bring their best products to the annual editions of the 'World Cheese Awards', the commented tastings that we do during the year in the different municipal, regional, national and international events, and the support for the livestock sector with concrete aid, make it clear that cheese “is an element of promotion, of generating attractions for the consumption of our products and of putting value "That behind them there are women and men who make them with enormous effort," he stated.
In figures, it is worth noting that the Cabildo allocates 1,3 million euros each year to support the livestock sector in making improvements on farms and in cheese factories, the preservation of native breeds, genetic improvements, the production of forage with local species, the valorization of the product, the promotion of associations and the legalization of farms.
To these funds we must add the extraordinary aid granted to the livestock and cheese sector, from 2020 to today, to alleviate the difficulties generated by COVID-19 and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which amount to a total of 13.745.000 ,4.395.000 euros, specifically 9.350.000 for the pandemic and XNUMX for the armed conflict.
For his part, Carlos Álamo put emphasis on the work carried out jointly by the Ministry of Tourism, which he oversees, and that of the Primary Sector, Food Sovereignty and Water Security, which, as he highlighted, “has served to ensure that gastronomy, the product of kilometer zero, becomes another potentiality of Gran Canaria and, therefore, the Island is no longer just that destination of sun and beach, but, in addition, they know that the food here is very good."
He maintained that this Forum, as happened in the last edition, “is going to be a success” and considered that “we must continue working along these lines, so that the tourists who come to Gran Canaria find motivations to spend more money, to distribute the wealth generated by this industry in the 21 municipalities of the island and, in addition, to reach sectors that have traditionally been far from the tourism industry, such as livestock farmers and artisans, among others.
Finally, he pointed out that Gran Canaria Tourism has invited 11 journalists specialized in gastronomy so that they can learn about, taste, get to know our product and then speak highly of us in the different media.
Miguel Hidalgo, in turn, highlighted the actions that are being implemented related to development, the enhancement of the rural world and the activities that can be carried out there. “From the cheese factories, but also in the wine sector and the commercial sector of the products that we can have in those spaces,” he explained. "But, mainly, praise the work of women and men from that rural world, which will be very present in the specific topics that will be discussed in the Forum."
Producers, chefs and technicians, in a wide program of activities
This year's event, as has been happening in previous editions, offers a broad program of activities, in which cheese and livestock producers of great national and international prestige participate, along with a group of top-level chefs, who They have more than 9 Michelin stars, and technicians in commercialization and marketing, who will bring the most innovative options for their businesses and farms to professionals in livestock farming, catering, hospitality and gastronomy in the Canary Islands.
Furthermore, in this scenario, the island producers, together with prestigious local and national chefs, will also have the opportunity to show once again the excellent quality of Gran Canaria cheese through presentations, round tables, live cooking and workshops. .
Not in vain, “Gran Canaria, which is one of the island territories in the world that produces the greatest number of different cheeses,” stated President Morales, who added that the Island, in addition to being the one with the largest livestock herd in the Archipelago, It has three Denominations of Origin of Cheese (DOP) from the Canary Islands: Queso Flor de Guía, Queso Media Flor de Guía and Queso de Guía, while throughout the national territory these DOPs do not reach thirty.
And with this important background, next Monday and Tuesday, through the experience and knowledge of cheese makers like María Remedios Carrasco, arrived from Extremadura; from tuners such as Xesus Mazaira, from Lugo, or Jules Ferdinan Mons, from France, along with chefs such as Paco Morales, from Córdoba; Ignacio Echapresto, from La Rioja or Angela Barusi, from Italy, among many others, and prestigious Gran Canaria chefs such as Abraham Ortega from 'Tabaiba', Borja Marrero from 'Muxgo' or Desiré Cabrera from 'La Aquarela', the attendees of the event they will learn more about the use of artisanal cheese in gastronomy and, in this way, they will dignify the work of women and men who have livestock and cheese production as a way of life.
All this without forgetting that these activities will be joined by students from different training centers in the fields of cooking and catering on the Island, who will participate in many of the presentations with live cooking demonstrations.
Likewise, and in parallel, two practical workshops will be given by Ana Belén González, Carito Lourenço and Germán Carrizo, for the staff of the main hotel chains and catering companies in Gran Canaria, in order to optimize their knowledge about the world of cheese with notions such as setting up the tables, cutting the cheeses, displaying them, preserving them and making their use profitable in their businesses, among others. And finally, in this third edition, the 'International Cheese Sandwich Competition' will also take place.
Those interested in learning more about the program for the two days of this event can do so at the following link: https://forointernacionaldelqueso.com/programa/
Tribute to the transhumant shepherds of Gran Canaria
This Forum becomes, once again, an unbeatable opportunity to recognize the merits of the professionals of the Gran Canaria rural environment and, if in its second edition it paid tribute to the women cheese makers and livestock farmers, for their dedication and commitment to the cheese making, in this third we will praise and thank the wisdom, perseverance and hard work carried out by the transhumant shepherds of Gran Canaria.
As Antonio Morales explained in his speech, this new recognition will take place on April 9, starting at 17.00:2023 p.m., “and is even more motivated, if possible, because this ancestral tradition was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO , in December XNUMX.”
It will be a well-deserved tribute to all the nomadic people who continue practicing 'la mudá' today or who did so at some point in their lives, and for which there will be the presence of the biologist Francesca Pasetti, one of the promoters of the candidacy of Transhumance as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of 10 countries and president of the European Working Group of the International Year of Grasslands and Pastoralists, declared by the United Nations for 2026.
“Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands and other national territories owe a lot to the transhumant people,” said the president of the Gran Canaria Government. “We have a lot to thank these people, this tradition that arises from the need to obtain the best pastures to produce the best cheeses,” he argued. "Those trips through the interior of the Island, from the coast to the summit, in search of food for livestock that have been practiced for more than 500 years and that in the Canary Islands only last here, have favored the dispersal of seeds, the preservation of native plant biodiversity, in some cases, the roots in the territory and the conservation of ancestral practices that our ancestors began.”
Since, as he stressed, when cattle move, the rancher becomes a nomad and, therefore, a nomad, a person displaced from his home and family for a few months to farmhouses or not very comfortable ranches, in favor of better nutrition for their sheep or goats and, therefore, a better final product: cheese.
Because, as highlighted by the Ministry of Primary Sector, Food Sovereignty and Water Security, this care and taste for things well made have caused the Canary Islands to be great consumers of cheese, with ratios greater than 11 kilograms per person per year. , and so demanding at the same time that, together with the geography, the different microclimates and the biodiversity of the Island, they mean that the more than 80 mini cheese factories of Gran Canaria, with a production of 2.000 tons of artisanal cheese made with raw milk, obtain a wide variety of products, in numerous types of formats and with various production methods. Some characteristics that, combined in the hands of the master cheesemakers, give the island's cheeses unique olfactory-gustatory sensations.
