There is a famous song by Caco Senante that goes “La rica salsa canaria se llama mojo picón (That delicious Canarian sauce is known as mojo picón)“

Although a lot of people are familiar with this song, this entry is dedicated to show that the Canary Islands are much more than just a sauce. In fact, there are so many recipes, products, flavours and styles that we will make a basic distinction, as if we were writing a menu, and from that we will portray a better image. We will work with traditional cookery books, focusing on Lanzarote and keeping in mind that most recipes are shared amongst all the islands.

Before we start, we should mention the main products that deserve an honourable mention and that will be present in most of the recipes: potato, sweet potato, peas, cheese, fish, limpets, moray, pork, chickpeas, corn, coriander, saffron, spearmint …

Lanzarote’s cheese is usually made from goat milk and can be found in different formats and at different maturation stages. Thus, you can find fresh cheese, semi-cured or cured, with wine, gofio, paprika, et cetera. You can also find cheese made from sheep milk, cow milk, or a mixture of different milks. The art of cheesemaking is getting stronger every day and new cheese factories are created, new generations of cheesemakers experient to come up with new formulas and they go beyond what we know by mixing aromatic herbs, making spread cheese or cheese with traits from other regions. It is all about evolution and cheeses are not an exception; we only need to take a look and see how many marvelous products the island can offer.

For more information about our cheeses:

Lanzarote’s cheese in Agrolanzarote

Lanzarote’s Association of Traditional Cheese Factories – AQUAL. Facebook.

Before we get down to the main course, let’s take a look at the most popular starters:

Wrinkled potatoes: This simple yet tasty dish can be found in basically every party, meal or celebration. The art of making wrinkled potatoes depends on the product’s quality and the skill of the cook.

Fish, fried moray, octopus with garlic, fried cheese, limpets, garlic prawns, all of this served with a nice bread and the world-famous mojo sauce, which can be green or red, picón or not.

After tasting these delicious starters, let’s check the main course dishes. Most of them always have legumes and cereals amongst their ingredients, which, combined with quality fish and meat, make up a delicious and ancestral diet. We will just mention a couple of them: Canarian sancocho stew, fish broth, corn broth, ropa vieja, rancho canario.

When it comes to the selection of Lanzarote’s dessert from a traditional cookery book, we can find: frangollo, gofio mousse, bienmesabe, panito mami, meringues, sweet pasties …

And we cannot finish without mentioning Lanzarote’s world-famous wines, marvelous beverages born out of effort and a soil with unique characteristics.

If you wish to live a gastronomic experience with local products from our Biosphere Reserve, we recommend you contact the Club’s certified companies, which will show you the culinary pleasures of a special volcanic island.

Do not miss on the activities organised by Saborea Lanzarote and the gastronomic initiative of Teguise “Nuestros sabores (Our Flavours)“.

And one last thing: bon appétit and cheers!