Crater Royal Hideaway Corales Villas TENERIFE Barceló Hotel Group launches another gastronomy-first property in the Canary Islands, with Eduardo Domínguez at the helm of its signature restaurant. Words: Agnish Ray • Photography: © Lucas Amillano (unless otherwise stated)
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here’s something wild about it,” says Tenerife-born
2020. His new outing at Crater offers a 14-course tasting
chef Eduardo Domínguez, describing the Canary
menu, immersing diners in some of the most enchanting
Islands’ tradition known as caldero, which translates
and idiosyncratic aspects of the region’s subtropical isles.
as ‘cooking pot’. “It’s a very cultural act: families gather
The current iteration focuses on La Palma, but in years to
together at the coast, anecdotes are shared – it’s magic.”
come it will alternate between the additional seven islands,
Age-old customs revolving around food tend to set
providing a focused, enriching encounter with the unique
Domínguez’s imagination ablaze, a fact now coming to the
identity of each.
fore as he embraces the role of Head Chef at Crater, the
Served on dishes resembling volcanic rock, the spread at
flagship restaurant at Royal Hideaway Corales Villas on his
Crater celebrates local, native produce. Domínguez makes a
native island, where he uses wreckfish, seaweed and Marciala
silky miso sauce from fermented millo – a ubiquitous kind
potatoes in the creation of a new dish inspired by the beloved
of corn – topped with smoked mackerel. His interpretation
caldero celebration.
of the traditional potaje palmero stew contains an ancient
In a development worth over €100 million, Royal Hideaway
variety of wheat that his team is helping to preserve in
Corales Villas is set on the tourist-focused southwest of
collaboration with local agrodiversity groups. Another dish
Tenerife, offering a new way for holidaymakers to escape
pays tribute to the red Palma peppers used for the typically
the crowded coastline without veering too far afield. Set
Canarian mojo marinade, while gofio – flour made from
a 10-minute drive inland from the popular Costa Adeje
roasted wheat – features in Domínguez’s version of escacho,
bay, the setting is more secluded than holiday towns like
a cheese-and-potato-based terrine.
Los Cristianos and Las Américas. The 139-key property
The menu also encompasses playful nods to local culture,
lures guests with promises of peace and privacy, but its
tradition and ways of life. A selection of appetisers comprising
gastronomical offer is set to elicit significant noise.
yams, almonds, grapes and goats cheese are placed around
Winner of the Canary Islands’ Best Chef award in 2016,
a map of La Palma, in homage to producers of such goods
and now a familiar name on Tenerife’s fine-dining scene,
in the island’s four corners. The picadillo, a Canarian meat
Domínguez has been part of the Royal Hideaway group since
soup, is poured into a bowl containing marrow moulded into