Black pig, Buenavista pineapple, Anaga sweet potato, and Basque piparra peppers. These are the ingredients of Txinet, the pintxo created by Alberto Margallo, from the Tenerife-based restaurant San Sebastián 57, together with the Donostian chefs Jesús Santamaría and Patxi Bergara. It was presented at San Sebastián Gastronomika 2026 as part of the gastronomic twinning between Tenerife and Euskadi, and it was also served at the congress’s opening dinner at the Miramar Palace.
The event, held from October 5 to 7, dedicated this edition to the fiftieth anniversary of the New Basque Cuisine. Tenerife participated as one of its official sponsors, with a programme that gathered recipes, products and professionals from the island. The collaboration also featured Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy 2027, represented in the pintxo by Margallo.
For three days there were workshops, tastings and meals dedicated to wines, livestock farming, the garden and fishing. According to the balance from Turismo de Tenerife, the 14 gastronomic activities sold out and brought together 614 professionals. Both the Grand Tasting and the session dedicated to the native goat had waiting lists.
The Pantry of the Midlands
Gofio, cheeses and Tenerife honeys had their space in the program, with a breakfast dedicated to the products of the midlands. These sessions allowed attendees to get closer to some of the staple foods on the Tenerife table and to learn about the work of their producers.
The cocina de aprovechamiento focused another activity, in which the researcher from the Canary Islands Institute of Agricultural Research, Marichu Fresno, and the culinary advisor, Juan Carlos Clemente, explained the culinary possibilities of the different parts of the native goat. The chefs Xavier Luis Boya and Pedro Rodríguez afterward worked with this product at a lunch featuring preparations such as tartare, pastrami, neck in brine and the shank cooked at low temperature.
