A personal family update
Christine and I returned to Terrace Manolo in Callao Salvaje for this week’s Midweek Meetup. Before getting into the food and the usual live chat, we shared an update about our daughter Stephanie.
Her latest scan showed that the remaining tumour has grown. It is still non-malignant, but the doctors are now discussing a very focused form of radiotherapy designed to stop it growing further. She has another appointment to talk through the options, so we will know more after that.
Back at Terrace Manolo
Terrace Manolo is above Nebula and has a good view towards the sea, with the mountains behind. We had not been there for a while, so it was a good opportunity to go through the menu properly.
There is a large choice of Canarian tapas and familiar favourites. The list includes papas arrugadas, Padrón peppers, sweet Canarian black pudding, meatballs in spicy tomato sauce, broken eggs with chorizo, croquettes, garlic prawns, garlic mushrooms and local cheese.
One of the more unusual dishes is pork belly tossed in gofio. Gofio is toasted grain flour and is a traditional comfort food in the Canary Islands. I enjoyed the pork belly itself, although I still think it needs a sauce rather than a coating of dry gofio.
The menu also includes rabbit in salmorejo sauce, fiesta meat, steaks, lamb chops, sardines, octopus, calamari, several paellas and a very large plate of grilled vegetables.
German beer and the view
Manolo keeps Franziskaner wheat beer for me. There is the lighter Weissbier and the darker Dunkel version, which has a fuller, toasted flavour.
It is brewed under the old Bavarian purity tradition using simple ingredients. My explanation was that it gets you drunk from the feet upwards, so by the time you feel like starting a fight, you cannot stand up.
Building work around Aguaviva
The conversation moved to the continuing construction work around Aguaviva. The heavy breakers are expected to continue until October, followed by more normal building work.
From our balcony the sound can echo from the surrounding buildings, making it seem even louder. At the same time, many of the new apartments being built nearby appear to be priced at half a million euros or more. That raises the obvious question of who is expected to buy them and whether residents affected by months of noise should receive any compensation.
Can the British high street be revived?
A viewer’s comment led to a longer discussion about the decline of British high streets. Online shopping is cheaper and more convenient, but town centres still need useful local businesses: a proper butcher, an independent café, a flower shop, a chemist and a bank.
The problem is that small shops cannot always compete with supermarkets, retail parks and large online companies. One possible answer would be targeted help with business rates, rent and energy costs for the kinds of shops that make a town centre useful.
That led into a wider discussion about taxing work and wealth. The basic argument was that ordinary workers and small businesses need enough money to spend in the real economy, while very large fortunes can keep growing through property and other assets without creating the same local benefit.
A new chicken venue and an airport plan
We also heard that a new chicken venue was preparing to open beside the Palms Chippy in the former Railway Inn. The discussion included whether customers would still be able to bring fish and chips into the outside seating area and the problem of disabled access to the old downstairs toilets.
The following morning I was due to collect Kevin the Scotsman and take him to Tenerife South Airport. The plan was to go live from the car and attempt a little carpool karaoke. Kevin’s missing camera had also been handed in at Glasgow Airport, although the lost-property storage charges came as a surprise.
Dinner finally arrives
After all the conversation, the food arrived. I ordered albondigas with chips, while Christine chose the croquettes. The dishes looked good, complete with an edible flower on the plate, and that was a good point to bring the live show to a close and start eating.
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