Lori Help interviews Elena Sánchez Fontaine at her Molino de Fuego, in Telde:
Whoever is able to walk down María Encarnación Navarro street, in Telde, and remain impassive before the aroma of the gofio de millo, raise their hand.
The gofio perfume, which invites us to enjoy this typical Canarian product, is not the only treasure that the Molino de Fuego keeps.
Behind the counter, Elena welcomes us, continuing to serve the public. She is an active and kind woman who smiles and we know it by her tone of voice and the strength of her gaze.
Why fire mill?
Because before there was no electricity and everything was done manually and with fire. It was at the time when people came on donkeys to take the gofio
Between the distant noise of the machines and the creaking of the cartridges, he continues to relate.
I've always liked working at the mill. I started when I was 18, by the hand of my father and I found that I loved it.
Since then, how much time have you spent at the mill?
Everything. At 7 in the morning I am already here preparing to open: the office is cleaned and everything is put in early and organized. The machines are started roasting and grinding and the distribution begins.
First thing in the morning we were lucky to see a truck unloading a thousand. How often do you receive the grain?
The truck comes once a month and they unload about five thousand euros in million.
This plantation -shows us a framed photo behind him- it was ours in Argentina. My father would go 2 times a year to see the millet collected and he would bring it to him.
At present there are also a thousand of peninsula and island. Today the millet is bought from the Buen Lugar mill in Firgas and, with each harvest, local farmers call us to sell us millet, a local product.
We could see a while ago how a client approached with a half sack of millet and asked to have it ground ...
Yes, yes ... there are people who bring us their millet and take the gofio of their own grain. That is called grinding.
When they bring their own millet, it is roasted from 25 kilos, if it is less we can do it too, but we tell them that you have to mix it because 25 kilos is the minimum of the machine.
Elena, I understand that this is a family business, right?
Yes, my great-grandfather founded it in 1903 and we are now the fourth generation. Then my father José Juan Sánchez Ramírez modernized it. Making and selling bread and sweets was the idea of my father who, apart from being an entrepreneur, was also a Canarian wrestler, known as “El Pollo del Molino”.
2020 was a very hard year but the new administrator, Santiago Rocha Amador, decided to continue with the business and with the support of the current staff, the mill was able to be saved. Israel and Paco in the mill and Jonás in the cast are more than employees. Together we saved the mill. They are my family, you don't see that we are together all day.
Would 2020 bring any joy too?
You are right. When we were at our worst we were awarded the medal as the best millet gofio in the country. Here is the diploma. It was 18/12/2020.
How do you get to make the best gofio de millo in the country?
Gofio in itself is an excellent product because it is 100% natural. More should be taken. We feed the children with cereals that have additives and a lot of sugar and the millet is a complete, healthy product with high nutritional value.
Then you have to see that the mills must be treated with affection, and know how to use it so that the product comes out of quality.
How many types of gofio does Molino de Fuego offer?
Here we have millet gofio, wheat and barley. The gofio of the country is offered in raw, normal and roasted. They are all roasted - there are various intensities - but the one we call raw is very light and the roasted one, since the roast point is stronger. From millo we also offer the so-called “Argentino”, which is more for milk.
We make millet flour and the sweets that you can see in the office, which are made by Paco in the bakery, at the back of the mill.
Where do you distribute?
Throughout Telde and Valsequillo. For supermarket chains and local restaurants. If you have an escaldón in well-known restaurants, surely the gofio is ours.
What is your customers' favorite gofio?
The one most in demand is the country's gofio de millo. The wheat and barley is only sold packaged in 1 kilo bags.
How much gofio is usually sold on a daily basis?
An average of 250 kg per day, only that of the country and a direct customer, at the counter of the mill. We also sell packaging. I estimate that about 1500 kg a week, from Monday to Saturday at noon.
There is also the supply to supermarkets, shops and restaurants which are another 500 kg a day.
At Easter sales go up a lot, up to almost 1000 kg of gofio sold, by tradition, sancochos ... This year it seems that they took it with more enthusiasm because last year we were locked up.
What is the process from when the million arrives until it comes out gofio?
The million that the truck unloaded is raised with a sucking machine and hovers overhead. Then it is lowered and toasted. Lastly, it is ground on the big wheels.
These grinding machines have the stones similar to those of the ancient inhabitants, but they have a shell so that they do not spoil. They are only opened once a year when they are chopped and when they are going to be cleaned.
Each machine has one grain and cannot be mixed. The wheat and barley are ground in one machine and the millet in another. There is a mill only for the millet to avoid mixtures, due to gluten. And finally there is the millet flour mill.
Is gofio made in other parts of the world?
The gofio is exclusive to the Canary Islands. There may be similar things like corn flour for arepas, in America, but nothing like our gofio.
What makes this gofio mill unique?
What makes Molino de Fuego unique is the "Dispatch" and I am happy because this is my life, dealing directly with clients.
This is a lifelong customer ... -en paper cartridges are serving as he greets familiar faces-
-Since I was little, I have come to buy gofio, for breakfast with milk, for pellita. I like it raw.
-All my visits say "How good it smells in your house…." , comments another client.
More people come with a desire for gofio and they are of all ages. A young man who is an athlete waits his turn:
-This young man is the son of a doctor, so he buys wisely.
-I always come from Ingenio to buy gofio for breakfast.
A female taxi driver comes to get her little package.
I love it with the pottage. A little spoon on top. The gofio at home cannot be missed and always from here. I recommend it and my sisters entrust it to me.
Two friends arrive at the counter after using the three-space car park, for customers, in the same mill.
I want a good gofio for a sancocho, for a good pellita. She gives us the instructions of the pella to which she puts a banana. Then they order some millet flour cakes with walnuts.
We left the office to visit the upper floor of the mill, which was the grandparents' house and preserves its magic.
My father brought the new machines upstairs but he respected the whole house as it was: the floor, the doors and windows, the pictures ... Look at all these documents that are memories of the ancestors: photos, scorecards and also accounting books and documents that are already history of Telde.
After 108 years open, how do you see the mill in the near future?
Continue as now, offering a good product and collaborating. Here the "Gastronomic Days of Telde" are held, in the mill's bakery.
We also have visits from schoolchildren, but I find that it is necessary for the Institutions to help to make a museum with the tools and documents that exist in the mill. Do not miss all this history that is part of the whole society. And learn more about the gofio, from the old machines to the types of gofio that exist.
We left the Molino de Fuego with a very busy Elena with clients who ask her for her favorite gofio and are grateful for her kindness and good work. Hopefully soon we can have a gofio museum and above all continue to associate that area of Telde with the characteristic smell of the country's gofio.
