What to eat in Canary Islands? Learn about the typical dishes

Canarian cuisine is without a doubt one of the most delectable in Spain, and dare we say, the globe. You’ll also be pleased to learn that, of the seven Canary Islands, Tenerife is probably the best place to eat and where you can find restaurants of the highest quality, both traditional, where you can enjoy Canarian cuisine for a lifetime, and those that reinvent and adapt traditional dishes to modern times.

There are many traditional Canarian foods to choose from, but today we’ll focus on the six most well-known, which you should sample before your next holiday.

1. Potatoes with mojo

   Papas arrugadas con mojo (wrinkled potatoes with mojo) are possibly the best known dish par excellence of Canarian gastronomy.

   It’s a simple dish to prepare, but it requires the use of a potato that may be found in these parts. Canary potatoes are particularly excellent, and the mojo with which they are commonly served is red mojo, which contains peppers as its principal ingredient, however green mojo can also be used.

   This traditional Canarian dish can be used as a garnish in some dishes or as a starter before a stronger dish.

2. Gofio

   Gofio is another distinctive Canary Island product. It is a mixture of ground cereals that can be served in a variety of ways. Gofio escaldado, for example, is gofio blended with fish or meat broth. Consequently, heated. Also available in pella or kneaded form (prepared primarily with water and olive oil from Spain) and served cold. Cheese, honey, almonds, and other ingredients can be mixed into the gofio pella. Furthermore, this Canarian ingredient is commonly added to stews or milk for breakfast. Simultaneously, you may use it in desserts like a delightful gofio mousse.

     

3. Canarian stew
   This typical dish has a great variety of vegetables, which provides nutritional value and essential vitamins in a balanced diet. It is also called “puchero canario”, and is composed of chickpeas, potatoes, onion, carrot, green beans, cabbage, and zucchini, among other vegetables.                                                                                                                                                                      
4. Canarian “ropa vieja”

   This dish is literally translated as “old clothes” is a delicious stew that originated as a way to use leftovers from another traditional dish called puchero peninsular. Today it has become so important to the local cuisine that people prepare it on its own.

   The base of this Canarian dish is chickpeas, which can be accompanied with different vegetables. To all this is added meat, which can be chicken or other animal.

5. Sancocho

   Sancocho is another of the Canary Island’s must-try dishes, as it is the most typical stew of the islands. The main ingredient of this dish is the wreckfish, a large white fish full of meat. This fish is prepared boiled and served with wrinkled potatoes and gofio, it is also covered with mojo, the typical Canarian sauce.

   As with some other Canarian dishes, its preparation is quite elaborate, so it is not on the menu of all the restaurants in the Canary Islands.

6. Frangollo

   Any menu worth its salt cannot be without its own dessert. The gastronomy of the islands has the frangollo, a recipe that varies depending on the island but has some basic ingredients: milk, flour, egg yolk, sugar, raisins, lemon, and cinnamon.

   This kind of cream is served cold and used to be prepared on holidays. Nowadays it has lost steam, although there are still some restaurants that prepare it.