Puerto de Santiago Bakes Its Way Into the Record Books
The world’s longest turrón. That is the milestone achieved this Sunday in the town of Puerto de Santiago, in the southern municipality of Santiago del Teide, Tenerife. It is an official record, as a representative from the Guinness Book of Records meticulously measured—and indicated necessary corrections on any broken parts—the Christmas dessert made in this coastal enclave, certifying it reached 1,151.15 metres in length. This means that if the turrón had been laid out in a straight line instead of a zigzag for space reasons, walking from one end to the other would be equivalent to covering 1.15 kilometres: almost eleven football pitches. The goal organisers had set from the very first minute was to beat the previous record, registered in Italy with a total length of 1,004 metres.
A Festive Feat for a Good Cause
To achieve this record and put the municipality of Santiago del Teide on the global map, both volunteers and local council officials left nothing to chance and pulled out all the stops. However, beyond the tourism promotion, the primary objective was also a charitable one: to put a piece of turrón—and with it, a little piece of Christmas—on the tables of those who have the least or are having a difficult time.
Despite Puerto de Santiago enjoying splendid sunshine this morning more typical of summer months than the days before Christmas Eve, the locals displayed their most festive and Christmas spirit with the goal of securing the coveted Guinness record. “The most social aspect of this adventure is what has interested us most from the beginning,” acknowledged Mayor Emilio Navarro. “We want to ensure that no home in Tenerife is without a piece of what is, probably, the most typical Christmas sweet during these holidays,” he added.
Eight Hours of Culinary Teamwork
To bring to life a turrón of over one kilometre, the expert hands of local pastry chefs were needed. Accompanied by the famous ‘turroneras’ (turrón makers) from Tacoronte and dozens of volunteers, they worked tirelessly from 5:00 in the morning until well past 13:00. It was, therefore, eight full hours of dedication to create this gigantic sweet.
The person in charge of coordinating all those hands was chef Pablo Pastor, president of the Canary Islands Association of Chefs and Pastry Chefs (Acyre). In his head, he explained, he holds all the figures of this gastronomic feat: 1,280 kilos of gofio (toasted Canarian flour), 300 kilos of honey, 250 kilos of sugar, 150 kilos of chocolate, 125 kilos of almonds, and 150 kilos of bananas. Once the ingredients were mixed, cooks and volunteers applied themselves to the task of compacting it and turning it into what is now, officially, the world’s longest turrón.
Local Pride and a Sweet Distribution
“This is great tourism promotion for Santiago del Teide and the whole island, because the news will travel all over the world,” highlighted Navarro. Most importantly, he continued, this turrón was made with local products, which fills all the residents of the area with pride. That said, and thanks to the collaboration of Acyre Madrid, one piece was made with other ingredients: pistachios and strawberries.
Once the measuring tasks concluded, turrón was not only handed out to the numerous local residents and tourists present, but a large part of the gigantic dessert was also packaged for distribution to the NGOs that collaborated in its making, who will in turn distribute it to those in need. “I can only say that I feel tremendously proud of all the associations and organisations that have collaborated,” detailed Navarro, noting that for hygiene reasons, they registered about 150 people who participated directly in its creation.
One of the ‘turroneras’ from Tacoronte, Pilar, from the well-known Turrones Maribel, also showed her emotion at being able to participate in such a curious and different gastronomic event. “And especially enjoying a festive atmosphere like this, it has been a genuine pleasure,” she specified. After those present could try this very special dessert, the distribution to social centres and senior centres in the town and other municipalities began.
Pastor, for his part, concluded by thanking the collaboration of the Town Council and “all those people” who threw themselves into making the turrón record a reality. He insisted that he takes his role as the council’s gastronomic advisor very seriously and added that this type of action, which besides being charitable serves as a promotional instrument, helps consolidate this municipality as an international gastronomic reference. “We will continue working and trying to do things well so that Santiago del Teide has the place it deserves.”
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