Lanzarote Gastronomy
Gastronomy is an essential part of a culture and it could be said that it is also an essential part of a trip; by tasting the typical food of a place we learn new ways of understanding life, new experiences and sensations. If you plan to travel to the island of fire, you will be interested in knowing in advance those typical dishes of the Canary Islands that can be found in the menus of local restaurants and that have crossed borders because they are incredibly delicious.
Lanzarote couisine, is a reflection of its nature and of the life of its people, natural, with flavor to home, traditional in its elaborations and based on the product that gives the ocean, that takes advantage of the quality and the flavor.
Through the gastronomy you can always know a land. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Canary Islands have 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 the Protected Designation of Origin, such as some of its cheeses and wines.
Lanzarote has evolved a lot and today is a consolidated tourist destination. Due to its hospitable character, it is home to citizens and kitchens from all over the world. However, it has managed to preserve its identity at the table. This traditional cuisine is the basis of an avant-garde cuisine.
The new Canarian cuisine takes and cares for this raw material and develops new presentations and nuances. Local products such as onions, lentils and sweet potatoes have unique qualities that Lanzaroteans know how to value and distinguish.
Lanzarote couisine
One of its signs of identity is the recovery of lost varieties and their enhancement through recipes worthy of “Michelin”. For example, the potato. In Lanzarote, varieties of extraordinary taste and texture are still cultivated that are no longer found elsewhere. Another example of this recovery is the black pig of the Canary Islands.
Canarian potatoes with mojo picón are perhaps the best known dish of the islands, along with escaldón, a dish made from gofio and fish broth. You can taste them in a wide range of restaurants specialized in Canarian cuisine, as well as other typical dishes: ropa vieja, cazuelas, sancocho, carajacas…
The lentil of Lanzarote, another significant product, is smaller and greenish in color, more flavorful and in the cooking it conserves its skin. And the onion, slightly sweet, soft and present in many of the more traditional Lanzarote recipes.
Likewise, the sea that surrounds Lanzarote offers excellent and varied fish every day, brought every morning by small coastal boats. There are many varieties in demand, such as the “vieja”, the “cherne”, and the “corvina” among others.
Typical Canarian food: a mixture of influences
Canarian gastronomy is the result of the different cultures that have converged on the islands throughout their history. The different Canarian dishes owe their originality and wealth of flavours to the multiple influences coming from places like Spain, Portugal, North Africa and South America.
In Canarian cuisine, spicy and strong flavours are intermingled with other soft and sweet flavours, with fish, fruit, meat and cheese, creating a really interesting culinary amalgam for anyone lucky enough to try it.
1.- Canarian potatoes
If there is one typical meal in the Canary Islands that you should try, it is the wrinkled potatoes with mojo. This dish uses simple but fundamental ingredients in the Canarian diet: potatoes came from America and began to be cultivated in the volcanic lands of the islands, which gives the native potatoes a characteristic flavor.
The “wrinkled” potatoes get their name because they are cooked with their skin and coarse salt; when they are cooked, the skin is wrinkled. Don’t peel the potatoes, they are eaten with peels!
As for the sauce that accompanies the wrinkled potatoes, the mojo, this is prepared with a few ingredients: olive oil, parsley, garlic, coriander and salt. All the ingredients are ground in a mortar or with the help of a hand blender. If you love spicy and intense flavors, mojo is your sauce!
Recipes of the most traditional food in Lanzarote
Below we detail three emblematic recipes in the Canarian gastronomy: wrinkled potatoes or canarian potatoes, green mojo, spicy red mojo.
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Canarias potatoes
1 Kg small potatoes
1/3 cup coarse sea salt
METHOD
Put potatoes in a single layer in a wide pot. Add water to half way up the potatoes (not quite covering the smaller ones). Add the sea salt (the traditional method used sea water) Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot with a tea towel (take care the tea towel doesn’t come into direct contact with the flame, or electric element). Reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes until done (the water will evaporate a lot. Don’t top it up) The skins will begin to wrinkle slightly.
Drain by carefully pouring the excess water out of the pot directly (very carefully… as you want as much of the salt to remain as possible). Turn the heat down the lowest it will go. Put the pot back onto this low heat. It will start to dry the potatoes. Shake the pot every once in a while to coat the potatoes evenly with the salt.
These papas arrugadas are fantastic served on their own with mojo verde or mojo rojo, with or without their skins.
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Mojo Rojo
1 whole garlic bulb, peeled and crushed
Heaped teaspoon of cumin seeds, or a level teaspoon of ground cumin
Heaped teaspoon of paprika. Use smoky or sweet – whichever you prefer
1 large red pepper (capsicum), seeded and finely chopped
Heaped teaspoon of sea salt
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
Olive oil for diluting
Grind the garlic, cumin, paprika ad salt in the pestle and mortar. Add in the red pepper and keep crushing / grinding / blending. Stir in the vinegar. Drizzle in the olive oil until you have a consistency that you could drizzle over your food. If you want a bit more kick to your mojo – swap out the red peppers for a couple of red chillies instead, or use them in addition. This keeps in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can make it ahead of time if you are entertaining.
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Mojo verde
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped or crushed garlic
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Put all the ingredients into a blender, or mix by hand. Ready to drizzle over fish or potatoes. It will also keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days… Extra tips. Try substituting half the parsley for fresh coriander.
2.- Fish
Fresh fish is an essential part of the traditional cuisine of Lanzarote. Tuna, Hake, Grouper, Wreckfish, Seabass, Pollack, Vieja and Moray are some of the most traditional fishes, which are served with mojo picón and wrinkled potatoes (papas arrugadas). The best way to prepare them is to grill, bake or fry.
3.- Limpets
Being a region surrounded by the sea, many seafoods are consumed in the Canary Islands. In Lanzarote, a typical delicacy from the sea is the limpets, small marine molluscs that, cooked with garlic, parsley, salt, olive oil and white wine, are delicious!
4.- Marinated tuna
The coast of Lanzarote has a good number of different species of fish, and tuna could not be missed. A typical dish is the marinated tuna, cooked with a mash made from garlic, pepper, bay leaves, paprika, oil, thyme, oregano, vinegar and salt. This mixture of ingredients results in a very rich and aromatic dish that combines perfectly with the juicy meat of the tuna.
5.- Bienmesabe
Bienmesabe is a very sweet canarian dessert made with almonds, eggs, sugar and lemon. It is very common to serve it with ice cream, so if you have the chance, don’t miss out!
6.- Gofio
Gofio is an iconic food of the Canaries, with a very ancient origin. Its history dates back to the Spanish pre-conquest: the Canarian indigenous people, from North Africa, cultivated cereals, whose grains were roasted and then ground, creating a kind of flour that they called gofio.
Nowadays, Canarians still eat gofio, and prepare it in many ways: mixed with milk; as part of many desserts (including ice creams!); as a pastry or mixed into fish soup (gofio escaldado). A tip: if you find gofio mousse on your menu, don’t hesitate to order it!
Other dishes:
The stews made, above all, with vegetables and legumes, include the Puchero canario (Canary Island stew) and the potaje de Trigo y millo (wheat and millet stew). Stews with meat, vegetables and legumes are also traditional dishes such as pork ribs with cabbage and corn. Among the meats, we can mention goat meat, fried rabbit and marinated pork
7.- Wines of Lanzarote
There is nothing better to accompany your typical Canarian dish than Lanzarote wine, which has received many national and international awards for its magnificent quality. If you are passionate about wine, then do not hesitate to make a wine route through La Geria, the wine region of Lanzarote. Thanks to the particular weather conditions and its volcanic nature, lanzarote offers a wine with unique characteristics. Do not miss the malvasia wine.
In addition to wines, Lanzarote also produces artisan beers. More info
If you want to know more about the Wine Tours, click here
The best restaurants on Lanzarote
Finding a good place to have lunch or dinner is not always easy. Here we give you a selection of restaurants to enjoy the best cuisine in the most charming places on the island.You can taste fresh fish on the shores of the Atlantic while enjoying the wines of Lanzarote.
- La Casita de la Playa (Arrieta) Dirección Teléfono: +34 928 17 33 39
- El Lago (Punta Mujeres) Dirección Teléfono: +34 928 84 81 76
- Restaurante Monumento al Campesino
- Teleclub de Tao Dirección Teléfono: 928 82 07 95
- Casa Rafa Restaurante De Mar (El Golfo) Dirección Teléfono +34 625 10 43 30
- El Risco (Caleta de Famara) Teléfono +34 928 528 550
- Balagué (Lagomar, Nazaret) Tel +34 928 84 56 65
- Bodega La Cascada (Puerto del Carmen) Tel +34 928 512 953
- Lilium (Arrecife) Tel +34 928 524 978
- La Bodega de Santiago (Yaiza) Tel +34 928 83 62 04
Would you like to taste the Traditional food in Lanzarote?
In our excursion Lanzarote Tour Experience: The footprint of the landscape, we stop at a restaurant far from the tourist areas where you will have the opportunity to taste, if you wish, the Canarian cuisine and the most traditional food in Lanzarote.
If you dare and want to book your excursion click here IMMEDIATE CONFIRMATION
Trust in us. We will not disappoint you.
