GASTRONOMY OF THE CANARY ISLANDS

GASTRONOMY OF THE CANARY ISLANDS

The Canary Islands is an archipelago belonging to Spain, located in the Atlantic Ocean. Located in northern Africa, near the southern coasts of Morocco and Sahara. It consists of seven main islands: El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma and Tenerife which form the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, which form the province of Las Palmas.

Due to its privileged climate, the richness of the fruits of its land and the rich coasts with abundant fishing, the Canarian cuisine is succulent and light at the same time.

Among his most famous recipes, for the genius of its simplicity, we find wrinkled potatoes, potatoes boiled in their skins in plenty of very salty water, so that their skin acquires the effect to which the name alludes. They are served with mojo picón, a spicy sauce based on oil, garlic, chili pepper and paprika. Something so simple that it has reached the degree of mastery, and on which many jealously guard some more particular recipes. They are taken accompanying other dishes or alone. Actually there are many mojos, considered as cold sauces, and they are also used in other stews, such as mojo cochino, which is a pork stew that uses this sauce.

One of the most traditional and ancient Canary Island recipes is the gofio, It is a pre-Hispanic recipe that was the staple diet of the Guanches or ancient Canary Islanders. It is a flour of wheat, millet, barley, and other roasted whole grains, with which many Canarian recipes are made because it is very versatile. A typical recipe is the gofio balls that accompany many traditional dishes, such as the sweet black pudding of the Canary Islands, made from pig's blood, sugar, almonds and raisins.

The richness of the island's fisheries naturally allows the tasting of numerous fish and seafood in the most varied forms of international cuisine. In this field, the Canary Islands also offer very tasty native recipes, such as the fish stews, The Canarian Sancocho, to which different names are attributed depending on the island of origin, and the Canarian Sancocho, which uses salted fish in a mojo sauce.

The Canary Islands also have numerous vegetable stews, such as chickpeas and beans, the most famous being the watercress stew. Among its delicious cheeses are those of El Hierro and Fuerteventura or the smoked cheeses of La Palma, along with Flor de Guía, from Gran Canaria. The fantastic exotic fruits that grow on the islands naturally become part of many delicious desserts, such as the banana, abundant in the islands, which has an exquisite flavor.

The canary wines have an ancient tradition and Shakespeare already mentioned them in his literature. Among them, the artisanal wines of Malvasía, from Lanzarote, the red wines of Taraconte in Tenerife and the more unknown but no less tasty wines of El Hierro and La Palma stand out. And to complete the list of “bottled pleasures” we should not leave the islands without having tasted the original and delicious rum and rum-honey distillates.

DENOMINATIONS OF ORIGIN OF THE CANARY ISLANDS

The Canary Islands has a cuisine full of contrasts, with well-seasoned dishes and fresh and healthy ingredients, the result of a temperate climate and a volcanic soil that gives them a special flavor. In addition, many of its handmade products are under Protected Designation of Origin, these are some of these examples:

D.O. Papas antiguas canarias: potato tubers from varieties known in the Canary Islands as «antiguas», also known as local, traditional, colored and/or of the soil, grown in the Canary Islands, from seed obtained in the production area introduced in the Canary Islands before the 20th century.D.O El Hierro: whose production area is located on the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands (Spain). It obtained the qualification of Denomination of Origin in 1994 with only two wineries, something really peculiar.

Most of the production is destined to white wines, among which we can find: dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet wines. The production of reds and rosés is reduced to one third, although, in the case of reds, this trend is changing due to market demand, where it is valued that it is a traditional crop.

Plantain from the Canary Islands: The color of the skin varies from green at the time of harvesting to intense yellow at the time of consumption, while the flesh shades range from ivory white to cream to yellow. Its main distinguishing characteristics are: intense sweet flavor, as a result of its high sugar content and low starch content, intense aroma called «banana impact», and characteristic dark specks on the banana skin due to the high activity of those that catalyze oxidation reactions.

Canarian Gofio: It is the product obtained in the Canary Islands and resulting from the milling of roasted cereals with or without the addition of sea salt. Occasionally, the gofio can be supplemented with leguminous plants, which are subjected to the same treatment as cereals.

D.O. Gran Canarias: is an appellation of origin for wines produced on the island of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, (Spain). Established in 2006 and based in Santa Brígida.

The cultivation of vines in Gran Canaria dates back to the end of the 15th century, when the first vines arrived from Crete. In the 16th century, Canary Island wines, due to their quality and prosperity, began to be exported to England, Flanders, Hamburg and the New World. Towards the middle of the century, wine in Gran Canaria played a fundamental role in the island's agricultural economy, becoming the main export product in the face of the decline of sugar cane cultivation. sugar.

D.O. Tenerife HoneyHoney produced by honey bees on the island of Tenerife, from the nectar of flowers or secretions of other parts of the plants that grow in the different ecosystems of Tenerife, in hives of mobile frames and that in its processing is not subjected to heat treatments. It is presented in a liquid, creamy or crystallized state, as well as in honeycomb, or in pieces of honeycomb.

D.O Lanzarote: located on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands (Spain). It obtained the qualification of denomination of origin in 1993.

It covers a total cultivation area of 1,900 ha, and its production is around 1,900,000 bottles per year. The vineyards are spread throughout Lanzarote, generally at altitudes between 200 and 500 meters above sea level. Its cultivation is conditioned by the peculiar characteristics of the island, both in terms of climate and its volcanic origin.

TRADITIONAL DISHES OF THE GASTRONOMY OF THE CANARY ISLANDS

Mojo picón: The mojo picón is a typical sauce of the Canary Islands, it is an essential accompaniment to some characteristic dishes of the archipelago. Due to its pepper content, many types of mojos are spicy.

Canarian stew: It is a traditional Canarian stew, made with beef, pork, chicken, chorizo and chickpeas. It usually has typical vegetables such as yam, sweet potato, pumpkin, bubango or zucchini, carrots, cabbage, beans and pineapple, or tender corn on the cob, all stewed together with a mixture of garlic, paprika and saffron and accompanied with blanched gofio.

Carajacas: This is the name given to the compound made with roasted or fried beef liver, which is usually accompanied by a spicy sauce or moio. It is another of the many enyeses of the Canarian cuisine, and when it comes to take it, it is usually accompanied by a glass of wine or a little rum.

Canary ranch: is one of the most humble dishes of the culinary offer of the island, and it is that only the word, ranch, evokes times of hardship and barracks. As most of the dishes of the Canary gastronomy, the fact does not have a unique recipe, each family makes it in a different way, using or discarding certain ingredients, according to the taste of the diner.

Sancocho: In the Canary Islands, the sancocho or casserole is the typical dish based on salted fish, usually wreckfish, sea bass or donkey, boiled potatoes or “sanchochadas”, cheap, unpeeled and in large chunks, and green or red mojo.

Eggs moles: it is a whipped mixture of egg yolk with syrup that ends up as a fine creamy sauce. It is often flavored with flower water, orange blossom water, for example, ground cinnamon. These mixed eggs are usually lightly cooked. Once the sweet of eggs and sugar is finished, the gofio is added.

Prince Albert dessert: The gastronomy of La Palma is very rich in sweets and desserts, a good proof of this is the Postre Príncipe Alberto, one of the most typical delicacies of the beautiful island. The Prince Albert Dessert is a sweet native of La Palma, created in the time of the The recipe was created by Doña Matilde Arroyo after the Spanish Civil War and has become more popular with the passage of time, and still retains its original recipe.

Rapaduras: are traditional sweets, characteristic of the island of La Palma, in the shape of a cone, whose main ingredient is honey, which can be combined with gofio, eggs and other elements to obtain different flavors.

And with all this, we encourage you to discover these wonderful islands, not only for their fabulous climate and magnificent beaches, but also for their gastronomic richness.