Adelia Ramírez from El Salvador studied Gastronomy and Tourism in her country, and in Lanzarote, she worked for several five-star hotels, including the Isla de Lobos Restaurant, which has a Repsol sun, where she worked as a pastry chef.
Four years ago, she decided to set up her own online business, Adelia Canarias, and thanks to her originality and persistence, she managed to represent Lanzarote in the latest edition of Madrid Fusión. She tells this in an interview on the Radio Lanzarote radio program Más de Uno Gourmet.
- How did you get to Lanzarote?
I am from El Salvador, and there I studied a degree in Gastronomy and Business Tourism. I arrived in Lanzarote through a three-month internship scholarship, and they kept renewing it until I stayed.
I was working in five-star hotels and in the Isla de Lobos restaurant, which has a Repsol sun.
- How did you decide to set up Adelia Canarias?
I thought I would never have the budget to set up a pastry shop. Unfortunately, my father died and left me some money that I could invest in the business.
- You have had a lot of success on social media...
I've been doing it for four years, and it's true that there have been several videos that have gone viral. At Christmas, they were chocolate spheres that open and release clouds when you put them in hot milk.
Another viral video was about a chocolate heart, which I put a hammer on... A lot of ingenuity, more than traditional pastry.
- How did you get to participate in Madrid Fusión?
First I was in Worldcanic, I made a semi-cold dessert, it was liked, and they called me for Madrid Fusión.
I think at first they didn't trust me (laughs), because no one did tests prior to the event other than me. It's normal, the rest of the chefs have a reputation and many years of experience. I have an online pastry shop, without a physical place and that works by word of mouth.
- What dishes did you prepare?
I brought a sweet potato trout and a gofio foam with spiced pumpkin filling. Also, in the multipurpose room I made a dessert inspired by Timanfaya.
My sister suggested for this last one to put magic paper, which if you set it on fire, it disappears. So I decided to make a cone symbolizing a volcano, the test with Saborea was on a Friday and the brainstorming had been on a Tuesday.
- How did you get the magic paper?
I took a flight to Madrid that same day, on an adventure, to look for it, without knowing if they were going to approve the proposal.
Inside the volcano there was a creamy goat yogurt, a siphon sponge cake ingot, very soft on the palate, tinted with activated carbon. Then I made a sweet potato cream and on top I put some dots of prickly pear jam from Bernardo and finished it with some Janubio salt grains. It was a show, I called it From the Volcano to the Jable.
- All local product...
Yes, and it is very difficult, because the island's product has always been experimented with for savory dishes, not so much for sweets. The desserts that represented Lanzarote used to be dishes such as trout or gofio mousse.
